Roche vet leaves Nordic Nanovector 3 months after joining as CEO

Peter Braun is leaving Nordic Nanovector three months after joining the company as CEO. Nordic Nanovector attributed Braun’s departure to “personal reasons” and named its chief financial officer to the top job on an interim basis.

In March, Nordic Nanovector hailed the appointment of Braun as the realization of its ambition to find a strong commercial CEO capable of driving the CD37-targeting antibody-radionuclide-conjugate Betalutin toward a regulatory filing. Braun landed the role on the strength of a résumé dominated by almost 30 years at Roche.

Yet, Braun’s spell at Nordic Nanovector has been considerably shorter. Having started work on April 6, Braun is now leaving. Nordic Nanovector said Braun is leaving for personal reasons and offered no further explanation.

Malene Brondberg is stepping into the role vacated by Braun on an interim basis. Brondberg joined  Nordic Nanovector in 2018 and stepped up to the chief financial officer post last year, generating a body of work that has persuaded the board she is the right person to fill the post on an interim basis. 

“As CFO, Malene has proved to be a highly competent leader and has played a key role in the overall management of the business, including raising the funding needed to progress the on-going PARADIGME study with Betalutin,” Jan Egberts, chairman of Nordic Nanovector, said in a statement.

Top-line data from the pivotal PARADIGME study in third-line follicular lymphoma are expected by the end of the year. The ability of Nordic Nanovector to hit that target was thrown into doubt by slow enrollment, but the company reported an uptick in the pace of patients entering the study earlier this year. Coupled with a reduction in the study population, the change increased confidence in the target.