Laura Gault
Late last year,
Sage
’s chief medical officer
Stephen Kanes
left to head a new depression drug developer in
Ancora
. Now, one year later, Sage
has finally found his replacement
in
Laura Gault
.
Gault comes to Sage from
Alexion
,
AstraZeneca
’s rare disease arm, where she was head of neurology and ophthalmology and led the
Ultomiris
program for myasthenia gravis and NMOSD. In April, Ultomiris was
approved
for adults with myasthenia gravis.
In moving to Sage, Gault returns to her roots as a psychiatrist. “Perhaps what’s most interesting to me about the Sage pipeline is that it enables us to actively try to address critical areas of brain health where we haven’t seen true innovation in years. As a psychiatrist who has helped many people suffering from depression, it is very exciting to look at the potential of
zuranolone
to get people better quickly and keep them better without chronic treatment,” she said in an email to
Endpoints News
, referring to Sage’s late stage depression prospect.
Gault is only five days into her new role, but she has a lot ahead of her as Sage is trying to get the
Biogen
-partnered zuranolone approved for major depressive disorder. Sage and Biogen are touting their drug as a potential acute treatment for depression episodes instead of for chronic maintenance — an aspect that Gault said excited her about working on zuranolone.
In a
Phase III study
, Sage and Biogen found their drug led to a significant change on a depression rating scale compared to a placebo arm after three days. But going out to 15 days, differences were not statistically significant — sparking durability concerns. To assuage said durability concerns, Sage has put out more data on the drug, looking at the occurrence of repeat treatments.
Ahead of FDA filing, Sage and Biogen tout more data in hopes of alleviating durability concerns
Sage and Biogen are also testing the drug for postpartum depression.
—
Lei Lei Wu
Dannielle Appelhans
→ It’s a full-on red alert at a
Flagship
biotech that had tried to take red blood cells to the next level.
On Nov. 15, COO
Dannielle Appelhans
will take over for
Pablo Cagnoni
as president and CEO of
Rubius
, which is chopping more than 80% of its staff and is mulling a sale or merger of what’s left. CFO
Pepe Carmona
and chief legal officer
Maiken Keson-Brookes
have also been shown the door in the second huge staff reduction we’ve seen here in the last couple months: Rubius told 75% of the workforce
to pack their bags in September
after
massively underwhelming data at AACR
made investors head for the hills. Cagnoni will stay on as chairman, ending
Noubar Afeyan
’s brief run. John Carroll
offers more perspective
on these sweeping changes.
Daniel O’Connor
→ You can’t say that
Kate Hermans
’ turn as interim CEO of
Ambrx Biopharma
was uneventful: On her watch, the San Diego ADC developer
trimmed 15% of the workforce
and tossed its HER2 drug into the wastebasket now that
Enhertu
has separated itself from the pack.
Daniel O’Connor
walks in as the permanent CEO
at Ambrx, with a heightened focus on its anti-PSMA ADC
ARX517
. Formerly the CEO of
OncoSec Medical
and
Advaxis
, O’Connor also founded a SPAC called
Larkspur Health Acquisition Corp.
and is on the board of directors at
Seelos Therapeutics
.
Feng Tian
had been with Ambrx for nearly 18 years — rising to CEO in July 2018 —
before stepping down in August
.
→
Charles McWherter
has been promoted
to president of R&D at
CymaBay
while juggling the CSO duties he’s held at the biotech since 2013. McWherter came to CymaBay as SVP of R&D 15 years ago from
Pfizer
, where he was the pharma giant’s VP and head of the cardiovascular therapeutics research areas. The fatty liver disease NASH has foiled CymaBay repeatedly with
setback
after
setback
, but McWherter and the team are nothing if not persistent with
seladelpar
, testing the drug in patients with primary biliary cholangitis.
Arturo Molina
→ It didn’t require a lot of waiting to find out
Arturo Molina
’s next gig: After his departure from
Sutro Biopharma
last week, Molina
will be the CMO
at
Protagonist Therapeutics
effective Nov. 7. Molina, the medical chief at Sutro since 2016, is now tasked with directing Protagonist’s Phase III trial of
rusfertide
in polycythemia vera. Last year, the drug quickly pitched out of a jam when the FDA
lifted a full clinical hold
that
it had delivered
just 25 days before. Further down the pipeline, the biotech’s ulcerative colitis drug
PN-943
whiffed in a Phase II trial, but CEO
Dinesh Patel
was undeterred. “The fact is, the primary endpoint was missed,” Patel
told Max Gelman in April
. “The truth is, we believe this drug works.”
Frank Stegmeier
→
KSQ Therapeutics
chief scientist
Frank Stegmeier
wrote on LinkedIn
that he’ll be leaving to take the CSO job at an
Alexis Borisy
joint named
Curie.Bio
. As Stegmeier explains it, Curie.Bio is “a founder-focused, seed-stage venture firm with a unique model bringing extensive company building and drug discovery know-how and expertise to founders and co-piloting companies on their journey from seed to a successful Series A,” making sure to include the hashtag #FreeTheFounders in his note.
Moncef Slaoui (AP)
→ Is
Moncef Slaoui
on the comeback trail? In March 2021, a
GSK
staffer
accused Slaoui of sexual harassment
and inappropriate conduct, leading to
his resignation
at
several posts
, including his new CSO appointment at
Centessa
, a biotech that’s been on thin ice after dropping its lead program. But the ex-Operation Warp Speed chief advisor
has resurfaced
as a member of health testing upstart
ixlayer
’s advisory board. With his “leave of absence” from “current professional responsibilities” apparently over, Slaoui is choosing to return in this capacity alongside former Veterans Affairs Secretary
David Shulkin
,
Paul Martino
,
Craig Lipset
and
Marcus Osborne
.
John Maraganore
→ What’s Peer Review without a
John Maraganore
sighting? It doesn’t feel complete without one, and the Maraganore Meter is spiking again
as he chairs the board
of
GNS
. Pharmas like
Roche
,
Amgen
and
Servier
have called upon GNS and its AI capabilities, and Maraganore replaces
Timothy Thompson
after becoming a strategic advisor here in early June in one of his countless post-
Alnylam
appointments.
→ Dutch T cell engager biotech
Lava Therapeutics
pours into Peer Review
with
Fred Powell
as CFO. Powell just had the same title at
Antares Pharma
— now in the hands of
Halozyme
after a
$960 million buyout in April
— before hitting the C-suite at Lava,
which recently teamed up with
Seagen
on an EGFR candidate for $50 million upfront and up to $700 million overall with milestones included.
Kristen Harrington-Smith
→ First-year
ADC Therapeutics
CEO
Ameer Mallik
has found
two key pieces to the leadership puzzle with
Kristen Harrington-Smith
as chief commercial officer and
Peter Graham
as chief legal officer. It’s a quick turnaround for Harrington-Smith after
she appeared in Peer Review last year
as the new CCO of another ADC outfit,
ImmunoGen
, and she also has Big Pharma connections, closing out a 21-year career at
Novartis
in 2021 as head of US hematology. The
ImmunoGen release indicated
that Harrington-Smith left so she could be closer to home; VP of market access
Todd Talarico
will step in on an interim basis. Like Powell, Graham has left Antares, after spending seven years at the New Jersey biotech as general counsel, chief compliance officer, human resources and secretary. The first day for both execs will be Nov. 17.
Alan Fuhrman
→
Esther van den Boom
will no longer be the CFO of Carlsbad, CA-based cancer biotech
Tyra Biosciences
, setting the stage for
Alan Fuhrman
to succeed her at the beginning of 2023
. Fuhrman was a board member at
Checkmate Pharmaceuticals
when he vaulted to interim CEO
after
Barry Labinger
’s departure; six months later, Checkmate
was sold to
Regeneron
in a $250 million bargain. The ex-
Amplyx
CFO is on the board of directors at
Esperion
and
SpringWorks Therapeutics
.
→ Thought you had your fill of
Actinium
appointments last week? Think again: Hot on the heels of
hitting the primary endpoint
with its lead program
Iomab-B
in acute myeloid leukemia, the New York radiotherapy biotech
has installed
Big Pharma vet
Caroline Yarbrough
as chief commercial officer. Yarbrough comes to Actinium after seven years at Novartis — not staying for very long after getting elevated to portfolio general manager, US oncology — and she’s also held marketing roles at
Merck
,
Bristol Myers Squibb
and GSK. Actinium announced a busload of hires
in last week’s Peer Review
, including chief strategy officer
Jenny Hsieh
and VP of clinical development
Akash Nahar
.
Jill Howe
→ In June 2021,
we told you about
Jill Howe
taking the CFO job at
DTx Pharma
, but it’s time for DTx to start sifting through résumés: Howe
will be the finance chief
at California-based
Lineage Cell Therapeutics
starting Nov. 14. Howe spent a year with Amplyx as controller & director of finance, then reunited with
Sheila Gujrathi
and
Faheem Hasnain
as VP of finance and treasurer with
Gossamer Bio
after they all worked together at
Receptos
.
George Nomikos
→ In late September, Salt Lake City-based
Lipocine
decided to pivot
from its oral testosterone drug to CNS diseases in a move that helps the biotech “manage our resources efficiently,” CEO
Mahesh Patel
said at the time. To help support this change, Lipocine
has selected
George Nomikos
as CMO and named
Spyros Papapetropoulos
chairman of the board. Nomikos’ packed CV includes stops at Biogen, Sage,
Takeda
,
Astellas
, Amgen and
Eli Lilly
, and in February 2021, he was promoted to SVP, medical & clinical sciences and head of muscle therapeutics at
Scholar Rock
. Papapetropoulos, ex-
SwanBio
CEO and current
Vigil Neuro
CMO, joined Lipocine’s board in April.
Maryll Toufanian
→ In the process of
closing a Long Island manufacturing facility
,
Amneal Pharmaceuticals
has dismissed 13 employees at that site. Meanwhile, Amneal
has picked up
Reem Malki
as chief quality officer and
Maryll Toufanian
as SVP, regulatory strategy and policy. Malki is no stranger to this role from her days at
Alvotech
, and she’s also been head of global quality operations with
Mylan
. And Toufanian is a longtime FDA vet who was previously the director of the Office of Generic Drug Policy at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).
Judyanna Yu
→ To Canada we go: mRNA biotech
Providence Therapeutics
is about to push its Covid-19 vaccine candidate
PTX-COVID19-B
into a Phase III study as a booster — and
has named
Judyanna Yu
as its first CFO. Jumping on board from
Cerecin
, where she was VP of corporate finance, operations and development, Yu has also been CFO and COO at
Re-Stem Biotech
.
Adina Pelusio
→
Adina Pelusio
has signed on
as SVP of clinical operations at Pittsburgh oncolytic virus biotech
KaliVir
. Pelusio knows her way around the space after four years with
Turnstone Biologics
, where she had been promoted to SVP of clinical operations in March. Roche
teamed up with KaliVir
to develop oncolytic virus candidates in May, and although exact figures weren’t disclosed for that alliance, Astellas
did shell out $56 million upfront
for its own deal with KaliVir in December 2020.
Abdelaziz Toumi
→ Twelve-year
Merck KGaA
vet
Abdelaziz Toumi
has been named
CBO of CDMO
KBI Biopharma
and
Selexis
. Toumi joined
Catalent
in September 2021 as head of strategy execution, biologics and was quickly promoted to VP, head of the mRNA business and new ventures in February. He’s also been
Lonza
’s head of biologics sales for the EMEA region and head of commercial development.
→
Nestlé Health Science
enzyme therapy partner
Codexis
has welcomed
Margaret Fitzgerald
as chief legal officer and general counsel. Fitzgerald and CEO Stephen Dilly know each other well — Dilly was the chief executive at
Aimmune
while Fitzgerald was the company’s associate general counsel and privacy officer. After her nine years at
Genentech
, Fitzgerald also held legal posts at
ZS Pharma
(VP of corporate law, associate general counsel) and
Allakos
(general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer).
→
Cytek Biosciences
is tapping
Chris Williams
as COO. Williams comes aboard from
Thermo Fisher’s
pharma services group, where he served as VP of engineering, technology, operations and innovation. Earlier in his career at Thermo, Williams served as VP and general manager for single use technologies and VP and general manager for bioprocess equipment and automation.
→ New York-based
Lexeo Therapeutics
is bringing in
Eric Adler
as CSO. Adler joins the team with plenty of experience under his belt from sitting on the boards of
Rocket Pharmaceuticals
,
Ionis Pharmaceuticals
and
Sana
Biotechnology
.
Sylvie Peltier
→ Shanghai-based
CARsgen
has brought in
Sylvie Peltier
as SVP of global regulatory affairs. A
Teva
and Pfizer alum, Peltier comes to the CAR-T biotech after leading US regulatory affairs at
Servier
from 2018-20 and at
MorphoSys
since 2020.
→ VC firm
Longitude Capital
has promoted CFO
Carolyn Helms
to the role of managing director. From 2014 to September 2021 Helms served as chief compliance officer of Longitude. Additionally, Longitude has brought on
Lisa Chui
as VP of people. Chui formerly served as VP, head of people at Longitude’s portfolio company
Dascena
.
→
Morten Frederiksen
is becoming president
at
Grey Health & Wellness’
new EMEA office. Frederiksen comes aboard from
Ogilvy
, where he served as head of Ogilvy Denmark.
Lisa Deschamps
→ As we saw with
Compass Pathways
’
results in the
NEJM
this week
, psilocybin-based treatments are gaining traction — and
Reset Pharmaceuticals
is looking to capitalize on the trend with its own candidate for demoralization syndrome in cancer patients. Reset
has now made room for
AviadoBio
CEO
Lisa Deschamps
on the board of directors. While she was with Novartis, Deschamps was worldwide business head for neuroscience, then spent two years as CBO of
Novartis Gene Therapies
.
→ It was an arduous trek to get there, but
Novavax
finally got an EUA for its Covid-19 vaccine this summer, and this week the Gaithersburg, MD biotech
has appointed
Rick Rodgers
to the board of directors. Rodgers co-founded and was CFO, secretary and treasurer at
Tesaro
, which
GSK bought for $5.1 billion
almost four years ago.
Lisa von Moltke
→ Pruritus biotech
Cara Therapeutics
has added
Seres Therapeutics
CMO
Lisa von Moltke
to the board of directors. A former
Sanofi Genzyme
exec, von Moltke had led clinical development at
Alkermes
before moving on to Seres in April 2020.
→ Former Amneal chairman
Paul Bisaro
has carved out a path
to the board of directors at Salt Lake City’s
Myriad Genetics
. Bisaro now chairs the board at
Mallinckrodt
.
David Ryan
→
David Ryan
has replaced
founding member
Ansbert Gadicke
on the board of directors at
Cullinan Oncology
. Ryan started out at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1998, becoming clinical director in 2009 and then chief of the MGH Cancer Center three years later.
→
Don Nicholson
is retiring
from the board of directors at Kymera, while Biogen and AstraZeneca alum
Victor Sandor
takes a seat as the protein degradation shop’s newest board member. Sandor, the ex-CMO of
Array BioPharma
and former global clinical development chief at
Incyte,
can also be found on the boards of
Prelude Therapeutics
, ADC Therapeutics,
Istari Oncology
and
Merus
.
→
Mark Iwicki
’s eye disease biotech
Kala Pharmaceuticals
has elected
Marjan Farid
to the board of directors. The UC-Irvine clinical ophthalmology professor is also vice chair of ophthalmic faculty at the university’s Gavin Herbert Eye Institute.
Illustration: Kim Ryu for Endpoints News