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None  Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Max Bayer or Gabrielle Masson, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.  Editor’s note: We won’t be publishing Chutes & Ladders next week on Nov. 25 due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but will be back to our regular schedule the following week. FDA pillar Janet Woodcock set to retire in early 2024 Food and Drug Administration The FDA has long been plagued by turnover, given the lucrative industry salaries that can lure career regulators away from Washington. But Janet Woodcock, M.D., has been an outlier, a stalwart leader of the organization who’s worn almost every hat in the drug development arm of the agency. That nearly 40-year career is coming to an end, however, with Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D., confirming her plans in an all-staff email posted by the agency’s spokesperson. Califf said Woodcock will depart early next year, though an exact timeline wasn’t mentioned. His message came after reports of her retirement broke.  “While no one can fill Janet’s shoes, I’ll share news about her successor in the future,” Califf wrote.  Woodcock’s career began in 1986 as director of the Division of Biological Investigational New Drugs at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) before leading the center’s Office of Therapeutics Research and Review. In 1994, Woodcock was named the director of CBER’s sibling, the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. She also at one point served as interim commissioner of the agency, from January 2021 to February 2022. The list of her accomplishments and contributions could be kept in a scroll. Califf called her a “legend in every sense of the word.” Tweet Madrigal swiftly names new CCO with potential launch imminent Madrigal  New Madrigal CEO Bill Sibold has landed on a commercial chief, bringing on a former colleague at Sanofi who helped lead the launch of blockbuster Dupixent. Carole Huntsman has taken the gig a little more than a month after Remy Sukhija departed shortly after Sibold’s arrival. Her arrival gives Sibold a critical executive partner with the FDA set to decide on the company’s nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) drug, resmetirom, by the middle of March 2024. And Huntsman is a familiar face, having worked with Sibold at Sanofi as SVP and head of speciality care, U.S. and North America lead. She directed some 2,600 employees on the rollout of numerous drugs, including Dupixent. The unit she led was responsible for more than $10 billion in net sales in 2022, just what Madrigal wants to hear and see as it plans to debut the first approved NASH treatment. Before joining Sanofi in 2012, Huntsman was SVP of U.S. neurology and rheumatology at EMD Serono and VP of U.S. marketing for the neurology unit at Serono. Source Alkeremes cancer spinout launches with $275M and a couple seasoned development execs Mural Oncology Alkermes has formally unveiled its new cancer spinout, Mural Oncology, equipped with $275 million in committed capital and interleukin-2 (IL-2) candidate aimed at solid tumors. The move has been in the works for about a year. Leading Mural will be a couple of veteran clinical artists, with Caroline Loew, Ph.D., set to take the CEO mantle and Vicki Goodman, M.D., hired as chief medical officer. Loew was previously the CEO of Glympse Bio and before that was head of R&D strategy and planning at Bristol Myers Squibb. Goodman was the chief medical officer at Exelixis after working at Merck for almost two years. Goodman and Loew overlapped at BMS for about three years, during which Goodman was a vice president. The two’s top priority will be nemvaleukin alfa, the asset atop Mural’s pipeline. The company says registrational trials are ongoing with initial readouts slated for the first quarter of 2025. Source > Two former Amgen scientists are joining Halia Therapeutics’ leadership team, with Lisa Shamon, Ph.D., taking on the role of VP of regulatory affairs and Xianne Penny, Ph.D., as senior medical director. Before joining Halia, Shamon held various roles across Alza Corporation, Exelixis, Aeglea BioTherapeutics, FivePrime Therapeutics and Amgen, while Penny served as Amgen’s senior principal clinical immunologist for more than five years. Release > Nereid Therapeutics has named Michael Kauffman, M.D., Ph.D., to serve as president and CEO, taking the reins from Apple Tree Partners venture partner and acting CEO Spiros Liras, Ph.D. Most recently, new Nereid leader Kauffman served as longtime CEO and co-founder of Karyopharm. Release > Wendye Robbins, M.D., will be taking the top spot at Incendia Therapeutics. With more than 20 years of industry experience under her belt, Robbins continues to also serve as an independent director for Rapt Therapeutics. Release > Memo Therapeutics has tapped Erik van den Berg to helm the antibody-focused biotech. Van den Berg joins from AM-Pharma, where he was CEO for 12 years, and succeeds Karsten Fischer, who led Memo for five years. Release > Nucleome Therapeutics has nabbed Stephen Harrison, Ph.D., to serve as chief scientific officer. Before joining Nucleome, Harrison held executive leadership positions at Engine Biosciences, Relypsa (divested to Galencia), Nektar Therapeutics and KAI Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Amgen). Release > Theseus Pharmaceuticals is shrinking its head count by 72%, including R&D head William Shakespeare, Ph.D., although he will continue to support the biotech in a consulting role until the end of June 2024. Fierce Biotech > Melissa Faris has departed GSK to take up a spot as OMass Therapeutics’ chief business officer. Faris spent years with the Big Pharma, most recently serving as VP and head of immunology business development. Release > 1910 Genetics has promoted SVP and Head of Chemistry Bridget Cole, Ph.D., to chief scientific officer. Before 1910, she served as Nocion Therapeutics’ SVP of drug discovery, and has held past roles at Axial Biotherapeutics, Flatley Discovery Lab, Surface Logix and Pfizer. Release > Noema Pharma has chosen Robert Lasser, M.D., to serve as the company’s chief medical officer. Most recently, Lasser served as an executive leader for Sage Therapeutics and has held past leadership roles across Medday Pharmaceuticals, Roche, Shire Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Takeda), Johnson & Johnson and Novartis. Release > IMIDomics is building out its leadership team, tapping Eric Perakslis, Ph.D., to serve as SVP and chief technology officer, and Ramon Felciano, Ph.D., to serve as strategic adviser in biomedical artificial intelligence and data science. Perakslis has held leadership roles at the FDA, Datavant, Takeda and Johnson & Johnson, while Felciano is the founder and CEO of Digital Alchemy. Release > Affini-T Therapeutics, an immunotherapy company planning an IPO in 2024, has appointed Kathy Bergsteinsson as chief financial officer. Bergsteinsson most recently served as managing director and head of healthcare equity capital markets for Morgan Stanley. Release > Attorney Graham Owens has been tapped to serve as executive director of the Rare Disease Company Coalition. Owens also serves as regulatory and oversight counsel for the Senate Small Business Committee. LinkedIn > Former venture partner at Versant Ventures and CEO of Inception Therapeutics Jeremy Caldwell, Ph.D., has joined Red Tree Venture Capital as a partner. Release > Ori Biotech is preparing for the commercial launch of its cell therapy manufacturing platform, tapping Gillian Bonthron to be chief financial officer and John Machulski to be chief operating officer as well as promoting Thomas Heathman, Ph.D., from VP of commercial operations to chief commercial officer. Bonthron joins with experience at Healx and Perspectum under her belt, while Machulski joins from Catalent and has past experience at Lonza, GE Life Sciences (now Cytiva), Sanofi, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. Release > Sofinnova Partners is bolstering its medtech leadership team, bringing on Mano Iyer as a partner and promoting Cécile Dupont to partner. Iyer is the founder of ReCor Medical, and Dupont has been with Sofinnova since 2019. Release 

Cole, who has 25-plus years of biopharmaceutical R&D experience and was previously SVP and Head of Chemistry for 1910, will lead the company’s research in small and large molecule drug discovery BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 1910 Genetics, the only biotech advancing small and large molecule drug discovery with an automated, multimodal AI platform, today announced the appointment of Bridget Cole to Chief Scientific Officer. Cole, who previously served as SVP and Head of Chemistry, will lead the biotech’s scientific research operations, set and advance research priorities, and work closely with 1910’s AI leadership to guide model and platform development with her drug development expertise. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Bridget Cole, Chief Scientific Officer at 1910 Genetics (Photo: Business Wire) Cole has over 25 years of drug discovery and clinical development experience, helping advance compounds from lead identification through late-stage clinical trials across a wide range of therapeutic areas. Her background as a chemist and leader of medicinal chemistry teams has made her a critical part, and cultural fit, for 1910 Genetics which is focused on generating drugs with both an optimal pharmacological pro molecular basis determined upfront. “Our ambition to generate small and large molecule drugs, using a multimodal AI and data-intensive platform, requires a seasoned but progressive drug developer and team leader like Bridget,” said Jen Nwankwo, Ph.D., Founder and CEO. “As Chief Scientific Officer, Bridget will take over additional research responsibilities internally and externally, engage directly with partners on scientific R&D, and support our vision to become the next Genentech – a true innovator in advancing modern drug discovery.” Before 1910 Genetics, Cole was SVP of Drug Discovery at Nocion Therapeutics where she led lead optimization programs to develop novel therapies for conditions associated with neurogenic inflammation, including a phase 2 drug candidate for chronic cough. Prior to Nocion, Cole held several biopharmaceutical R&D leadership positions including: VP of Medicinal Chemistry at Axial Biotherapeutics, where she developed microbiome-inspired therapies for neurodegenerative conditions; VP at Flatley Discovery Lab, where she led discovery programs and helped develop two clinical candidates for cystic fibrosis; VP at Surface Logix where she directed medicinal chemistry and supported development of three clinical programs; and Associate Director of Chemistry at Pfizer. A Boston native, Cole received her bachelor's degree in chemistry from Boston University, her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Brandeis University, and completed postdoctoral training at Boston College. She is also the co-inventor on 30 issued U.S. patents. “After an already rewarding career serving companies like Pfizer and Nocion to advance new medicines for patients, I was drawn to 1910 Genetics because of their unique approach to leveraging both wet lab data and AI methodologies for drug discovery, and, importantly, their highly talented team. I have never met anyone like Jen Nwankwo, and I love working with her and my 1910 colleagues to develop innovative solutions to merge technology with empirical biology to drive drug discovery programs,” said Bridget Cole. “I look forward to continuing to guide and grow this team as we engineer better treatments for patients and make undruggable targets a thing of the past.” Since launching in 2021, 1910 Genetics has raised $26.1 million in funding from M12-Microsoft’s Venture Fund, Playground Global, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and other leading investors. 1910 is currently one of the only biotech companies using Microsoft’s Azure Quantum Elements to bring quantum computing power to scientific discovery. The company continues to advance a pipeline of novel drug candidates on its own and in partnership with pharma and tech leaders. About 1910 Genetics 1910 Genetics is the only biotech company advancing small and large molecule drug discovery with an automated, multimodal AI platform. We integrate AI with three proprietary data streams – computational data, wet lab gold standard biological data and wet lab proxy biological data – to deliver novel drug candidates to leading pharma and tech partners, and advance our own pipeline for neurological, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. 1910 was launched in 2021 with a combined seed and Series A funding of $26.1M backed by M12-Microsoft’s Venture Fund, Playground Global, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and other leading investors. We have since established our HQ and lab facilities in Boston’s Seaport District and continue to hire a world-class team. To learn more visit 1910genetics.com.

Advisory Board includes recognized physicians, clinicians and scientists with deep expertise spanning multi-omic platforms, translational biology, drug discovery and clinical developmentNEWTON, Mass., Aug. 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Auron Therapeutics, a platform-based, product-driven biotechnology company focused on developing novel cancer therapies that target cellular plasticity, today announced the members of its scientific advisory board (SAB), comprised of distinguished physician-scientists, clinical investigators, and research & development veterans from world-leading cancer centers and biopharmaceutical companies. The most recent addition, Charles M. Rudin M.D., Ph.D., is the Chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). The SAB collaborates with Auron’s leadership to provide strategic guidance, as the company advances its proprietary platform and its research programs for both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. “Our scientific advisors are some of the most renowned international minds in oncology drug discovery and development, which speaks to the importance of our unique approach to cancer drug discovery and development,” said Kate Yen, Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer of Auron. “Together, they have an incredible wealth of knowledge and expertise that we can apply to maximize the power of our multi-omic platform and enable the potential of therapies targeting cellular plasticity in a range of cancers. This is an exciting time at Auron. We are honored to benefit from their expansive contributions to the field of oncology and appreciate their guidance as we advance our efforts to deliver transformational therapies for patients in need.” Auron’s proprietary platform is a multi-omic, AI-powered platform that combines computational and translational biology to understand the drivers of two hallmarks of cancer: cellular plasticity and dysregulated differentiation in cancer cells. Leveraging its platform, Auron aims to identify novel targets paired with patient selection and efficacy biomarkers, and ultimately, small molecule product candidates that target the drivers of altered cellular plasticity. “We have seen tremendous innovation in oncology over the last decade, including the advent of personalized targeted therapies and immunotherapy. However, we continue to struggle with acquired resistance to these therapies,” said Dr. Rudin, Chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service, Co-Director of the Druckenmiller Center for Lung Cancer Research, and Sylvia Hassenfeld Chair in Lung Cancer Research at MSK. “I am impressed by the sophistication of Auron’s platform, analyzing the plasticity of cancer cells as a key resistance mechanism. Auron is taking a distinct approach that is defining promising targets not previously identified or addressed. I am delighted to partner with the SAB, Kate and the Auron team, to maximize the full potential of this platform, with the ultimate goal of bringing forward more durably effective treatment options for our patients.” Auron’s Scientific Advisory Board Members Stéphane de Botton, M.D.Dr. de Botton is a physician, clinical investigator and head of drug development in acute leukemias in the Department of Hematology at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center in Villejuif, France. He also belongs to the research unit UMR 1170 for novel preclinical research. He is a member of the executive board of the Acute Leukemia French Association (ALFA) that focuses on the clinical and translational research in adult acute myeloid leukemia. Richard Chesworth, Ph.D.Dr. Chesworth is an entrepreneur in residence at Third Rock Ventures, focused on building new drug discovery and development companies. He has contributed to the research and development of thirteen different compounds entering clinical trials, resulting in two FDA-approved new molecular entities, including TAZVERIK® for the treatment of both epithelioid sarcoma and relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma. Dr. Chesworth previously served as chief scientific officer at Kymera Therapeutics, head of chemistry and senior vice president of research at Epizyme, head of chemistry at EnVivo, and principal scientist at Surface Logix and Pfizer. Ross L. Levine, M.D., Co-founder Dr. Levine is a member of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program and an attending physician on the Leukemia Service, Department of Medicine, the Laurence Joseph Dineen Chair in Leukemia Research with Special Emphasis on Leukemia in Children and Young People, Deputy Physician-In-Chief, Translational Research at MSK, and a professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. His laboratory has identified myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) predisposition alleles and characterized somatic genetic and epigenetic alterations in MPN and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, which has led to new mechanism-based therapies. In 2011, Dr. Levine was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and in 2018 to the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Levine is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Dameshek Prize from the American Society for Hematology, a Scholar Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Boyer Award for clinical investigation from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and an NCI Outstanding Investigator Award. Charles M. Rudin, M.D., Ph.D.Dr. Rudin is a medical oncologist at MSK specializing in the care of patients with lung cancer. He is the Chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service, Co-Director of the Druckenmiller Center for Lung Cancer Research, and Sylvia Hassenfeld Professor and Chair in Lung Cancer Research at MSK. Dr. Rudin also has chaired the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Small Cell Lung Cancer Research Consortium since its inception in 2015. He directs a broad program of therapeutic research, including preclinical and clinical investigations to identify and test novel therapeutic approaches to small cell and non-small cell lung cancer. Dr. Rudin is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including an NCI Outstanding Investigator Award, the NCI Director’s Service Award, and the Paul Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Mikhail (Misha) Roshal, M.D., Ph.D.Dr. Roshal is a practicing hematopathologist, associate attending physician, and Director of the Clinical Flow Cytometry Laboratory in the Department of Pathology at MSK. His major clinical expertise is in development of robust flow cytometry-based assays for assessment of treatment response of hematologic neoplasms. Dr. Roshal’s research interests are in molecular genetic characterization of treatment resistant and rare disease populations and in defining molecular genetic triggers of lineage infidelity and unusual differentiation pathways in acute leukemia. Kimberly Stegmaier, M.D.Dr. Stegmaier is a professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and the Ted Williams Chair at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and has advanced the application of genomics to drug and protein target discovery for pediatric malignancies. She is the Vice Chair for Pediatric Oncology Research, Co-director of the Pediatric Hematologic Malignancy Program, and an attending physician providing clinical care in Pediatric Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Stegmaier is also an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. She has served as a Council Member with the Society for Pediatric Research and as the Chair for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Pediatric Cancer Working Group. Dr. Stegmaier is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Joanne Levy, MD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement from the American Society of Hematology. Eytan M. Stein, M.D., Co-founderDr. Stein is the Chief of Leukemia Service in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies, associate attending physician, clinical investigator and Director of the Program for Drug Development in Leukemia at MSK. He conducts novel Phase 1 clinical trials of compounds that target the genetic and epigenetic basis of myeloid malignancies and serves as the lead investigator at MSK for the BEAT AML master clinical trial. Dr. Stein led the clinical trials of IDHIFA® and TIBSOVO®, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) inhibitors, in patients with relapsed and refractory AML that led to their FDA approvals. Shin-San Michael Su, Ph.D.Dr. Michael Su is a pioneering biotech leader with deep expertise in drug discovery and translational medicine. He served as Chief Scientific Officer of Volastra Therapeutics and as Chief Scientific Officer of Decibel Therapeutics. Before that, Dr. Su was a Co-founder and Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Agios Pharmaceuticals, where he led the team responsible for identifying the oncogenic cause of IDH mutants in cancer and the discovery of IDHIFA® and TIBSOVO®, FDA-approved treatments for AML with IDH mutations. He served as General Director and Vice President of the Biomedical Engineering Research Laboratory at ITRI in Taiwan and spent 14 years in scientific leadership roles at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, concluding his tenure as Program Executive and Vice President of the Novartis-Vertex kinase collaboration. George Thomas, M.D.Dr. Thomas is a professor of Pathology at the Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon, and Associate Medical Director of the Knight Diagnostics Laboratory. His clinical area of expertise is in precision oncology of prostate and kidney cancers. Dr. Thomas directs a translational research program that studies treatment induced metabolic reprogramming in these cancers, with the goal of developing new combination therapies. Matthew Vander Heiden, M.D., Ph.D., Co-founderDr. Vander Heiden is a professor in the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. He is also an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and an Instructor in Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. Using a combination of biochemistry, molecular biology and mouse models, the aim of the Vander Heiden laboratory is to understand how metabolism influences different stages of tumor biology with a goal to improve cancer treatment in the clinic. Paresh Vyas, MRCP FRCP FRCPathDr. Vyas is a professor of Hematology at Oxford University, and a research-consulting Hematologist with a clinical practice in myeloid disorders (MDS, AML and MPD) and allogeneic stem cell transplant at the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford. He is Co-lead of the Oxford BRC Hematology and Stem Cells Theme, is on the Board of NHSBT, Vice-chair of the MRC Clinical Training Panel and Translational Lead for the UK Therapy Acceleration Program. About Auron Therapeutics Auron Therapeutics is a platform-based, product-driven biotechnology company focused on developing therapies that target cellular plasticity for solid tumor cancers and hematological malignancies. Auron has built a proprietary AI-powered platform that integrates large, multi-omic datasets to rapidly compare tumor tissue to normal tissues and enable a systems-biology understanding of the pathways that are associated with tumor plasticity, dysregulated differentiation, and treatment resistance. For more information, please visit www.aurontx.com. Contact: Monique AllaireTHRUST Strategic Communicationsmonique@thrustsc.com