After 13 years, Ramy Mahmoud steps into CEO seat at Optinose; Rupert Vessey set to exit Bristol Myers in July

03 Feb 2023
endpts.com
Phase 3Executive ChangeClinical ResultVaccine
After 13 years as president and COO at Optinose , Ramy Mahmoud has stepped into a new role as its CEO. He is taking the place of Peter Miller , who stepped down earlier this week, though Miller is still staying with the company as a consultant. In 2010, the two business partners joined Optinose to take it in a new direction, transforming it from a delivery platform to product company. They previously worked together at Johnson & Johnson , when Miller was president at Janssen and Mahmoud headed medical affairs. Miller said after he learned about Optinose, “I did what I always do, which is find people smarter than me to talk with about the idea. And the first person I called was Ramy … and I said, ‘Hey, Ramy, what do you think of this technology?’” Optinose outlicensed its first product, a nasal spray for migraines, while it kept its second — a spray for nasal polyps known as Xhance . Last year, OptinoseOptinose unveiled Phase III data on an expanded indication in chronic sinusitis. The wider indication could expand the patient population for Xhance by 10 times, according to Mahmoud and Miller. But for the next leg of the process, Mahmoud will be at the helm. Optinose plans to submit for a supplementary indication this month, which Mahmoud said could bring its drug from specialists to primary care providers. “It’s not a disease a lot of people know about, although it’s really common — 30 million people in the US. But as one patient once told me, it’s a Rodney Dangerfield disease: It doesn’t get any respect, because it rarely causes fatality, but it causes an awful lot of burden of morbidity,” Mahmoud said. Optinose recently also hired Paul Spence as chief commercial officer, and is currently preparing for the wider indication, including potentially finding a partner to expand its reach in the primary care space. As for Miller, he said that his immediate next step is to take some time with his family, especially his three grandkids. He floated the idea of doing a bike trip in Europe. But, he said, he will probably find his way back to entrepreneurship soon. “I don’t sit still very well, ” Miller said, chuckling. — Lei Lei Wu → According to an SEC filing on Jan. 29, Rupert Vessey is stepping down as research and early development chief at Bristol Myers Squibb on July 3. Vessey carried this title with him from Celgene after it was sold to Bristol Myers for $74 billion in late 2019, and since that time he’s helped swing deals with Dragonfly , Immatics and Volastra , among other companies. Bristol Myers CEO Giovanni Caforio said on this week’s Q4 earnings call that CMO Samit Hirawat will lead a consolidated early- and late-stage development team once Vessey leaves the pharma giant. Vessey was a drug discovery exec with GSK and Merck , then pivoted to Celgene in 2015. → While we have Dragonfly on our minds, the Bill Haney TriNKET biotech has appointed Keytruda vet Joseph Eid as president of R&D. Eid was in charge of Keytruda’s global clinical development during an eight-year run at Merck that ended in 2017 as head of oncology global medical affairs. From there he led medical affairs at Bristol Myers, but turned away from Big Pharma in 2021 to join Jiangsu Hengrui spinoff Luzsana Biotechnology as CMO and head of global drug development. Along with Eid’s former employers at Merck and BMS, Dragonfly has TriNKET collabs with AbbVie and Gilead already in the works. → The latest ingredient to the Roche leadership recipe has been added with Teresa Graham ’s promotion to CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals in March. Graham succeeds Bill Anderson and spent 14 years in a plethora of roles at Genentech before becoming head of global product strategy in May 2019. With the group CEO transition from Severin Schwan to Thomas Schinecker a month away, Roche also brought CMO and global product development chief Levi Garraway into the fold as part of the corporate executive committee. Anderson left on Dec. 31 and we’ll keep our eyes peeled for where he turns up next. → Following the $1.25 billion Amryt Pharma buyout that was announced during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, Italian pharma Chiesi has lined up a permanent group CEO. Giuseppe Accogli will take over for Ugo Di Francesco on April 3 and had resigned as COO of Baxter at the start of this year, two days before the company formally announced plans to split its kidney care and acute therapies global business units — falling in line with the recent consumer health spinouts executed by J&J and GSK. Accogli was closely associated with the renal division in several posts throughout his 15-year run with Baxter. Marco Vecchia has been bridging the gap as interim chief and will again lead legal and corporate affairs, a position he has held since 1987. → Keith Dionne has called it quits as CEO of Third Rock ’s Casma Therapeutics but is staying on the board of directors. Frank Gentile , the COO at Casma since May 2018, was elevated to chief executive on Jan. 13. Gentile was a venture partner at Third Rock before jumping to Casma, which has raised more than $154 million in three separate financing rounds. In a 2020 interview with Endpoints, Dionne described Casma’s focus on autophagy, the Waste Management of cell processes. “If you imagined your house, where you plug up the garbage disposal, plug up the toilets and stop taking out the trash, you would find, probably fairly quickly, the house would become unlivable. And that’s essentially the same thing that happens inside of a cell,” Dionne told Nicole DeFeudis at the time of Casma’s $50 million Series B . “If we don’t have these mechanisms of maintaining homeostasis to clear out materials that were maybe used once, or maybe mutated to begin with but otherwise built up inside of the cell — the cell becomes dysfunctional.” → Fresh Tracks Therapeutics — the Boulder, CO company known as Brickell Biotech until a September 2022 revamp — has tapped Andrew Sklawer as CEO. Sklawer helped co-found the biotech with chairman Reginald Hardy and was COO in addition to his duties as president. Fresh Tracks hopes to read out Phase I data “by early 2023” on its oral DYRK1A inhibitorDYRK1A inhibitor FRTX-02 . → Remember MiMedx ? In case you didn’t, just a little refresher: Back in 2020 , MiMedx had two of its former executives, CEO Parker Petit and COO William Taylor , convicted of conspiracy and fraudulently boosting company sales. Now, nearly three years later and looking to put all that behind them, the company has picked up Joseph Capper as CEO. Capper is taking over from Todd Newton , who has been serving in the interim since September 2022 and will remain on the board of directors. This isn’t Capper’s first time as a CEO, having served in the role at BioTelemetry , Home Diagnostics and CCS Medical . Earlier in his career, Capper served in a variety of roles during his decade-long stint at Bayer . → In the spring of 2021, we told you about Christopher Wright joining AavantiBio as part of CEO Bo Cumbo ’s hiring bonanza. AavantiBio has since merged with Duchenne player Solid Bio and all the baggage that comes with it — from previous clinical holds to trial flops — and now Wright will join gene therapy biotech Ring Therapeutics as CMO and head of translational research on Feb. 7. Before his stint with AavantiBio, Wright was chief development officer for Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and CMO of its spinoff Cyclerion . Ring has raised $167 million since its 2019 launch; is Tuyen Ong ’s squad due for another round? → Nadège Pelletier is taking up the mantle as CSO of AstraZeneca ’s Covid-19 vaccineCovid-19 vaccine collaborator Vaccitech upon the retirement of Tom Evans , who will still have a consulting role. Pelletier is a seven-year Roche vet who owns further Big Pharma credentials as senior principal scientist (autoimmunity, transplantation & inflammation) with the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research . Bill Enright has been at the controls at Vaccitech since Evans shifted from CEO to CSO in August 2019. → The road has been lined with potholes for Athira Pharma , which has grappled with the data manipulation scandal involving ex-CEO Leen Kawas , a Phase II miss with its Alzheimer’s med, and a board kerfuffle with Kawas ally Ric Kayne . Looking to turn its fortunes around in 2023, Athira has promoted Kevin Church to CSO. After his years in the Palouse at Washington State University, Church headed west to Bothell-based Athira in 2016 as a research scientist and he’s steadily climbed through the ranks ever since, earning his previous promotion to EVP of research in November 2021. → Eric Ostertag will have an even more reduced presence at Poseida , resigning as chairman of the San Diego gene therapy player but offering his expertise “on technical and scientific matters” in a consulting role. Mark Gergen succeeded Ostertag as CEO almost exactly a year ago. → Karuna Therapeutics , arguably the gold medalist in the positive-data-to-public-offering Olympics, will bring William Kane on board as chief commercial officer on Feb. 6. Kane previously appeared in this space when he was named to the same post at BioXcel in June 2020, and the former Allergan exec also had an 18-year run at Pfizer that included the product launches of Vraylar and Ubrelvy , among other drugs. A Phase III study yielded positive results with Karuna’s schizophrenia drug KarXT , clearing a path for an eye-popping raise totaling $862.5 million in August. → Synthetic lethality player Aprea Therapeutics has found a new CFO as Scott Coiante leaves “to pursue other opportunities.” John Hamill spent two and a half years as finance chief of Windtree Therapeutics before coming to Aprea, which reprioritized its pipeline and took its p53 reactivator eprenetapopt off the board after the consumption of Atrin Pharmaceuticals in May 2022. “We currently have no ongoing clinical trials of eprenetapopt,” Aprea said in a November release , after the drug’s clinical hold was lifted nearly a year earlier. Its new lead asset is the ATR inhibitorATR inhibitor ATRN-119 . Aprea also changed CEOs, with Atrin chief Oren Gilad replacing Chris Schade . While keeping the role of chairman at Aprea, Schade has also joined Flagship Pioneering this week as growth partner. Before he was named president and CEO at Aprea, Schade was the chief executive for two companies that drew the eye of Big Pharmas: Novira (sold to J&J) and Omthera Pharmaceuticals (sold to AstraZeneca). → Fairooz Kabbinavar has signed on as CMO of Cardiff Oncology , which is developing the PLK1 inhibitorPLK1 inhibitor onvansertib for a range of cancers but scrapped its study in prostate cancer back in September. Kabbinavar has worked on Tecentriq as Genentech’s principal I/O medical director, and subsequent gigs include stops at Puma Biotechnology (SVP of clinical R&D) and Huyabio (global head of R&D). → Patrick Fabbio was part of the cleanup efforts at Rafael Holdings after its pancreatic cancer drug suffered a Phase III bomb in November 2021, but he’s moved on to cancer and rare disease biotech Protara Therapeutics as CFO. Fabbio, who held the dual roles of president and CFO at Rafael, is a board member at BeyondSpring and the ex-finance chief at WindMIL Therapeutics . → Aprecia Pharmaceuticals has pulled in Owen Murray to help run the ship as CEO. Murray hails from Recordati Rare Diseases , where he was VP of North American technical operations and quality assurance. Before that, Murray was with Cardinal Health , Lundbeck and Ovation Pharmaceuticals . → Teaming up on mRNA vaccines with Emergent BioSolutions , Calgary-based Providence Therapeutics has welcomed Robert Georgantas as president and chief technology officer. Georgantas is the ex-director of immunology at AbbVie’s Genomics Resource Center and was elevated to CSO of lung disease diagnostic specialist Biodesix last year. → In the ramp-up to the clinic for its T cell therapy candidate BSB-1001 , Pittsburgh’s BlueSphere Bio has installed Erkut Bahceci as CMO. After leadership posts at Astellas from 2010-20, Bahceci set off for Takeda as head of clinical science, then was promoted within a year to SVP and head of oncology development. → Cashing in on the radiopharma craze with a €25 million Series A in June 2022, Germany’s Ariceum Therapeutics has recruited Germo Gericke as CMO. Gericke spent 21 years with Novartis , and from 2020-22, he was CMO of the Swiss pharma’s subsidiary Advanced Accelerator Applications , the original home of the radiotherapy Lutathera . Novartis has since added Pluvicto to its pipeline of approved radioligand drugs. → Jonathan Lieber has been appointed CFO of Rallybio , Martin Mackay ’s rare disease biotech that linked arms with AbCellera on antibodies and grabbed an anemia drug from Sanofi last year. Lieber brings plenty of CFO experience from such companies as Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation ( acquired by Syncona last fall) and Repligen . He also sits on the board of Salarius Pharmaceuticals . → North Carolina-based vTv Therapeutics has called upon Elizabeth Keiley to be EVP and general counsel. She comes to the diabetes biotech from AstraZeneca’s old antibiotics spinout Entasis Therapeutics — which went private in May 2022 thanks to Innoviva — where she also held the role of general counsel. → Last we heard from Ocugen last September, the Pennsylvania-based company was entering a licensing deal to commercialize its “universal” intranasal covid vaccine. Now, the company has brought aboard Quan Vu as CBO. Vu joins the team from 180 Life Sciences , where he served as COO/CBO. Prior to that, Vu had gigs with Melius BioPharma Consulting , Opiant Pharmaceuticals , Impax Laboratories, Anthem and Amgen . → Swedish-based Cantargia has picked its next CFO in Patrik Renblad . Renblad will be taking over for Bengt Jöndell and the company says he will assume the role by August 2023 at the latest. Renblad currently serves as CFO of SynAct Pharma and previously had a decade-long stint at Leo Pharma and a gig at AstraZeneca. → Focused on cell engineering tech, Avectas is elevating one of its board members, Ann Brady , to the role of the company’s CBO. Brady has been with the board since 2016 and will continue to serve in her seat. Most recently, Brady was president, Theravance Biopharma Ireland and had prior roles at Shire. → Way back in 2018, low-profile Adrenomed secured a $27 million financing round to prep for human trials for its septic shock treatment. Now, the German-based company has enlisted Stephen Witte as CMO. Witte comes along from Atriva Therapeutics , where he was VP of clinical science & operations. Prior roles include VP clinical trials at Breath Therapeutics and head of clinical development and regulatory affairs at Inotrem . → CRO ProtaGene has welcomed two new faces to its leadership team with the appointments of Jennifer Chadwick as CSO and Owen Hitchins as CCO. Chadwick most recently served as VP of analytical development at BioAnalytix and, before that, was a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Kansas. Meanwhile, Hitchins has held a variety of roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific , Indigo Biosystems and Covance , among others. → ReCode Therapeutics topped off its Series B with a $120 million extension last May, and now the Menlo Park, CA biotech has selected April Loui as SVP of quality and CMC regulatory affairs. A Genentech and Bayer alum, Loui was senior director of CMC clinical quality operations at Gilead before joining Alector in 2020 as VP of quality. ReCode is hitting primary ciliary dyskinesia and cystic fibrosis first with its lipid nanoparticle platform. → Medtronic , the company whose insulin pumps were flagged as vulnerable to hackers by the FDA last September, has promoted Michael Blackwell to India VP. Blackwell replaces Madan Krishnan, who will be assuming a global role within the company. Blackwell has been with Medtronic since 2006. → Led by Novartis Gene Therapies vet Lisa Deschamps , London-based AviadoBio has plugged in a new chairman for its board of directors. Ex- Surface Oncology chief Jeff Goater is on interim CEO duty at Atavistik Bio and is a venture partner with The Column Group . → Ztalmy maker Marinus Pharmaceuticals has added Excision BioTherapeutics CFO Christine Silverstein to the board of directors. Silverstein is also a board member at Abeona Therapeutics , where she was promoted to CFO during her four years with the biotech. → Leaps by Bayer ’s senior director of venture investments health Rakhshita Dhar is bounding over to the board of directors at Vesigen Therapeutics . Leaps co-led Vesigen’s $28.5 million Series A with Morningside Ventures in July 2020. → Scancell , an I/O biotech out of the UK, has named Jean-Michel Cosséry as non-executive chairman, replacing John Chiplin . The one-time GE Healthcare marketing chief was VP for North America oncology during his five years at Eli Lilly . → While securing $20 million from a Series A , Boston startup Ratio Therapeutics is also picking up Susan Whoriskey for its board of directors. Whoriskey brings experience from her times at Vera Therapeutics , Moderna , Momenta Pharmaceuticals and Cubist Pharmaceuticals . → Go for launch: Vaxxinity is moving from Dallas to Cape Canaveral, FL and adding to the board of directors along the way. The four new members are Katherine Eade , Landon Ogilvie , James Smith , and ex- Tesla chief people officer Gaby Toledano , bringing the total to nine after the resignations of James Chui and Greg Blatt .
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