Upon taking the helm at precision oncology-focused 
Scorpion Therapeutics
 last summer, 
Axel Hoo
s
 told 
Endpoints News 
that he 
had a clear vision
 of the type of leaders he wanted to hire.
It appears that former
 Sanofi
 project head 
Michael Streit
, one of Hoos’ old colleagues from 
GSK
, fits the bill.
Streit 
has been tapped
 to lead Scorpion’s first two experimental drugs into the clinic, the company announced on Monday. When Hoos approached him about the open CMO position, Streit said he was “keen about the opportunity” to work together again.
“It was the unique combination of a focused strategy and the right people to execute this strategy that attracted me to Scorpion,” he said in an email to 
Endpoints News. 
He was most recently at Sanofi, where he served as VP and senior global project head on 
SAR444245
, the company’s PEGylated, not-alpha interleukin-2 candidate.
His resume also includes stops at GSK, where he rose to VP of development, and 
Janssen
, where he led early development for the company’s prostate cancer and hematology programs.
When it comes to Scorpion, Streit’s first priority is steering 
STX-478
 and
 STX-721
 into the clinic. The former is designed to inhibit mutant forms of phosphoinositide 3-kinase alpha (PI3Kα), one of the most common drivers across solid tumors, Streit said, while the latter targets the Exon 20 insertion mutation in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. IND filings are expected next year, according to Hoos, though Scorpion has more than 15 other less-advanced programs.
“Critical for me as a CEO is that you’re decisive, you’re a good listener so you get all the information you need to make decisions and then you carry that forward with conviction,” Hoos told Endpoints last July. “Conviction is a big thing, especially in biotech. You cannot be successful if you don’t believe in what you’re doing.” — 
Nicole DeFeudis
→ The PDUFA date is upon us for
 eli-cel
, and with its gene therapy 
Zynteglo
 now approved by the FDA and 
steeply priced
, 
bluebird bio
 is looking for its third CFO this year, as chief strategy and financial officer
 Jason Cole
walks out the door
 Oct. 14 “to pursue new career opportunities.” Cole originally rolled into bluebird eight and a half years ago as general counsel, then became chief legal officer, chief operating & legal officer and chief business officer. He replaced 
Gina Consylman
 as finance chief in March when she bolted for
 Vedere Bio II
 after eight months, and the job is open again in short order as 
Danforth Advisors
 exec
 Katherine Breedis
 pinch-hits on an interim basis. This marks the latest departure from bluebird after chief regulatory officer 
Anne-Virginie Eggimann
left for the same post
 at 
Flagship
’s 
Tessera Therapeutics
 in August.
→ It may be too early to listen to “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” or “Waltz of the Flowers,” but RNA drug developer 
Nutcracker Therapeutics
is ready to bring in
Rob Schott
 as CMO. Previously the head of therapeutics at 
Sangamo
, Schott is an
 Eli Lilly
 alum who was medical chief at the Indianapolis pharma’s subsidiary 
Chorus
. 
ARCH
-backed Nutcracker pulled in a substantial chunk of change in March 
with a $167 million Series C
, and the California biotech fleshed out its leadership this summer with COO 
John Stubenrauch
, CBO 
Geoff Nosrat
i and general counsel
 Ian Wiener
.
→ 
Pearl Huang
’s protein degradation upstart 
Dunad Therapeutics
has pegged
Ruben Tommasi
 as chief R&D officer. Tommasi logged 17 years at 
Novartis
 and left 
NIBR
 to become head of infectious disease chemistry at 
AstraZeneca
 in 2011. Since 2015, he had been CSO of AstraZeneca spinout 
Entasis Therapeutics
, the 
$113 million antibody developer that was sold to
Innoviva
 in May. Flagship stitched together 
Inzen
 and Huang’s old company 
Cygnal
to form
Sonata Therapeutics
 that same month, and then Huang 
took the helm
 at Cambridge, UK-based Dunad in late June.
→
 Cellics Therapeutics
, a San Diego biotech that got the go-ahead on an IND application for its red blood cell nanosponge 
CTI-005
, 
has tapped
Bristol Myers Squibb
 veteran 
Paul Daruwala
 as president and CEO. Daruwala split his eight years at 
Cidara Therapeutics
 between serving as chief commercial officer (2014-18) and COO (since 2018), and at Bristol Myers he was VP of US marketing for the hepatology franchise. Earlier, he spent 18 years at 
Merck
 and then pivoted to 
Vertex
 in 2010 as VP, commercial & strategic management.
→ On Sept. 19, 
Pfizer
 and Novartis vet
 Gail Farfel
will take over
 for 
Gene Williams
 as CEO of Toronto-headquartered 
ProMIS Neurosciences
, which is going after such diseases as Alzheimer’s, ALS and multiple system atrophy. Farfel just had a seven-year run as chief development officer of 
Zogenix
 and is a board member at 
Avrobio
 and
 Durect Corporation
.
→ 
Nallakkan Arvindan
has signed on
 as chief technology officer of 
Spotlight Therapeutics
, a San Francisco CRISPR gene editing shop that 
chalked up a $36.5 million Series B
 in March and 
added
Enhertu
 whisperer
 Antoine Yver
 as a board member in July. In his long career at 
Five Prime
 before the $2 billion 
Amgen 
buyout of March 2021
, Arvindan was VP, strategic technology operations and would get promoted to SVP in 2018.
→ Beset by a flailing stock price 
$TXMD
 and an 
M&A move that was called off
 in July by potential buyer
 EW Healthcare Partners
, former Novartis exec 
Hugh O’Dowd
’s tenure at Boca Raton, FL women’s health biotech 
TherapeuticsMD
 hasn’t panned out, so co-founder 
Brian Bernick
 and ex-
Esperion
 chief commercial officer
 Mark Glickman
have thus been named
 interim co-CEOs. Bernick had filled the role of chief scientific and medical officer, while Glickman had been CBO since June 2021 at TherapeuticsMD, chaired by former HHS Secretary 
Tommy Thompson
.
→ 
BioCryst
has handed out two promotions
 as enrollment picks up again on clinical trials for 
BCX9930
, its lead drug 
that had received a partial hold
 from the FDA in May. 
Bill Sheridan
 has been elevated to chief development officer, and 
Ryan Arnold
 has succeeded Sheridan as CMO of the rare disease biotech. In 2008, Sheridan moved on to BioCryst from Amgen, where he capped off his 14 years with the pharma giant as VP, North American medical affairs. Arnold was brought on board six months ago as SVP of global medical affairs, a position that the Sanofi/
Genzyme 
alum also held at
 Sage Therapeutics
 and 
Annexon Biosciences
.
→ While looking to broaden the horizons for its FDA-approved pruritus drug 
Korsuva
with an oral formulation
 in Phase II, 
Cara Therapeutics
has enlisted
Ryan Maynard
 as chief commercial officer. Maynard, the CFO for 10 of his 16 years with 
Rigel Pharmaceuticals
, would later hold the same title at
 Blade Therapeutics
 and healthcare solutions outfit 
LetsGetChecked
. He’s also on the board of directors at 
Iovance
 alongside such members as chairman
 Iain Dukes
 and
 Athena Countouriotis
, 
the new chairperson
 at 
Recludix Pharma
 who ran 
Turning Point
 until Bristol Myers 
snapped it up for $4.1 billion
 last year.
→ While we’re thinking of it, Turning Point’s former interim CSO
 Gavin Hirst
has a new gig
 as chief scientist at 
Atomwise
, part of Sanofi’s AI full-court press 
that also includes
Exscientia
. Before the 
Takeda
 vet was with Turning Point, Hirst was Janssen’s senior director and head of immmunology medicinal chemistry. In a deal centered on small molecules, Sanofi 
paid Atomwise $20 million upfront
 in August with milestones in the neighborhood of $1 billion.
→ There’s movement on the Maraganore Meter again as ex-
Alnylam
 chief 
John Maraganore
tacks on another strategic advisory role
 with 
Xilio Therapeutics
. The I/O biotech has bolstered its board of directors with 
Tom Heyman
, who retired in 2019 after 37 years at
 J&J
, and has plugged in 
Myles Clouston
 as VP of investor relations. Clouston worked at Nasdaq for more than eight years and had led US investor relations at 
MorphoSys
.
→
 Science 37
pulled off a $235 million SPAC deal
 last year, then 
trimmed its workforce
 by “just under 25” people this summer as the bear market put many other companies in a similar bind. The decentralized clinical trials provider out of the Research Triangle in North Carolina 
has since recruited
Quintiles
 vet 
Michael Shipton
 as chief commercial officer. Shipton took on the role of SVP, customer solutions & strategy to conclude his four years with 
Syneos Health
.
→ It hasn’t been all peaches and cream between the FDA and 
Agenus
 with its BLA for 
balstilimab
getting pulled
 last year, and the biotech 
hopes to get back on track with
Patricia Carlos
 as chief regulatory, quality, and safety officer. Carlos jumps to Agenus from 
Arcus
, where she was SVP of regulatory and quality. Agenus has also welcomed
 Todd Yancey
 as senior global clinical development, medical affairs and commercial advisor after his time as 
BeiGene
’s SVP, global medical affairs and new market development. Carlos also has BeiGene ties from her days as director (and then senior director) of regulatory affairs.
→ Since its 
$111 million Series B
 in January, CAR-T developer 
ImmPACT Bio
 has methodically formed its leadership team with a new chief technology officer, COO, CFO 
and the arrival
 of 
Jonathan Benjamin
 this week as CMO. The ex-medical director at Amgen was SVP for clinical research with 
Atreca
, which had to give itself some breathing room by 
scaling back the workforce
 in June.
→ Pummeled by a drastic 
75% staff reduction
 and 
a CRL with its cUTI drug
tebipenem HBr
, 
Spero Therapeutics
has selected
Kamal Hamed
 as CMO. Hamed, a former medical director with 
Bayer
, Bristol Myers and Novartis, just had a six-month run as the medical chief at 
Lysovant
; he’s also led clinical development and medical affairs for 
Basilea Pharmaceutica
.
→ Effective Oct. 3,
 Ronald Herbst
will get started
 as CSO at 
Biolojic Design
, the AI-based antibody shop 
that started
Aulos Bioscience
 with 
ATP
’s 
Michael Ehlers
 in January 2021. A former 
MedImmune
 R&D exec, Herbst was chief scientist at 
Pyxis Oncology
, which 
pulled the plug on
PYX-202
 and paused development on 
PYX-203
 and 
PYX-102
 in an August pipeline shakeup.
→ Going after IL-15 with 
SOT101
 and inking a 
Keytruda
 combo deal with Merck after 
raising more than $300 million
 in December 2021, Czech cancer player 
Sotio Biotech
 has appointed 
Robyn Hunter
as CFO
 and 
Martin Steegmaier
as CSO
. Hunter had been with 
Fortress Biotech
 since its 
Coronado Biosciences
 days, first as VP & corporate controller and later as CFO, and she’s on the board of directors at
 Tenax Therapeutics
. Steegmaier, the former head of discovery for large molecule research at 
Roche,
 wraps up his two years as head of research at MorphoSys.
→ Swiss I/O biotech 
Nouscom
has promoted
 Novartis cancer vet 
Sven Gogov
 to CMO and picked up 
Maria Arce-Tomas
 as VP, head of regulatory affairs. Gogov joined the Janssen partner as VP, clinical development last October after his stint as 
Incyte
’s executive director, global immuno-oncology. Arce-Tomas has held regulatory positions at GSK, 
Abbott
, Takeda and 
Novo Nordisk
, and since 2019 she had been global head of regulatory affairs with 
PharmaMar
.
→ Radiopharmaceuticals are a hot commodity, and 
Jacob Hesterman
is entering that world
 with
 Ratio Therapeutics
 as chief data officer. Hesterman was chief technology officer at 
Realm IDx
 and 
Invicro
 before this newly-created post at Ratio, a Bayer and 
Lantheus
 partner that launched from stealth in June with a $20+ million seed round and will be located in the Seaport District in Boston.
→
 Julie Daves
has made her way
 to Minneapolis-based 
DiaMedica Therapeutics
 has SVP, clinical development operations. Daves had been global head of clinical operations for 
Sanifit
, a Spanish biotech 
that was bought by
Vifor Pharma
, 
which was bought by
CSL
 in a Matryoshka doll M&A scenario. The FDA 
issued a clinical hold
 on DiaMedica’s acute ischemic stroke and chronic kidney disease drug, 
DM199
, in July.
→ Global CRO 
Parexel
has a pair of promotions
 on its leadership team with 
Peyton Howell
 being elevated to the newly-created role of chief operating and growth officer and 
Amy McKee
 moving up to CMO and global head, Oncology Center of Excellence. Howell joined the company in May 2018 as its chief commercial and strategy officer. Before making her way to Parexel, Howell was president for health systems and specialty care solutions at 
AmerisourceBergen
. Meanwhile, McKee has been with Parexel since 2019, where she started as SVP and head of regulatory consulting services. McKee formerly held an 11-year stint at the FDA, culminating in her role as deputy center director, Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) and supervisory associate director, OHOP, CDER.
→ 
Endpoint
Health
, not affiliated with 
Endpoints News
, 
has plucked up
Ransi Somaratne
 as CMO. This isn’t Somaratne’s first time wearing the CMO hat, having served in the same role previously at 
Spring
Discovery
. Somaratne also brings with him experience from his times at 
BioMarin
 and Amgen.
→ Not long after 
Diamyd Medical
 kicked off its Phase III trial of its drug in an HLA-defined genetic subpopulation of type 1 diabetes patients, the Swedish company has promoted 
Christoph Nowak
 to the position of CMO. Nowak joined the autoimmune diabetes biotech last March after a five-year stint as an assistant professor at the 
Karolinska
Institutet
.
→
 Phosplatin Therapeutics
 changed its name to 
Promontory Therapeutics
 in May, but not its focus on developing small molecule cancer drugs. This week, the biotech 
has welcomed
Helene Shea
 as VP of CMC and 
Kate Hogg Call
 as VP of clinical operations. Shea was previously the head of CMC at 
Saniona
 and also held CMC posts at
 AMAG Pharmaceuticals
 and 
Ariad Pharmaceuticals
, while Hogg Call had been the senior director of clinical operations at 
Checkmate Pharmaceuticals
 for nearly two years. Promontory is partnering with Pfizer and 
Merck KGaA
 on a combo therapy involving 
Bavencio
 and its lead asset,
 PT-112
.
→ 
NervGen
has named
Matvey Lukashev
 as its VP, research and preclinical development. Lukashev most recently served as VP, translational sciences at the 
ALS Development Institute
. Prior to that, Lukashev held a variety of roles at 
Biogen
.
→ 
Adri Osman
is joining
Azur Group
 as VP of corporate quality and compliance. Osman comes from 
Teva
Pharmaceuticals
, where he served as head of quality strategy and portfolio management.
→ Ex-Pfizer Oncology president 
Garry Nicholson
has been named
 chairman of the board at 
Day One Biopharmaceuticals
, which 
did the positive data-to-public offering two-step
 in June. Nicholson chairs the board at
 G1 Therapeutics
 and had a 28-year run at Eli Lilly before joining Pfizer in 2008.
→ South San Francisco neuro biotech 
Nine Square Therapeutics
has elected
Samumed
 co-founder and ex-
Impact Biomedicines
 chief 
John Hood
 to the board of directors. Hood’s new company, 
Endeavor Biomedicines
, 
raised $101 million in a Series B round
 back in February.
→ Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) upstart 
Haya Therapeutics
has locked in
 Brian Thomas
 as chairman of the board. Thomas holds the top spot at 
Metagenomi
, a gene editing player that 
inked a CRISPR deal
 with 
Moderna
 last November.
→ Under the new leadership of CEO
 Kim Blackwell
, 
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals
has reserved space
 for 
Jan Skvarka
 on the board of directors. The CEO of 
Trillium
 until 
it was sold to Pfizer for $2.22 billion last year
, Skvarka chairs the boards of 
GentiBio
 and 
Longwood
’s 
DEM BioPharma
, the just-launched CD47 player 
that scored a $70 million Series A
.
→ Regular CNN contributor 
Leana Wen
, who has been under the microscope for her 
about-face on Covid mandates
, 
has joined
 the board of directors at 
UroGen
. The George Washington University professor is also a board member at 
Glaukos
.
→ The number of board members at 
1910 Genetics
has grown to four
 with the selection of 
Desney Tan
. The 18-year 
Microsoft
 vet and managing director of 
Microsoft Health Futures
 is joining CEO 
Jen Nwankwo
, the NIBR’s 
Jennifer Leeds
 and 
Playground Global
 venture partner 
Phyllis Whiteley
 on the board.
→ 
Merit Cudkowicz
is taking her talents to South Beach
 as a member of the scientific advisory board at Miami-based neuro biotech 
Pasithea Therapeutics
. Cudkowicz, the chief of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, is a frequent resource for Endpoints’ ALS coverage.
→
 Oxford Biotherapeutics
 chairman 
Bernd Seizinger
, the acting CEO of 
CryptoMedix
, 
is headed to
 the board of directors at 
Aptose
. In the 1990s, Seizinger was VP for oncology drug discovery and VP for corporate and academic alliances with Bristol Myers.
→ 
Pliant Therapeutics
, another biotech 
that raised a truckload of cash
 after positive data, 
has appointed
Agilent Technologies
 CMO and longtime GSK exec
 Katharine Knobil
 to the board of directors. She’s also been CMO and head of R&D at the now-defunct 
Kaleido Biosciences
.
→ The folks at
 hC Bioscience
 just gained a CSO and chief data science officer last week, and now the tRNA player 
has waved in
 Brad Margus
 to the board of directors. The ex-CEO of 
Cerevance
 and 
Envoy Therapeutics
 also has board seats at 
Arvinas
, 
Neurona Therapeutics
 and the A-T Children’s Project.
→ Prostate cancer biotech 
ESSA Pharma
has added
 Philip Kantoff
 to the board of directors. The former chairman of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Kantoff co-founded and is CEO of another biotech that’s targeting prostate cancer, 
Convergent Therapeutics
.
→ Tel Aviv-based 
Ukko
has welcomed aboard
Tim Garnett
 to its advisory board. Garnett is the former CMO of Eli Lilly, having served in the role from 2008 to 2021. Garnett also previously served as the chair of the R&D leadership forum for 
PhRMA
.
→ 
Neogen
is pulling out two new seats
 on its board of directors for 
Jeff Capello
 and 
Aashima Gupta
 — who come along after a merger agreement with 
3M
. Capello — currently managing member at 
Monomoy Advisors
 — has had a busy career, serving as CFO at a number of places including 
PerkinElmer
, 
Boston Scientific
 and Biogen. Meanwhile, Gupta has held a variety of roles, including stints at 
JP Morgan Chase
, 
Google
Cloud
, 
Apigee
 and 
Kaiser
Permanente
.