Welcome to this week's Chutes and Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please send the good word--or the bad--from your shop to Eric Sagonowsky (email) or Angus Liu (email), and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Teva appoints David Stark as CLO amid DOJ’s price-fixing investigation
Teva
David Stark joins the exec leadership team as CLO.
As one of a number of generics companies currently under price manipulation investigation by the Department of Justice, it’s probably a wise step for Teva to gear up its legal team. David Stark, former deputy chief legal officer, has just been promoted to CLO, replacing Richard Egosi. Since he joined Teva’s legal team in 2002, Stark has had “a number of key achievements including the successful negotiation and close of Actavis Generics and Anda, and a series of key legal wins,” said Teva President and CEO Erez Vigodman in a statement. “He has shown the leadership capabilities needed to provide Teva with the best counsel it requires in order to … navigate any challenges we encounter along the way.” The ongoing DOJ investigation could possibly lead to collusion charges against about a dozen companies and their execs. Release | Read more at FiercePharma
Another two in-house exec appointments made at Endo
Endo
Terrance Coughlin was named EVP and COO.
Quite a few exec shake-ups have been going on at Endo after the drugmaker saw a significant slump in its stock value. In late September, it replaced former CEO Rajiv De Silva with Paul Campanelli, who joined the company last year as part of the acquisition of Par Pharmaceutical, which became Endo’s U.S. generics operation; then it bid farewell to former EVP and CFO Suketu Upadhyay; now, it is appointing Terrance Coughlin as EVP and COO, and Tony Pera as head of Par. Coughlin formerly served as VP of operations for Par and had been working closely with Campanelli for 25 years. Prior to joining Par, he had held several leadership roles with Glenmark Generics. Pera joined Par in February 2014 as part of Par’s acquisition of JHP Pharmaceutical and became CCO of Par. Release | Read more at FiercePharmaManufacturing
Neon Therapeutics recruits former Lilly vet Dr. Richard Gaynor as president of R&D
Neon Therapeutics
Dr. Richard Gaynor becomes president of R&D.
Neon Therapeutics, an immuno-oncology company developing neoantigen-based therapeutic vaccines and T cell therapies to treat cancer, has just put former Eli Lilly vet Dr. Richard Gaynor in charge of the company’s R&D. Gaynor, who will be succeeding interim CSO Dr. Robert Tepper, has previously chaired the Lilly Oncology R&D Committee and held senior roles at Lilly’s oncology division for about 15 years before retiring recently as SVP of global product development and medical affairs. Prior to a career in the industry, Dr. Gaynor had decades of experience in academia, spending nine years on the faculty at UCLA School of Medicine and 11 years at UT Southwestern Medical School. Release
> After about a month as interim CEO, Thomas Lienard has officially become Bone Therapeutics’ head. FierceBiotech
> Oncolytics Biotech announced the appointment of Dr. Andres Gutierrez to the role of CMO. Release
> Rich Bagger, EVP of corporate affairs and market access at Celgene, is listed among President-elect Donald Trump’s potential cabinet-level appointments as a candidate for secretary of HHS. Story
> Fibrocell, an autologous cell and gene therapy company focused on dermatology diseases, appoints Dr. Alfred Lane as chief medical adviser. Release
> Medical devices startup Forus Health brings on board former Johnson & Johnson vets Cliff Wright and Armond Dantino as EVP of North America and senior director of North America’s sales and marketing, respectively. Story
> Gene therapy company AvroBio expands its senior management team with the hiring of Dr. Nerissa Kreher as CMO for rare diseases, Kathryn McNaughton as SVP of portfolio and program management and Richard Pfeifer as director of preclinical development. Release
> Germany-based cerebrovascular diseases expert Vasopharm appoints Dr. Irina Antonijevic as CMO. Release
> Fortress Biotech launched traumatic brain injuries subsidiary Cellvation, which will be helmed by Frank Taffy, formerly of Forest Laboratories, now Allergan. Story