Chutes & Ladders—Sanofi strategy chief Mansuri set to step away

Chutes and Ladders
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.


Sanofi strategy exec Mansuri jumps ship ahead of new CEO's big reveal

Sanofi
Muzammil Mansuri will step down.

Mansuri, Sanofi’s executive vice president of strategy and business development since February 2016, will retire by the end of the month, a spokeswoman confirmed. Mansuri has played a “key role” in Sanofi’s strategic moves over the last four years, overseeing recent acquisitions and “structuring partnerships and alliances that contributed to the deployment of our strategy and growth,” Sanofi’s spokeswoman said. The retirement had been planned, she added. With Mansuri's departure, Sanofi said Alban de La Sablière, its business development head, and Laurent Van Lerberghe, its strategy head, will take on more responsibilities starting Dec. 1. FiercePharma


From Covance CEO to short-lived LabCorp diagnostics lead, Ratliff lands at AMRI

AMRI

After a short stint at LabCorp, John Ratliff is the new CEO at AMRI.

The former chief at major CRO Covance (now owned by LabCorp), Ratliff was announced back in October amid a raft of changes that he would be leaving his former post and moving up to lead LabCorp Diagnostics. But that new role lasted three full business days when, mysteriously, LabCorp announced Ratliff’s immediate departure, with no explanation except one line about taking up a new opportunity. Now, we know what that is: He’s going back to contract research, taking up the chief job at CRO and CDMO Albany Molecular Research. He takes over from Michael Mulhern, who moves upstairs to lead the board. FierceBiotech


Biopharma vet Martin Williams takes the helm at autophagy biotech Caraway Therapeutics 

Caraway Therapeutics
Martin Williams will step in as CEO.

Williams, the GlaxoSmithKline and Roche alum who helmed Tokai Pharma and co-founded Yuma Therapeutics, has a new gig—he's now the CEO of Caraway Therapeutics, a biotech working on treatments for neurodegenerative diseases that target the cell’s garbage disposal. Williams joins Magdalene Moran, Ph.D., Caraway’s president and chief scientific officer, and Cristina Csimma, the company’s executive chair who signed on earlier this year. Williams served as chief business officer at RNAi player Dicerna and cancer-focused Synta Pharma, which eventually merged with NASH biotech Madrigal. FierceBiotech


> IFM is promoting its R&D chief Martin Seidel, Ph.D., to CEO and reeling in $55.5 million to fund more subsidiaries, including an incubator. The new funding, led by Omega Funds with Atlas Venture and Abingworth chipping in, will support its new incubator, IFM Discovery, as well as IFM Quattro, the company’s third subsidiary. The capital could also bankroll up to two additional subsidiaries, the company said in a statement. Each new company will focus on “select targets of the innate immune system.” FierceBiotech

> Hyalex Orthopaedics has a new vice president of R&D: Mark Roby, Ph.D. He joins from BI Medical, which makes prosthetic liners for amputees, where he was CEO. Roby’s experience spans R&D, production, quality, clinical, marketing and sales at companies like C. R. Bard, Covidien and Salient Surgical—the latter two of which were snapped up by Medtronic. FierceBiotech

> BrainsWay has appointed Christopher von Jako, Ph.D., as president and CEO. Most recently, von Jako served as CEO of Dynatronics Corporation, and prior to Dynatronics, he served as president and CEO of NinePoint Medical. Additionally, von Jako served as president and CEO of NeuroTherm. Release

> Boston-based Nuvelution Pharma has named Ronald Martell as president and CEO. Martell worked most recently as founder and executive chairman of Indapta and CEO at Achieve Life Sciences. Prior to that, he held similar roles at Sevion, NeurogesX and Poniard Pharmaceuticals. Release

> Luxembourg-based Inceptua has pegged Paul Wituschek as president for North America. Paul will take on the legal responsibility of Inceptua’s U.S. affiliate––Inceptua Inc.––and lead the North American business development of Inceptua’s three business units: clinical trial services, medicines access and Inceptua Pharma. Most recently, Wituschek served as executive VP of global business development for Icon. Release

> New York City-based Intercept Pharmaceuticals has promoted Jason Campagna, M.D., Ph.D., as CMO. Campagna has served as senior VP and NASH program leader at Intercept since 2016. Prior to Intercept, Campagna held a number of roles at The Medicines Company from 2010 to 2016, including most recently senior VP and health science lead of surgery and perioperative care. Release

> Bruce Car, Ph.D., has been named CSO at Agios. Car will replace Scott Biller, Ph.D., who will retire at the end of 2019 and remain a strategic adviser to Agios through 2020 as previously announced. Car led the Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D campus in Bangalore, India, for six years, and in early 2017 became the first head of the Bristol translational medicine group. Release

> Menlo Park, California-based Intersect ENT has named Richard "Randy" Meier as CFO and executive VP. Meier previously served as the CFO and senior executive of Owens & Minor, including as president-international, executive VP and CFO from 2013 to 2018 and as executive VP and CFO from 2013 to 2015. Release (PDF)

> Laurent Chardonnet has been named CFO for Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Axcella Health. In addition, Axcella's VP of legal, Heidy King-Jones, has been tapped as general counsel. Chardonnet joins Axcella after 15 years at Incyte, where he served as VP, treasurer and principal accounting officer as well as the head of finance and administration for the company’s European division. Release

> Eagan, Minnesota-based Prime Therapeutics has named Christine Bent as its COO. Bent comes to Prime after serving as senior VP of operations at Allina Hospital and Clinics. Prior to that, she held executive operational roles at Minnesota-based Minneapolis Heart Institute and Atrius Health in Massachusetts. Release

> Panthera Biopartners has appointed Jane Restorick as CCO. Restorick most recently served as COO and chief patient officer at Synexus Clinical Research. Since leaving Synexus in 2018, Restorick has been a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry with her own company, Arion Consulting Services. 

> South San Francisco-based CODA Biotherapeutics has tapped Annahita Keravala, Ph.D., as senior VP of gene therapy. The company also announced the promotions of Orion Keifer, M.D., Ph.D., to VP of discovery and translational research, and Steve Dodson, Ph.D., to VP of pharmacology and early development. Release