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.
Ex-AstraZeneca CMO Bohen lands at Olema Oncology as CEO
Olema Oncology
Sean Bohen, M.D., Ph.D., will take the helm.
At Olema, Bohen is leading a team of about 25 staffers working on a new treatment for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. It’s “invigorating” to be at a small biotech that is laser-focused on women’s cancers, he said, adding that his move was a homecoming of sorts, too. Olema raised $54 million in July to bankroll the phase 1/2 study of its lead program, OP-1250, in ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancers that have come back in spite of other treatments or that have spread locally or to other parts of the body. Olema believes its prospect is a complete ER antagonist and a selective ER degrader, unlike other drugs that have been developed for this type of cancer. Fierce Biotech
Cygnal Therapeutics nabs Merck, Takeda vet Wagner for CMO
Cygnal Therapeutics
Wagner joins from Foresite Capital, where he was a venture partner, bringing experience in early development and translational medicine from his time at Merck and Takeda. Over his career, Wagner has brought more than 150 prospects into human testing, working on clinical development, clinical pharmacology and regulatory filings for various drugs, including Merck’s diabetes med Januvia and lymphoma drug Zolinza. At Takeda, he led translational research and early clinical development before jumping over to Foresite in 2019. Fierce Biotech
Forma Therapeutics nabs new R&D execs as it plots late-stage sickle cell test next year
Forma Therapeutics
The biotech will bring on two new R&D execs, including Fitzroy Dawkins, M.D., as VP of clinical development.
Dawkins, a hematologist and oncologist, brings more than 12 years of experience in academia and more than 14 years in drug development, and was most recently executive director of oncology drug development at Incyte. Forma is also bringing on Ruth du Moulin, Ph.D., who joins Forma from Takeda’s oncology unit where she served as VP for medical affairs and head of global oncology medical communications. In December, Forma got off a $100 million series D round before pulling off a major upsized $278 million IPO in the summer amid a rush of biotechs going public. Fierce Biotech
> MicroRNA biotech miRagen is taking a good, hard look at its pipeline, and it’s putting Chief Operating Officer Lee Rauch in charge of the review—and the company. Rauch takes over just three months after joining the company, replacing William Marshall, Ph.D., miRagen’s founding CEO. Marshall also resigned his position on the company’s board of directors but will serve the company as a “senior technical advisor,” according to a statement. Fierce Biotech
> With its acquisition of Anelixis Therapeutics in the books, Novus Therapeutics has tapped David-Alexandre “DA” C. Gros, M.D., to lead the company as CEO and Steven Perrin, Ph.D., as president and CSO. Release
> Newly funded biotech XWPharma of Redwood City, California, has named Leonard Blum as president and CEO. Blum succeeds Jia-Ning Xiang, Ph.D., who is the company's founder and chairman and will assume the role of chief scientific officer.
> New York-based Volastra Therapeutics has tapped Charles Hugh-Jones, M.D., as its CEO. Hugh-Jones was most recently global CMO at Allergan.
> Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Obsidian Therapeutics tapped Jan Henrik ter Meulen, M.D., Ph.D., as chief scientific officer. Ter Meulen previously served as CSO of Immune Design in Seattle. Release
> Newark, California-based Rain Therapeutics has appointed co-founder Robert Doebele, M.D., Ph.D., as chief scientific officer. Doebele has served as chair of the scientific advisory board and acting CSO since Rain’s founding. Release
> Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Synlogic has appointed David Hava, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer. Hava previously served as CSO at Metera Pharmaceuticals and Pulmatrix. Release
> Vedanta Biosciences has named Jeffrey Silber, M.D., as chief medical officer; and Nancy Chiu Walker, Ph.D., as vice president of legal. Release
> San Francisco-based Element Science has named Zubin J. Eapen, M.D., as chief medical officer. Eapen most recently served as CMO of The Anthem Companies’ CareMore Health subsidiary. Release
> Cambridge, Massachusetts-based EQRx is fleshing out its executive team with the appointments of: Rona Anhalt as chief people officer; Christian Antoni, M.D., Ph.D., as chief development officer; Eric Hedrick, M.D., as chief physician executive; and Daniel Hoey as chief of technical operations. EQRx has also brought on Sir Andrew Dillon, the former CEO of The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), as an advisor. Release
> Stamford, Connecticut-based ApiJect Systems America has appointed Rajesh (Raj) J. Asarpota as chief financial officer. Asarpota most recently served as executive VP and CFO at NuVasive. Release (PDF)
> Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Evelo Biosciences has named Julie Carretero as chief people officer. Carretero joins Evelo from FXI Corporation, where she served as chief human resources officer since 2018. Release
> Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based Asklepios BioPharmaceutical has tapped Kellie Sears as chief human resources officer. Sears most recently served as senior VP and interim chief human resources officer at Allergan. Release
> Swiss biotech VectivBio AG has named Nader N. Youssef, M.D., as senior VP and head of global clinical development and medical affairs. Youssef previously served as executive director of GI global clinical development and medical affairs for NPS Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Redwood City, California-based Adverum Biotechnologies has tapped Christopher J. Morrison, Ph.D., as VP of process development. Morrison most recently worked as senior director of biopharmaceutical development at Apic Bio. Release
> Pittsburgh-based UPMC Enterprises will promote Jeanne Cunicelli to the role of president, effective Jan. 1. Cunicelli will succeed Tal Heppenstall, who is retiring from this role.