Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Kyle Blankenship, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Immunomedics nabs new CEO as data revive hopes its troubled cancer drug can make the finish line
Immunomedics
Harout Semerjian will join as CEO.
Semerjian, who comes from being Ipsen’s chief commercial officer and executive vice president and also served a major 16-year stint at Novartis Oncology, will now head up the biotech as it looks to the summer for a potential approval after one of the most tortuous paths in biotech lore. There is a long history here that includes losing much of its C-suite after an FDA rejection, not to mention the strange failure of a $2 billion deal with Seattle Genetics that centered on its leading drug IMMU-132 (sacituzumab govitecan). FierceBiotech
Alkermes clinical lead jumps ship to slimmed-down, refocused Seres
Seres Therapeutics
Lisa von Moltke, M.D., has been tapped as CMO.
Moltke jumps on board at Seres after acting as senior vice president and head of clinical development at Alkermes and before that serving stints at Sanofi Genzyme and Millennium Pharmaceuticals/Takeda Oncology. She takes the reins as CMO at the biotech, which has had a tough few years. At the start of 2019, it cut about 30% of its workforce and said goodbye to Chief Scientific Officer David Cook as it narrowed its clinical efforts. That move came less than a month after the company announced its chief financial officer, Eric Shaff, was taking over as CEO and that Seres would look more toward immunological indications as it entered its “next phase of development.” FierceBiotech
Fierce 15 winner Aravive promotes McIntyre to CEO
Aravive Biologics
CSO Gail McIntyre, Ph.D., has been elevate to the CEO role.
McIntyre has served in various senior management and leadership positions throughout her career and has been with Aravive since 2016 as the head of R&D and CSO. She will replace Rekha Hemrajani in the head role. Aravive has also appointed Fred Eshelman to chairman of the board. "The transitions reflect the natural evolution of the company and the board of directors following the completion of the 50:50 reverse merger nearly 18 months ago," the company said in a release. "The changes ensure that the management team and board have the optimal mix of skills, experience and expertise, and are positioned to work efficiently and effectively, to deliver on the company’s strategic vision." Release
> Netherlands-based Gadeta has tapped Marco Londei as CEO. Londei joins Gadeta from AnaptysBio, where he served as CDO and CMO.
> Redwood City, California-based Bolt Biotherapeutics has tapped Edith Perez, M.D., as CMO. Prior to joining Bolt, Perez was VP and head of the BioOncology-U.S. medical affairs unit at Genentech. Release
> Switzerland-based Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals AG has appointed Debra Barker, M.D. as CMO. Barker was most recently CMO and CDO at Polyphor and previously held senior roles at Novartis. Release
> Waltham, Massachusetts-based Morphic Therapeutic has named Marc Schegerin, M.D., as CFO and COO. Most recently, Schegerin served as CFO, treasurer and head of strategy and communications at ArQule and previously held various senior healthcare investment banking roles at CitiGroup and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Release
> Rockville, Maryland-based GlycoMimetics has tapped Myra Rosario Herrle, Ph.D., as VP of regulatory affairs. Rosario Herrle most recently served as senior director of oncology global regulatory strategy at AbbVie and previously worked at Novartis. Release
> eGenesis has appointed David Carmel as senior VP of public affairs and communications. Carmel most recently served as VP of medical affairs and strategic alliances at Atara Biotherapeutics. Release