Cerevel hires former Translate Bio head Renaud as new CEO
03 May 2023
Executive ChangeAcquisitionPhase 3Clinical ResultIPO
Dive Brief:
Biotechnology industry veteran Ron Renaud will take over the top job at Cerevel Therapeutics after a series of delays producing clinical trial results shook investor confidence in the company.
Renaud will replace Tony Coles as CEO on June 12, Cerevel said Wednesday. Coles will continue in his post as chairman of the board. In the company’s statement, Coles said he believes Renaud is ideally suited to lead CerevelCerevel, a developer of drugs for brain diseases, in the “next phase of our journey.”
Cerevel expects results from seven studies of experimental drugs in 2024, among them a closely watched schizophrenia medicine known as emraclidine. The biotech also said it has plenty of cash to support that research and fund operations into 2025.
Dive Insight:
Renaud comes to Cerevel with a proven track record spanning more than 25 years in the industry. While the change in top management might surprise some investors, it’s ultimately a positive move, Stifel analyst Paul Matteis wrote in a Wednesday note to clients.
The company has also drawn interest for its work developing a drug to target schizophrenia in a new way. The approach has been validated by another biotech, Karuna Therapeutics, which found success in two Phase 3 studies. Cerevel’s drug, emraclidine, has also shown positive results in an early study.
But Cerevel shares plummeted in late February after the company said data expected this year from trials of experimental medicines for epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and dementia-related apathy would be delayed until 2024. While the company’s stock has largely recovered, new leadership may help reassure investors.
The incoming CEO is “well known by the investor community” and has a reputation for being accessible to Wall Street, Matteis said.
Renaud’s executive bona fides come from his stints as CEO of Translate Bio and Idenix Pharmaceuticals. Starting in 2007, Renaud served in roles including chief financial officer, chief business officer and CEO at Idenix, which focuses on hepatitis C medicines. Under his tenure, Idenix went from a company with a market value of $300 million to one valued at $3.85 billion in a 2014 takeover by Merck, Cerevel said.
In 2014, he became chairman and CEO of a startup called RaNA Therapeutics and oversaw its transition to a public company named Translate Bio that sold to Sanofi in 2021 for $3.2 billion. Most recently, Renaud was a partner at Bain Capital Life Sciences, starting in Sept. 2022.
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