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Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of significant leadership hirings, firings and retirings across the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Gabrielle Masson and it will be featured here at the end of each week.
Veteran Pfizer R&D leader takes a bow
After leading Pfizer’s R&D unit through the pandemic, Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., is heading out.
The New York pharma giant announced the departure Tuesday, at the same time launching a public search for a successor.
“I want to thank Mikael for his incredible contributions, not only to Pfizer and the scientific community but to the millions of patients he has impacted over the years. Mikael is a distinguished scientist, physician, and leader, and his work will undoubtedly leave an important stamp on the legacy of this 175-year-old company,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Ph.D., in a statement.
Dolsten joined Pfizer after the closure of the megamerger with Wyeth in 2009. He advanced up the ranks in R&D, most recently taking on the title of CSO, president, research and development as Pfizer welcomed another company into its stable: Seagen. Story
AbbVie's R&D org changes hands
AbbVie is changing up the guard of its global R&D organization as Thomas Hudson, M.D., retires. He will be replaced by Roopal Thakkar, M.D.
Hudson had been serving as senior vice president, chief scientific officer, global research, having joined AbbVie in 2016 to oversee oncology discovery efforts and early development. He became CSO in 2019.
Thakkar, meanwhile, will rise from his role of senior vice president, chief medical officer, global therapeutics to become executive vice president, research and development and chief scientific officer. He joined the company in 2003 and has climbed the clinical development ranks since. Release
With fundraise, Flagship welcomes new hires
Flagship Pioneering, which just pulled in $3.6 billion through various funds, is adding a new layer of leadership through a number of promotions and executive appointments. Pharma industry veterans Lovisa Afzelius, Ph.D., and Paul Biondi have been promoted to general partner.
Afzelius joined the venture creation firm from Pfizer where she led the systems immunology function, while Biondi spent 20 years at Bristol Myers Squibb before jumping to the world of venture capital.
The firm also picked up Marcello Damiani from Moderna as senior partner and Gary Pisano, Ph.D., to serve as executive partner and chief strategist, among other executive appointments and hires. Release
> David Johnson is the new chief operating officer of Vera Therapeutics. He was previously the chief commercial officer of Global Blood Therapeutics, which was acquired by Pfizer in 2022, from March 2018 to December 2022. He was also previously a leader at Gilead and had an 11-year tenure at GSK. Release
> Two execs are out at a struggling biotech. Sanjeev Redkar, Ph.D., Apollomics’ co-founder and president, and Peony Yu, M.D., the biotech’s chief medical officer, are heading for the exit as the company narrows the scope of a key clinical trial. Fierce Biotech
> Luc Boblet is joining 4Moving Biotech, a clinical-stage subsidiary of 4P-Pharma specializing in immuno-inflammation and osteoarthritis, as CEO. A former leader of Egle Therapeutics, H-IMMUNE and Pathoquest, Boblet will oversee the development of the biotech’s upcoming phase 2 trials. Release
> Inovio is bringing Merck veteran Steven Egge on board as the biotech switches strategies following a phase 3 failure. As chief commercial officer, Egge will help prep for the launch of Inovio’s treatment for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, which the company plans to submit for FDA approval later this year. Fierce Pharma
> Sitryx Therapeutics is shaking things up as it shuffles Chief Scientific Officer Iain Kilty, Ph.D., to new roles as CEO and board member. Former CEO Neil Weir will become president and remain on the board. The biotech hopes Kilty’s expertise will be a boon as they move their lead asset toward clinical development. Release
> After a Takeda-partnered late-stage epilepsy program flopped, Ovid Therapeutics is looking to extend its cash runway by dropping two execs. Thomas Perone will cease serving as the company’s general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary, while Jason Tardio will stop serving as chief operating officer. Release
> ImCheck Therapeutics is bringing Stephan Braun, M.D., Ph.D., aboard as chief medical officer to shepherd the development of their lead monoclonal antibody candidate. Braun previously served as group chief medical officer at CureTeq AG and has also held leadership positions at Basilea, Ipsen, Parexel and Symphogen. Release
> Simon Jones is joining Curve Therapeutics as chief financial officer and chief operating officer. He joins from SpyBiotech, where he led finance and operations, and before that was CFO at Karus Therapeutics for almost a decade. Release
> Pathios Therapeutics is prepping for the clinic by bringing on Paul Higham as CEO. Higham most recently served as CEO of Valo Therapeutics, which he led from preclinical stage into clinical development. He replaces founding CEO Stuart Hughes, Ph.D., who will be the biotech’s new chief scientific officer. Release
> Jazz Pharmaceuticals is promoting Samantha Pearce, currently its senior vice president of Europe and international, to chief commercial officer. Pearce served long stints at AstraZeneca and then Celgene before joining Jazz in 2020. Fierce Pharma
> Sutro Biopharma is appointing Barbara Leyman, Ph.D., as chief business development officer. Sutro is a clinical-stage oncology company developing ADCs. Leyman most recently served as senior vice president of corporate development at GenEdit and before that was a business development leader at Lyell Immunopharma and Calico Life Sciences. Release
> Following Ensho Therapeutics’ acquisition of EA Pharma’s portfolio, Bittoo Kanwar, M.D., former chief medical officer of Telavant (acquired by Roche), is set to become CEO. Ensho Chief Scientific Officer Andy Whitney, Ph.D. is also set to hop aboard, along with Emily Weng as chief data science officer and Suzanne Vyvoda as chief operating officer. Fierce Biotech
> Suneet Varma is retiring after 15 years as the commercial president of Pfizer’s oncology unit. Taking the helm will be Tina Deignan, Ph.D., who was most recently a senior vice president leading Novartis’ U.S. oncology business. Deignan previously worked for 15 years at Bristol Myers Squibb, mostly in the oncology division. Fierce Pharma
> Lexicon Pharmaceuticals is replacing retiring Lonnel Coats with Mike Exton, Ph.D, to serve as CEO and director. Exton most recently served as the global cardiometabolic therapeutic head at Novartis and spent a total of 14 years at the pharma. Release
> Roman Haehn has been appointed chief commercial officer of Mission Bio. A 25-year industry vet, Haehn comes to Mission from Agena Bioscience and previously held leadership roles at Luminex Corporation and Ventana Medical Systems. Release
> EveryONE Medicines, a biotech focused on personalized genetic medicine, is appointing Kent Rogers as CEO and Josh Ofman, M.D., as chairman of the board. Rogers previously served as the chief commercial officer for EQRx. Ofman is currently the president of cancer detection company Grail. Release
> Aktis Oncology, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical biotech, is appointing Akos Czibere, M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer. Interim CMO Pankaj Bhargava, M.D., will transition to Aktis' scientific advisory board. Czibere most recently held the position of vice president and therapeutic area head of Hematology-Oncology at Pfizer, and prior to that was a vice president at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Michel Dahan is the new president and CEO of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals. Company co-founder Leonide Saad, Ph.D., has been named chief scientific officer. Dahan was previously at Akebia Therapeutics for 13 years, where he served as senior vice president and chief operating officer. Release
