Rodin Therapeutics, Inc.

-- Company raised $25 million in seed financing led by Forbion and Wellington Partners -- -- Seamless to develop programmable recombinases focused on precise, large edits targeting diseases of significant unmet medical need -- DRESDEN, Germany & LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Seamless Therapeutics today announced the appointments of Albert Seymour, Ph.D., as its new President and Chief Executive Officer and Adam Rosenberg as Independent Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors. Both bring longstanding track records of successfully leading trailblazing biotechnology companies with an emphasis on gene editing and novel technologies. In addition, their combined experience will be instrumental in establishing Seamless Therapeutics’ Research and Development (R&D) activities in the US. In conjunction with the leadership additions, Seamless Tx Inc. will be established in Lexington, MA to focus on the translation of the differentiated recombinase technology from early discovery into the clinic. Dr. Seymour will be based in this office and replace Acting CEO and Co-Founder, Dr. Anne-K. Heninger, who will remain at the company and continue to oversee operations at the Dresden site as Head of Operations. Seamless is translating major breakthroughs in programming recombinases, a class of enzymes that have been widely used in scientific research for decades, to transform their accuracy and flexibility enabling therapeutic gene editing. The company’s unique technology platform allows for site specific programmable recombinases that are engineered for specificity and activity to precisely excise, exchange, invert or insert DNA fragments in any target gene sequence. Early in vivo preclinical evidence has shown that Seamless’ programmable recombinases can precisely edit a 138 kilobase fragment through inversion. Editing through this process is independent of the cell’s DNA repair pathway. This platform provides opportunities to address multiple disease-causing mutations with a single therapeutic as well as expand gene editing to non-dividing cell types. The company has raised $25 million in seed financing to date led by Forbion and Wellington Partners to advance its proprietary technology. The team is currently focused on generating a pipeline of innovative product candidates that aim to treat human disease irrespective of the specific genetic alteration. “Seamless Therapeutics is at the forefront of the next wave of innovation in gene editing with its unique platform and comprehensive toolbox capable of programming recombinases. The platform technology coupled with the growth of our R&D team in Lexington provides the tools and expertise to precisely correct a range of DNA mutations at specific sites in the genome. Our goal is to continue to innovate and bring novel therapeutics forward for a range of disorders thereby addressing significant unmet medical needs,” said Albert Seymour, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Seamless Therapeutics. “The potential of Seamless Therapeutics’ technology and its future growth is very exciting, and I look forward to working with Adam in his new role as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and our international team to bring a differentiated pipeline of gene editing candidates to the clinic.” “The field of gene editing is witnessing a new era. Relative to current editing approaches, which have provided a critical step forward in the development of novel therapeutics for patients in areas of high unmet need, Seamless Therapeutics has a first-mover position with its recombinase-focused technology. Programmable recombinases have the potential to precisely repair genetic alterations that cause disease using large or small edits as required,” added Adam Rosenberg, Independent Chairman of the Board of Seamless Therapeutics. “Together with Albert, the Seamless team and the Board, we are in a great position to deliver the technology’s inherent potential to create a new class of potentially curative treatments for patients globally.” Dr. Seymour has over 25 years of combined experience in the field of human genetics and pharmaceutical R&D and is responsible for advancing the development of multiple therapeutic programs. Prior to his role at Seamless Therapeutics, he served as Chief Scientific Officer and later President and Chief Executive Officer of Homology Medicines, a clinical-stage genetic medicines company developing treatments for rare diseases. Before joining Homology Medicines, he served in several senior leadership positions at Shire and Pfizer. Dr. Seymour is currently on the Board of Directors at Ensoma and Iris Medicines. He holds a Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S. Mr. Rosenberg has over 20 years of experience in building and leading innovative life sciences companies, most recently as founding CEO of Aliada Therapeutics, Athenen Therapeutics (merged with Eliem Therapeutics: ELYM) and Sionna Therapeutics. Previously, he was President, CEO, and member of the Board of Directors of Rodin Therapeutics until its acquisition in 2019. He also served as CEO and Co-Founder of Link Medicine and Teleos Therapeutics. Adam is currently Chair of Ambagon Therapeutics, and serves as Director on the boards of other venture-backed and public companies. About Seamless Therapeutics Seamless Therapeutics is changing the paradigm of gene editing through a pioneering approach that has the potential to address unmet medical needs in patients with severe conditions. Our technology platform unlocks the reprogramming of recombinases, a highly versatile class of enzymes. We are applying our proprietary know-how to develop a pipeline of disease-modifying product candidates across a broad spectrum of indications to expand the therapeutic potential of gene editing.

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. TORL taps new CEO  TORL BioTherapeutics  Mark Alles, who’s spent the better part of the last four decades in biopharma leadership roles, has been named chairman and CEO of TORL BioTherapeutics. He’s replacing Dave Licata, who co-founded TORL and helped design its drug development framework. Licata will stick around TORL as a board member and the company’s president, while also taking on a new role as its CFO.  Alles has been a member of TORL’s board for two years and was named its executive chair in late 2022. Before that, he spent more than a decade at Aventis Pharmaceuticals and then another 15 years at Celgene, culminating in a stint as its CEO from 2016 until its acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2019.  He’s taking the helm as TORL plans to begin a phase 2 trial of its lead antibody-drug conjugate candidate, TORL-1-23, targeting multiple cancers. Meanwhile, the company is actively enrolling patients in phase 1 studies of a handful of other ADCs and monoclonal antibody therapies.  “TORL has rapidly realized significant success in identifying novel cancer targets, developing first-in-class antibody-based therapies directed at these targets, and with the support of our world-class investors, has recently advanced multiple products into Phase 1 studies,” said Dennis Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., TORL’s scientific founder. “We have reached a major inflection point where our opportunity to generate value for patients, our investors and our team made it both possible and important for us to build on the great work Dave has done by adding and appointing Mark Alles as Chairman and CEO.” Release  Insitro installs first CMO  Insitro  As Insitro inches closer to bringing its first artificial intelligence-discovered drug candidates into clinical trials, it has appointed its first-ever chief medical officer.   In the new role, S. Michael Rothenberg, M.D., Ph.D., will take charge of the company’s clinical development work, heading up translational biology and overseeing trial design and medical and regulatory affairs.  Rothenberg hails from Pfizer, where he spent the last four years carrying out similar responsibilities, including, most recently, as VP of early oncology development and clinical research. At the Big Pharma, he led early-phase trials of oncology and hematology therapies, including overseeing the initial first-in-human and proof-of-concept studies of the multiple myeloma drug now approved as Elrexfio. Release  Sanofi’s interim specialty care chief lands permanent role Sanofi Brian Foard has temporarily filled the role of chief of Sanofi’s specialty care global business unit since September, when former head Bill Sibold hit the exit to lead Madrigal Pharmaceuticals as CEO. Now, Foard has claimed the title on a permanent basis and will also join Sanofi’s executive committee. The exec has been with Sanofi since 2017 and was bumped up from his former slot as head of the specialty care business in North America and U.S. country lead. Before that, he bounced from head roles in dermatology and respiratory to immunology, among other positions. Foard is credited with overseeing launches of Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent across multiple indications and more than 50 countries worldwide, work that will “help to set our roadmap for the first- and best-in-class molecules we are preparing to launch in the coming years,” according to Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson. Release > FDA commissioner Robert Califf has selected his next chief of staff in Elizabeth “EJ” Jungman, who will leave her current role as the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research’s associate director for policy and director of the Office of Regulatory Policy. Jungman is taking over from Julie Tierney, who recently moved to a deputy director role at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Release  > Rare disease specialist BioMarin has a new CEO in Alexander Hardy and he appears to be shaking up his commercial team as the company announced its lead Jeffrey Ajer will leave the company by July. The disclosure, made via a short SEC filing, said Ajer would "step down" as the company's executive vice president and chief commercial officer in July and that the termination was “without cause." Fierce Pharma > Longtime Affimed CEO Adi Hoess, M.D., Ph.D., is hanging up the gloves after 13 years at the helm. The company tapped CMO Andreas Harstrick, M.D., to serve as interim CEO while it searches for a successor. Release  > Ginkgo Bioworks selected six executives from across the industry to make up its new Biopharma Advisory Board. The board now includes Kronos Bio CEO Norbert Bischofberger, Ph.D., global head of oncology and hematology at Novartis Jeff Legos, Ph.D., founding Alnylam chief John Maraganore, Ph.D, International Therapeutic Research Centers’ chief scientific officer Paolo Martini, Ph.D., IconOVir Bio head Mark McCamish, M.D., Ph.D., and former Kite Pharma CEO Christi Shaw. Release > PMV Pharmaceuticals is shaking up its clinical team with the appointment of two new leaders of the clinical program for its lead candidate, PC14586, which is set to begin a phase 2 study this quarter. Deepika Jalota, Pharm.D., and Marc Fellous, M.D.—PMV’s chief development officer and senior VP of clinical development and medical affairs, respectively—are taking the reins from Leila Alland, M.D., who is stepping down to pursue other opportunities but will remain an advisor to PMV. Release > Athira Pharma is now on the hunt for a new chief medical officer after Hans Moebius, M.D., Ph.D., stepped down to retire, effective Jan. 5. Moebius, who is staying on as a senior scientific advisor to Athira, was appointed CMO in 2019, following a nearly 30-year career in biopharma that included postings at Rodin Therapeutics, Allergan, Merz Pharmaceuticals, Novartis and more. Release  > CRISPR-focused cell therapy developer Caribou Biosciences has named its first chief technology officer: Tim Kelly, who previously served as CEO of Oxford Biomedica Solutions and COO of Homology Medicines and led technical operations at Sarepta, Shire, UCB and Biogen. Release  > Prolific startup starter Flagship Pioneering has promoted from within to name four new origination partners: Kyle Chiang, Ph.D., Molly Gibson, Ph.D., Armen Mkrtchyan, Ph.D., and Jacob Rubens, Ph.D. In their new roles, each will oversee a team tasked with creating and growing new biotech companies. Release  > Capstan Therapeutics tapped Ramin Farzaneh-Far, M.D., to be chief medical officer, following stints at Ra Pharmaceuticals, Akebia Therapeutics, Gilead Sciences and, most recently, RA Capital, where he’s been a venture partner since 2020. Capstan also promoted Miguel Arcinas, the biotech’s VP of corporate development since 2021, to the senior VP level. Release  > Celia Lin, M.D., stepped down from her post as chief medical officer of Vera Therapeutics. Taking over the role is Robert Brenner, M.D., who hails from Orionis Biosciences, while William Turner, formerly of Sierra Oncology, was named Vera’s chief development officer, with both appointments effective immediately. Release  > Maria Törnsén, most recently the chief commercial officer at Passage Bio, has been appointed president of the North America division at Calliditas Therapeutics. Her career also includes stops at Sarepta Therapeutics, Sanofi Genzyme and Shire. Release  > Zura Bio has found a new president and chief operating officer in Robert Lisicki, whose three-decade career in biopharma spans leadership roles at the now-Pfizer-owned Arena Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron, InCarda Therapeutics, Daiichi Sankyo and Amgen. Meanwhile, Kiran Nistala, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., has been tapped as the biotech’s chief medical officer and executive VP of development. Release  > AbbVie’s retired CMO Rob Scott has a new gig as CMO and head of R&D at Abionyx Pharma, where he will lead the team through pivotal trials for its lead sepsis candidate. Back at AbbVie, the medical chief held his role through major approvals including Skyrizi and Rinvoq. Release  > XOMA has selected Owen Hughes as its next CEO. Hughes—who held the top job at the biotech royalty aggregator on an interim basis for all of 2023—was previously CEO of Sail Bio and Cullinan Oncology, and chief business officer at Intarcia Therapeutics. Release  > Probiotics maker Pendulum Therapeutics tapped former Mayo Clinic medical director Adam Perlman, M.D., as chief medical officer. Now-retired CMO Orville Kolterman, M.D., led the selection of Perlman as his successor. Release > Nutcracker Therapeutics bumped up its executive VP of early R&D, Sam Deutsch, M.D., Ph.D., to the CSO role. Deutsch has been with Nutcracker since its beginnings in 2018 and will now lead the team through trialing its lead mRNA candidate, dubbed NTX-250. Release  > Central nervous system CRO Cognitive Research Corporation appointed Tom Zoda, M.D. Ph.D., as CEO. Zoda came from Apex Innovative Sciences and CenExel clinical research, where he served as chief operating officer. Release  

Up until recently, Alban de La Sablière was Sanofi ’s chief dealmaker, reporting directly to CEO Paul Hudson without officially being a C-suite executive. That’s now changed with de La Sablière’s newest position at a much smaller French biotech, Sanofi partner Owkin . And to top it off, it’s his first job in the C-suite. Tuesday was his first day as the chief business officer at Owkin, a now-transatlantic biotech with offices in both France and the US. Its emphasis in AI and a concept called “federated learning” earned a $270 million investment from the Big Pharma last year, with an eye to improving its odds in clinical development. The company has now inked other AI deals with other Big Pharma companies such as Bristol Myers Squibb . A little introspection went a long way toward de La Sablière getting on board with Owkin. “Personally, I was very happy at Sanofi,” de La Sablière tells Endpoints News. “ But I was thinking about maybe having more direct impact. And I had discussions about what I could do with the rest of my life with the CEO and founder. And he told me, ‘Well, why don’t you join us?’” De La Sablière’s background is not in biopharma — it’s in banking. The former BD chief spent close to two decades at Morgan Stanley as a managing director and M&A advisor before venturing over to Sanofi in 2016. As for what he learned, it’s not just M&A or deal making skills. Part of his experience, sitting on committees in looking at pharma companies at Morgan Stanley and advising on acquisitions, is that “even when you’re not an expert, you get a very good view of what it takes to develop a drug. Or in terms of what, what can go wrong, which is at least 30% of a job — is knowing what can go wrong.” De La Sablière continued: “When you sign a big deal, you know, that deal is just a vision and a contract, and then you have a duty to implement it. And there’s gonna be a lot of twists and turns, because you’re planning for 10 years, and you can’t put 10 years in the contract.” And based off what he has learned, he thinks it can apply well to where Owkin is right now as a growing company. But in his first days at his new role, the new executive noted that there are some decisions that have to be made pretty quickly. “One thing — which is really top of mind — is how do we secure, identify assets which are out there to be in-licensed? We have a very specific, differentiated point of view, or expertise — which is, you know, our AI and data set,” the executive said, adding that he plans on bringing in assets for both Owkin and with partners. Expect a bunch of BD and M&A deals with de La Sablière at Owkin — and with the biotech pivoting from consulting to starting to build out its own IP. — Paul Schloesser → Now that Thomas Schinecker is all set to take charge at Roche next year, the Swiss pharma giant says that his in-house successor as CEO of Roche Diagnostics , Matt Sause , will start on Jan. 1, 2023. The 45-year-old Sause joined Roche 20 years ago as a senior molecular account manager, and he would later become president of country operations in Peru and Korea, and VP and lifecycle leader for Tecentriq at Genentech . He took a short break from Roche as SVP and head of global commercial product strategy at Gilead before returning to run Roche Diagnostics’ North America region in November 2019, the title he holds for just a while longer. In July, Roche announced that CEO Severin Schwan would step down and that Schinecker would take the top spot on March 15, 2023. → Assembly Biosciences is waving goodbye to its CEO John McHutchison as he heads towards retirement after a three-year stint with the company. Seizing the reins will be current president and COO Jason Okazaki . The former Gilead vet is taking over during some turbulent times as the company threw in the towel on its HBV drug and laid off 30% of its staffers back in July. Okazaki joined Assembly Bio as chief legal and business officer in 2020 and was promoted to COO in 2021. → In June, David de Graaf stepped aside as CEO of Abcuro , which has its lead asset — an anti-KLRG1 antibody named ABC008 — in early-stage trials for inclusion body myositis. Now a strategic advisor, de Graaf’s successor is Alex Martin , the former chief executive at Realm Therapeutics who had been running the show at Centessa sub Palladio Biosciences . Centessa hit a huge pothole after Memorial Day, scrapping its lead drug lixivaptan in an abrupt about-face when elevated liver enzymes in one patient forced the biotech’s hand, a problem that befell KalVista earlier this week. The hospitalization occurred in the open-label ALERT study after Centessa had just started dosing in the Phase III ACTION study of the Palladio drug in February. A $42 million “Series A-1” in January 2021 gave Abcuro enough cash runway to last for two years, so we’ll see if another raise is upcoming under Martin’s leadership. → Grace Colón , the CEO of InCarda Therapeutics since 2013, “intends to pursue other leadership opportunities within the life science space” and has handed the keys to Robert Lisicki . Everyone from Doug Manion to Fabio Cataldi has found their next landing spot after Arena Pharmaceuticals was sold to Pfizer , and you can add Lisicki to the list after serving as Arena’s chief commercial officer from March 2018 until the deal closed in March . The former CCO of Daiichi Sankyo ’s US cardiovascular and oncology areas, Lisicki has also been a general manager at Amgen and Regeneron . → Zosano Pharma went belly-up several months ago , and its CEO Steven Lo has moved on to another gig with wet age-related macular degeneration biotech Valitor . Lo replaces Wesley Jackson , who’s now president and CSO, and Kyle LaHucik got a chance to speak with both when the UC Berkeley spinout unveiled a $28 million Series B round this week. → Fortress Biotech ’s gout and chronic kidney disease subsidiary Urica Therapeutics has poached Jay Kranzler from Pfizer as chairman and CEO. Kranzler was the pharma giant’s VP and global head of external R&D innovation and worldwide R&D strategic investments; he’s also founded and helmed Cypress Bioscience , which was sold to Ramius and Royalty Pharma back in 2010. One other Urica tidbit: Stanford’s Vibeke Strand now has a seat on the board of directors. → Former J&J exec Seema Kumar is donning the CEO cap at Deerfield Management affiliate Cure , a healthcare innovation campus in NYC. Kumar’s nearly two-decade tenure at J&J culminated in her role as global head of the office of innovation, global health and scientific engagement. Prior to her gig at J&J, Kumar was the chief of staff and chief communications officer at MIT’s Whitehead Institute, having a hand in the Human Genome Project and the creation and launch of the Broad Institute. → Luke Walker has split from Seagen , taking the CMO job at Harpoon Therapeutics after the June 1 resignation of his predecessor , Natalie Sacks . Walker was the global development lead for Tukysa , the tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for advanced HER2-positive breast cancer with chemo, and had been VP of clinical development since February. As Harpoon comes to grips with the recent discontinuation of HPN424 , the will-they-won’t-they between Merck and Seagen on an M&A deal has cooled substantially , with Bloomberg reporting that the two companies are at an impasse on a price. → Ripping a page from GSK ’s book by pushing ahead with the “New Biohaven ” now that Pfizer has taken control of the migraine franchise , Vlad Coric has $248 million to work with and a pair of newcomers on staff. Ex- Agios CSO Bruce Car , a 19-year Bristol Myers veteran, has signed on as chief scientist, and Tanya Fischer takes the dual roles of chief development officer and head of translational medicine. A Bristol Myers alum in her own right, Fischer was VP, CNS and complement clinical development for Alnylam since January 2020. And as they pivot to neuroscience and rare disease, Coric promoted SVP of neurology Irfan Qureshi — a Biohaven exec since 2017 — to CMO. → Capturing our attention as one of the Endpoints 11 this year — and with ex-Pfizer CEO Ian Read in place as chairman — Areteia Therapeutics has installed Eric Bradford as CMO and Robin Walker as chief legal officer and corporate secretary. Bradford, an 18-year GSK vet, was VP of clinical development and then chief development officer of Aeglea BioTherapeutics , while Walker had held the roles of chief legal officer, chief compliance officer & corporate secretary at Goldfinch Bio since November 2020. Areteia came out blazing in July with a $350 million raise and is developing its lead drug dexpramipexole for eosinophilic asthma. → Greg Verdine has nabbed a 25-year Roche alum as his new chief scientist at GSK fungi partner LifeMine Therapeutics , which struck gold with a $175 million Series C in March. Martin Stahl may be leaving the Swiss pharma, but he’s staying in Basel at LifeMine’s European offices, breaking away from Roche after nearly four years as global head of lead discovery. LifeMine has also appointed Louis Plamondon as head of CMC after holding the same post at Constellation Pharmaceuticals . His earlier résumé is dotted with leadership positions at such companies as Tetraphase , Karyopharm and Vertex . → Samantha Truex ’s Upstream Bio has promoted Jen Beachell to COO and called upon Mersedeh Miraliakbari to be SVP, regulatory and quality. Originally jumping on board as chief commercial officer, Beachell had led commercial strategy for Momenta and was then VP of global commercial strategy, autoantibody disease area for Janssen when the J&J buyout closed. Miraliakbari’s regulatory background includes posts at AstraZeneca , Teva , J&J and, since 2018, Nabriva Therapeutics . Upstream debuted with a $200 million Series A with the one-time Astellas monoclonal antibody UPB-101 in the spotlight to treat asthma and other inflammatory diseases. Marcella Ruddy , Ian Pavord and Michael Wechsler will also chime in as clinical advisors. → Endocrine disease biotech Crinetics has selected Dana Pizzuti as chief development officer. Pizzuti juggled the roles of CMO and SVP, development operations at Ascendis Pharma , a biotech that helped usher in an era of big raises after positive data readouts in March with a $500 million offering . She also brings regulatory experience from J&J , Gilead , Rigel and Theravance Biopharma . → Meanwhile, the Crinetics spinout Radionetics Oncology has enlisted Umesh Gangadharmath as SVP, technical operations. Gangadharmath had been COO of Optimal Tracers , ending a nine-year run overall at the radiopharma shop. → Going after Huntington’s and spinocerebellar ataxia types 3 and 1 with its lead program VO659 under new chief executive Micah Mackison , Danish biotech Vico Therapeutics has picked up Scott Schobel as CMO. To conclude his nine years at Roche, Schobel was clinical science leader for its Huntington’s candidate tominersen and Alzheimer’s drug gantenerumab , which has gotten its second wind (or third, or fourth) thanks to developments like Biogen and Eisai ’s positive Phase III results for lecanemab last week. → Evommune has been making several key hires, and this week is no different at the inflammatory disease biotech with Jeegar Patel coming in as CSO. As Kadmon ’s SVP, research and nonclinical development, Patel’s work with the chronic graft-versus-host disease drug Rezurock propelled it to an FDA approval in July 2021 , setting the stage for some M&A action with Sanofi in a $1.9 billion deal a couple months later. Evommune has also added CFO Kyle Carver and chief corporate strategy and legal office r Greg Moss to the squad this year. → Robert Hariri ’s Celularity , now hitching its wagon to allogeneic cell therapies, has tapped Adrian Kilcoyne as CMO. Kilcoyne splits from Humanigen , where he held the same role for a year and a half, and he was the lymphoma program lead at Celgene before jumping over to AstraZeneca in 2019, eventually serving as the pharma giant’s VP of global oncology evidence generation and external alliances a year later. Celularity also promoted John Haines to senior EVP, general manager and chief administrative officer, and Brad Glover to Haines’ old job as COO. Back when SPACs were really cooking (and hey, they’re trying to elbow their way back into the conversation in the case of Estrella Biopharma this week), Celularity linked arms with GX Acquisition Corp. in a $138 million merger . → Absci CEO Sean McClain had to make deep job cuts in an August reorg , but he’s made a senior leadership move by recruiting ex- Shire CMO and head of R&D Andreas Busch as chief innovation officer. Busch is a 10-year Bayer vet who had been CSO, chief innovation officer and head of the Innovation Center at Cyclerion Therapeutics . In a statement that eschewed the usual cookie-cutter language but didn’t specify the number of layoffs at Absci, McClain said, “I always knew that creating the impossible was going to be hard — however, parting ways with talented friends and colleagues is even harder.” → Cerevance is helping Merck give it another try with Alzheimer’s and enlisting Ottavio Vitolo as CMO. The former head of neuromuscular clinical research at Pfizer, Vitolo was previously the medical chief and global head of R&D for Alcyone Therapeutics, while other stops include Homology Medicines (VP, clinical development) and Relmada Therapeutics (head of R&D and CMO). This Alzheimer’s reclamation project comes four years after Merck stuck a fork in its BACE drug verubecestat . → Now led by ex -Sierra Oncology chief Stephen Dilly , enzyme engineering outfit Codexis has brought in a familiar face as COO. Genentech alum Kevin Norrett spent the last two years as CBO of Sierra, which GSK purchased for $1.9 billion in April, and he had a yearlong stint as chief commercial officer of Angion Biomedica . On top of that, Codexis is bolstering its board of directors by pulling up a chair for Resilience CEO Rahul Singhvi . → Targeting such neuro indications as Huntington’s disease and ALS with its lead candidate pridopidine , Prilenia has welcomed Anne Sullivan as CBO. Sullivan was the business chief for Rodin Therapeutics when Alkermes bought the biotech in 2019 , and she’s been a corporate development exec for Sea Pharmaceuticals and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals . Prilenia gave itself some financial wiggle room in November 2021 with a $43 million Series B raise . → T cell therapy-focused BlueSphere Bio has promoted Keir Loiacono to the role of CEO. Loiacono had just joined the company last year as CBO. Prior to his role at BlueSphere, Loiacono was VP of business development and general counsel of OncoSec Medical . Loiacono has also served at Advaxis and Orapharma and sits on the board of EpiAxis Therapeutics . → A pair of execs has been promoted at AviadoBio , a London gene therapy player that unsealed an $80 million Series A round in December 2021. COO Graeme Fielder had been head of operations for two years, and he took on several corporate development roles at Audentes from 2015-20. Chief technical officer Alex Bloom was brought into the fold as SVP of technical operations just before the Series A was announced; he had previously been in charge of regulatory affairs and quality assurance at Gyroscope . → Trying to assuage the FDA’s concerns about its microbiome therapy MaaT013 that’s still on clinical hold in the US , French biotech MaaT Pharma has lined up Nathalie Corvaïa as CSO. Corvaïa had led immuno-oncology research at The Pierre Fabre Immunology Center and was previously the institute’s managing director and research director. → Competing with the aforementioned KalVista in the hereditary angioedema space, Swiss biotech Pharvaris has upgraded Annick Deschoolmeester to chief human resources officer. Deschoolmeester joined Pharvaris as head of HR last year from Takeda , where she was head of global learning and talent management after a gig as the Japanese pharma’s HR business leader, plasma derived therapies. She’s also been a human resources exec at Allergan . → Dublin-based Trinity Biotech has reeled in Aris Kekedjian as CEO and chairman. Kekedjian succeeds Ronan O’Caoimh , who will remain on the company’s board. Most recently, Kekedjian served as president and CEO of Icahn Enterprises . Additionally, Kekedjian had a three decade-long stint at General Electric and has held roles at Xerox , Finserv and XPO Logistics . → San Diego protein degradation outfit Plexium , which clinched a deal with AbbVie in April for $35 million upfront after teaming up with Amgen on “molecular glues” nearly three months earlier, has named Suzanne Zoumaras as head of human resources. Zoumaras, the co-founder of Human Capital Resource Partners , was chief human capital officer at Arena Pharmaceuticals from 2019-21. → Staying in the protein degradation space, Arvinas has plucked Paul McInulty from Bristol Myers, naming him SVP, regulatory affairs. McInulty climbed through the regulatory ranks at Celgene, and after the buyout, he was Bristol Myers’ VP, therapeutic head, hematology and precision medicines regulatory affairs. In July 2021, Pfizer reupped its alliance with Arvinas by plunking down $1 billion with the potential for another $1.4 billion in milestones. → Frazier Life Sciences has appointed Jan Møller Mikkelsen as a senior advisor. Mikkelsen has been president and CEO of Ascendis Pharma since he founded the company in 2007, and he’s chairman of the board at Hummingbird Bioscience . → With her days at Novartis behind her, Suzanne Schaffert has picked up another board seat, this time at Incyte . Schaffert and John Tsai were let go as part of a high-profile restructuring that Vas Narasimhan instituted at Novartis this spring , but she reemerged in Peer Review when she became a board member at Rubius Therapeutics in July. Her association with the Big Pharma had dated back to 1995, when she arrived as a sales representative. → US-Swiss LILRB (leukocyte immunoglobulin-like) biotech ImmunOs Therapeutics has made room for Joseph Leveque on the board of directors. Leveque is the ex-medical chief at Mirati and Synthorx who’s now the CMO at Medikine , which is developing an IL-7 mimetic named MDK-703 . → Lalo Flores has expanded the board of directors at Century Therapeutics to eight members with the additions of Amicus CFO Daphne Quimi and Horizon CEO Tim Walbert . They join a board that also includes former Kite COO and CFO Cynthia Butitta , ex- Novartis chief Joe Jimenez and Versant ’s Carlo Rizzuto . → James Dentzer is headed to the board of directors at Imunon , the New Jersey biotech once known as Celsion that’s now led by ex- Moderna commercial chief Corinne Le Goff . The former Amicus and Dicerna CFO has been chief executive at Curis since September 2018. → Sanofi vet and ex- Onxeo chair Danièle Guyot-Caparros is replacing Viviane Monges on the board of directors at peanut patch developer DBV Technologies . Humanigen COO and CFO Tim Morris will chair DBV’s audit committee in Monges’ stead. → Dallas-based Secretome Therapeutics is saddling up Angela Shen with a seat on its board of directors. Shen currently serves as VP, strategic innovation leaders at Mass General Brigham. Shen also comes with a hefty résumé with stints as CMO of several companies, including Walking Fish , Arcellx , Nkarta , Arvinas and Tizona . Earlier in her career, Shen had gigs at Novartis, Exelixis and J&J. → PaxMedica is welcoming aboard a new face on its board of directors with the appointment of Charles Casamento . This is far from Casamento’s first board appointment, currently sitting on the boards of Eton Pharmaceuticals , First Wave Biopharma and Relmada Therapeutics .