Kite Vets Join Kyverna Therapeutics

This week's Chutes & Ladders provides a comprehensive overview of notable changes in leadership across the biotech industry. The roundup spans various companies and highlights significant executive movements.

Kyverna Therapeutics has appointed Warren Biddle as its new CEO. Biddle previously served as SVP and global head of commercial at Gilead Sciences' CAR-T unit Kite Pharma. He steps into the role vacated by Peter Maag, Ph.D., who resigned after two years. Biddle's tenure at Kite included serving as interim CEO following the departure of Christi Shaw, who is also joining Kyverna’s board. Shaw takes over from Brian Kotzin, M.D., who has stepped down.

Eyconis Inc. has named Mark Bachleda as its new CEO. Bachleda, who has held prominent positions at Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Juno Therapeutics, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, most recently worked as chief commercial officer at Galera Therapeutics. Eyconis, which focuses on treating eye diseases, was founded earlier this year by Ascendis Pharma and Frazier Life Sciences and was initially led by co-founder Emmett Cunningham, M.D., Ph.D., who will continue as executive chairman.

Structure Therapeutics is bolstering its executive team in preparation for a phase 2 trial of its oral small molecule GLP-1 agonist. Blai Coll, M.D., Ph.D., has been promoted to chief medical officer, replacing Mark Bach, M.D., Ph.D. Ashley Hall joins as the company's first chief development officer, coming from Reneo Pharmaceuticals where she served as CDO.

In other leadership changes, Karen Knudsen, Ph.D., is stepping down as CEO of the American Cancer Society and its affiliated Cancer Action Network. The organization’s board will conduct a national search for a new CEO by year’s end. IMU Biosciences has appointed Jason Brown, Ph.D., as CFO and John Baker, formerly of Abcam, as CEO. The current CEO, Adam Laing, Ph.D., will remain with the company as president and chief scientific officer.

Abata Therapeutics' chief technical officer Stephen Sofen, Ph.D., is retiring, with Joanne Beck, Ph.D., set to take over. 89bio has announced Teresa Perney, Ph.D., as its new chief regulatory and quality officer, coinciding with its lead candidate's phase 3 development. Ochre Bio's co-founder and CEO Jack O’Meara is leaving, with Eliot Forster, Ph.D., stepping in as executive chairman during the transition.

Nura Bio has promoted chief scientific officer and founding member Shilpa Sambashivan, Ph.D., to CEO as the company gears up for a phase 1b/2 study of its lead asset. Kentaro (Ken) Suzuki is departing Agilent Technologies to join Nautilus Biotechnology as chief marketing officer, where he will leverage his expertise in mass spectrometry.

Precision medicine firm Entact Bio has named Ruben Tommasi, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer to advance its mission of enhancing beneficial protein functions. HotSpot Therapeutics has brought on Alison O’Neill, M.D., from Surface Oncology as its new chief medical officer. Frazier Life Sciences is adding Adam Simpson to their company creation team as a venture partner; Simpson previously saw his company Icosavax acquired by AstraZeneca.

Finally, John Beeler, Ph.D., is moving from BMS to BPGbio, where he will serve as senior vice president of business development.

These leadership changes underscore the dynamic nature of the biotech industry, with companies continually adjusting their executive teams to better position themselves for future growth and innovation.