Dianthus Therapeutics OpCo, Inc.

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.  A trio of Flagship-founded companies make key exec hires Flagship Pioneering This column usually lists Flagship-founded companies individually. But all good things come in threes, right? So, onward!  First and foremost, former Magenta CEO Jason Gardner has joined the firm as CEO-partner, with his first assignment to lead Ampersand Biosciences. The new biotech is loosely described as working on new programmable medicines that have improved specificity with limited off-target effects. The company is clearly banking on better results than Magenta, which took the exit hatch earlier this year via a reverse merger with Dianthus. Magenta’s days were numbered after the death of a patient in a phase1/2 trial earlier this year sparked a sell-off and mass layoffs. Prior to joining Magenta, Gardner worked in a variety of roles at GSK. Release Elsewhere in the Flagship universe, tRNA-focused biotech Alltrna has hired Chris Henderson, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer and Will Kiesman, Ph.D., as chief technology officer. Henderson joins from Biogen where he was head of research while Kiesman is being promoted from head of CMC and medicinal chemistry. Release Last but not least, recently launched Empress Therapeutics has hired Dawn Thompson, Ph.D., as SVP and head of platform development. Thompson previously worked at LifeMine Therapeutics and Ginkgo Bioworks. Release Ex-Novartis cell and gene therapy chief takes over as Resolution chief Resolution Therapeutics Who says New Year’s resolutions can’t be made in August? Such is the case for London biotech Resolution Medicines, and its executive search has landed on Amir Hefni as the new CEO.  It’s a considerable hire, with Hefni most recently leading cell and gene therapy work at Novartis for a year. He was the worldwide commercial head and European region leader for cell and gene therapy prior to commanding the whole unit. Hefni replaces Edward Hodgkin, a managing partner at Syncona Investment Management who’s led the company the last three years.  Resolution is hoping that Hefni’s Big Pharma pedigree will be the exact right formula to help guide further development of its marcrophage cell therapies to treat liver disease. The company was formed around an autologous macrophage therapy developed by Scottish researchers that was previously found to be safe and tolerated in patients with liver cirrhosis in a phase 1 trial. Resolution says a placebo-controlled phase 2 trial is now underway. Release Cidara snags leader from Roche’s Genentech Cidara Therapeutics Nicole Davarpanah, M.D., has left her role as clinical and translational lead in oncology at Roche’s Genentech for a spot at Cidara Therapeutics.  Davarpanah is stepping on as SVP of translational R&D, a role in which she’ll lead the biotech’s oncology efforts, with particular focus on identifying and advancing candidates through human proof-of-concept studies. Currently, all four of the biotech’s oncology programs are in discovery or preclinical development. On the approved side, the company touts antifungal Rezafungin for candidemia and invasive candidiasis—a bloodstream infection and severe candida infection, respectively. Before holding her most recent Roche/Genentech position, Davarpanah served as the company’s senior medical director of genitourinary immuno-oncology and medical affairs, where she helped launch products and form industry partnerships related to the indication. Before that, the medical oncologist worked as a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute and as a faculty member at Georgetown University. Release > A month after unveiling a pair of phase 3 trial fails, Kodiak Sciences' Chief Medical Officer Jason Ehrlich, M.D., Ph.D., is resigning, effective Aug. 25. Ehrlich, who also serves as the company's chief development officer, will be departing both roles, of which he had taken on in 2018 after serving as the global head of clinical ophthalmology at Roche’s Genentech unit. Fierce Biotech > NewAmsterdam Pharma has snagged William “BJ” Jones from Biohaven, which was acquired by Pfizer for $11.6 billion last year. The executive—who has also held roles at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim and NitroMed—will serve as NewAmsterdam’s first chief commercial officer. Release > NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals has selected Hyung Heon “HH” Kim to lead the biotech, succeeding interim CEO Joseph Hooker. Before his new leadership role, Kim served as general counsel and SVP of Dong-A ST Co Ltd.—NeuroBo’s largest stakeholder and partner on two recently in-licensed assets. Release > Carrie Ann Cook will be departing Cerevance for Sitryx Therapeutics, where she’ll serve as chief business officer. Over her career, Cook has held positions of increasing responsibility at EMD Serono, Merck Serono, Novartis Pharma and Baxter Healthcare. Release > Life Science Cares Boston has tapped Yvonne Spicer to lead as the organization’s new executive director. Spicer recently served as the mayor of Framingham, Massachusetts, and serves as a lecturer at several universities. LinkedIn > VintaBio has chosen Jennifer Kingsley as its first chief commercial officer. Kingsley joins from Cytiva, where she worked for the past decade, most recently as commercial zone leader. Release

Gene therapy startup Neurogene has reached a deal to go public through a reverse merger with cancer drug developer NeoleukinTherapeutics, the companies announced Tuesday.The new company will operate under the name Neurogene, be led by its management team and trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange with the ticker symbol NGNE. The startups shareholders will own 84% of the company, with Neoleukin stockholders getting the remainder.A group of investment firms have poured $95 million into the company alongside the merger, leaving Neurogene with about $200 million in cash on hand when the deal closes later this year.The deal is the latest reverse merger involving a startup and struggling, publicly-traded biotech company. These agreements help young drugmakers pivot quickly onto Wall Street by merging with the shell of a distressed, publicly traded counterpart. Theyve also become a valuable tool during the sectors recent downturn, which has made initial public offerings harder to pull off and equity raises for those already on Wall Street more challenging to complete.Enliven Therapeutics, Dianthus Therapeutics and Elicio Therapeutics are among those that have inked reverse mergers since last summer.Korro Biojoined them last week.Now Neurogene is following suit. The company has been developing gene therapies for neurological diseases, and, three years ago, raised $115 millionfrom many of the same investors that backed the funding it announced Tuesday.The new funds are expected to support operations into the second half of 2026, helping bankroll a pipeline that includes two gene therapies in early-stage testing in Rett syndrome and a form of Batten disease. Data from both programs are expected in 2023 and 2024.The deal marks the end of the road for Neoleukin, which also went public through a reverse mergerwith a struggling company.Neoleukinis one of several cancer drug companies that have been developing new medicines aimed at the inflammatory protein IL-2. But its lead drug, NL-201, produced disappointing results and early-stage testing and was scrappedlast year.The company laid off the majority of its workforce in March and began the strategic review that led to its merger with Neurogene.Two of the combined companys board members will be selected by Neoleukin. '

Dive Brief:Private RNA editing company Korro Bio plans to combine with Frequency Therapeutics via an all-stock reverse merger the companies announced Friday.Frequency shareholders will own about 8% of the combined company once the deal is completed, while Korro investors will own the remaining 92%.The combined company will operate under Korro Bios name and trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange by the ticker symbol KRRO. It expects to have approximately $170 million in cash upon deal closing, which is anticipated by the fourth quarter.Dive Insight:Frequency has had a rocky year, recently undergoing a restructuring after an experimental drug for hearing loss failed to meet its goal in a clinical trial. The company shut down the program and laid off about half of its workforce as a result.Frequency went public in 2018, but its shares have steadily lost value as it hit setbacks in its research. The company is one more than 85 biotech companies to cut staff this year, according to data from BioPharma Dive.The merger gives Korro an alternative path to public markets than the traditional initial public offering. In contrast to recent years, biotechs have struggled to pull off IPOs over the past 18 months, leading some like Korro to consider reverse mergers.Other companies to go this route include Enliven Therapeutics, Dianthus Therapeutics and Elicio Therapeutics.Once the deal is complete, the combined company will have enough cash to fund operations into 2026. It will focus on developing Korros RNA editing technology, including a lead program aimed at the rare inherited disease alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Korro plans to ask regulators for permission to begin clinical testing in the second half of next year.The new company will be led by Korro CEO Ram Aiyar. Its board of directors will have seven members, four of which will be named by Korro. Frequency CEO David Lucchino will also join the board. '