→ Recursion
has hired
a new top doctor, bringing on
Vicki Goodman
as chief medical officer. Goodman previously served as CMO of the cancer biotechs
Exelixis
and
Mural Oncology
. She is taking over for
David Mauro
, who has been in the role for nearly three years. Goodman’s hiring is one of the biggest executive changes since
Najat Khan
took over
as CEO at the start of 2026.
→
Pablo Cagnoni
’s job title at
Incyte
has been modified
to president and global head of R&D, while longtime CMO
Steven Stein
will add to his responsibilities as head of late-stage development. CEO
Bill Meury
wasn’t done, naming
J&J
vet
Mohamed Issa
as head of US commercial. Issa had led the US oncology business and that won’t change with this role, but his leadership will extend to US immunology as well. Finally,
Matteo Trotta
— who came to Incyte in 2024 after 12 years at
Novartis
— is stepping down as US general manager, dermatology. Incyte has passed through Peer Review frequently since August, hiring a chief strategy officer, HR chief and general counsel.
→ Emil deGoma
is a first-time CMO
at
Braveheart Bio
, a new cardio bet that
raised
a $185 million Series A in November after
doing a deal
with
Hengrui
. The
Akebia
vet was SVP of medical research at
Tourmaline Bio
, which Novartis
bought last year
to boost a heart disease pipeline that already includes its blockbuster
Entresto
. “His background as an academic cardiologist and his industry experience advancing innovative medicines position him well to guide our clinical programs,” Braveheart CEO
Travis Murdoch
said in a statement. Murdoch
sold
HI-Bio
to
Biogen
in 2024, and Braveheart is now chaired by Biogen CEO
Chris Viehbacher
.
→ David Marek
quietly stepped down as CEO of
ReAlta Life Sciences
in October, according to his LinkedIn, and the Virginia-based biotech
has tapped
chairman
Howard Berman
as his successor. This is Berman’s first CEO appointment since he led
Coya Therapeutics
from 2020-24, and he has chaired the board at ReAlta since November. One more note:
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals
alum and ReAlta board member
Kia Motesharei
has been named president and COO. He had a short stint as an entrepreneur-in-residence at
Formation Bio
after more than two years with Madrigal as SVP, business & corporate development.
→ On March 30,
Jennifer Jarrett
will be
president and CEO of
Damora Therapeutics
, which was
purchased
by
Galecto
and will carry on under the Damora name.
Fairmount Funds
founding partner
Peter Harwin
will chair the board, while
Spyre Therapeutics
CEO
Cameron Turtle
and ex-
Blueprint Medicines
finance chief
Mike Landsittel
are the newest board members. Jarrett had been a key member of the team at
Arcus Biosciences
in two separate stints since 2017, including the last five-plus years as COO. From 2019-20, she was head of corporate development and capital markets for
Uber
. You can also find her on the board of directors at
Sagimet Biosciences
,
Syndax Pharmaceuticals
and
Zura Bio
.
→ There’s a changing of the guard at Basel-based
Anaveon
.
Andreas
Katopodis
is handing the CEO
keys
to
Thaminda
Ramanayake
, who was recently chief business officer at
CureVac
, the mRNA biotech that he helped merge with rival
BioNTech
.
Ramanayake
is also a venture partner at the investment fund
Entrée
Bioventures
. Anaveon is working on depleting pathogenic T cells for autoimmune diseases and inflammatory disorders. The company used to be clinical-stage with its
initial
goal of joining the
IL-2 race
, but that mission appears to have
ended
. Anaveon said it is backed by
Syncona
,
Forbion
,
Blue
Owl
,
Pontifax
and the venture arms of Novartis and
Pfizer
. Anaveon’s
chair
is former
Bayer
CEO
Dieter
Weinand
.
→
Two key execs
have made their way
to
Averna Therapeutics
, one of last year’s
Endpoints 11 winners
: CSO
Robert Mabry
worked for Averna CEO
Tom Barnes
in the same capacity at
Orna
Therapeutics
, and Mabry has also been global head of biologics for
Takeda
. And
Richard Morris
has another CFO assignment following stints at
Carisma Therapeutics
,
Passage Bio
and
Context Therapeutics
. Averna’s focus on “jumping genes” — also known as retrotransposons —
has additional competition
.
→
France’s
Abivax
turned an experimental HIV drug (
obefazimod
) into a much-anticipated inflammatory disease treatment. As it prepares to take obefazimod to regulators, it has hired nine-year Takeda veteran
Michael
Nesrallah
as its new chief commercial officer. Nesrallah filled multiple roles during his Takeda tenure, including general manager of Belgium, franchise head for IBD, leader of commercial operations for the US specialty business, and more.
Obefazimod’s clinical success
thus far in ulcerative colitis has drummed up M&A rumors. Alongside Nesrallah, Abivax also named
Keith Fournier
as SVP of global regulatory affairs and
Maurus de la Rosa
as SVP of research. Meanwhile,
Sofinnova
Partners
’
Kinam
Hong
stepped down from the board on March 19.
→ Led by ex-
Prevail
CEO
Asa Abeliovich
, neuro upstart
Leal Therapeutics
has brought in
Johannes Tauscher
as CMO, according to the search firm that helped with the appointment. Tauscher completed a dozen years with Takeda last summer and was the Japanese pharma’s global head of imaging. Leal
broke cover
in August with a $30 million Series A and a schizophrenia candidate called
LTX-001
.
→ ADARx Pharmaceuticals
has hopped aboard the banker-to-CFO train. The RNA startup
poached
Goldman
Sachs
healthcare investment banker
Ryan
Fisk
, who will be chief financial and business officer at the San Diego biotech. Multiple other private drug developers have hired bankers to lead finance and help them go public. ADARx is a likely IPO candidate, since it’s already in
Phase 3
with a hot drug modality, pharma validity with a major
AbbVie
pact
, and
backing
from blue-chip investors like
Bain Capital
and
TCGX
. Fisk
wrote
to his LinkedIn following that he believes ADARx can be a “generational biotech company.”
→ For the
third
time
this month
, Peer Review is bringing you news of a
Royalty
Pharma
hire. This time, decade-long
IQVIA
veteran
Lucas
Glass
is becoming Royalty’s head of AI. “By incorporating intelligent automation, advanced analytics and AI-driven decision support, we are strengthening how we evaluate and invest in royalties and support our partners,” CEO
Pablo
Legorreta
said in a statement
. Glass was most recently SVP of technology at IQVIA.
→ Rani Therapeutics
has selected
ex-
Radius Health
chief
Jesper Høiland
as head of strategy. Høiland spent three decades at
Novo Nordisk
, and when
Kelly Martin
succeeded him
at Radius Health, he became global chief commercial officer at
Ascendis Pharma
. He retired from Ascendis in 2022.
→ Mineralys Therapeutics
has recruited
Jeffrey Munsie
as chief legal officer. Munsie previously held this position at two biotechs that have been acquired:
Orbital Therapeutics
(bought by
Bristol Myers Squibb
) and
Concert Pharmaceuticals
(bought by
Sun Pharma
). Will Mineralys be added to the list? Its aldosterone synthase inhibitor
lorundrostat
is showing promise
in hypertension and has a Dec. 22 decision date with the FDA.
→ Atacicept
maker
Vera Therapeutics
also has
a new legal chief.
Jane Wright-Mitchell
spent more than two years with
Vaxcyte
as general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary, and she’s also worked on the legal teams at
Mesoblast
and
Purdue Pharma
. The FDA set a July 7 PDUFA date for atacicept in patients with IgA nephropathy.
→ Jennifer McDonough
is getting started
at
Palvella Therapeutics
as SVP of market access and patient services. McDonough was on the crew behind the commercial launch of the gene therapy
Vyjuvek
as SVP, patient access, analytics & operations at fellow Pennsylvania drugmaker
Krystal Biotech
.
→
Endpoints 11 winner
Umoja Biopharma
has welcomed
Avenzo Therapeutics
CEO
Athena Countouriotis
to the board of directors, along with Massachusetts General Hospital’s
Marcela Maus
. Countouriotis ran
Turning Point Therapeutics
until Bristol Myers scooped it up in 2022, and she’s also a board member at
BioMarin
,
Iovance
and
Recludix Pharma
, among others.
→ CAMP4 Therapeutics
has elected
Michael MacLean
to the board of directors. MacLean is mapping out his next chapter after nearly six years as CFO of
Avidity Biosciences
, the RNA specialist
that was sold
to Novartis for $12 billion.
→ After retiring from
Morgan Stanley
in February,
Jessica Chutter
has joined
the board of directors at
PTC Therapeutics
. Chutter had a 40-year career with Morgan Stanley, where she had been managing director and chair of biotechnology investment banking.
Andrew Dunn also contributed to this edition.