Anthony Mancini→ There are substantial leadership changes at Genmab, starting with the departure of COO Anthony Mancini. Peer Review covered Mancini’s appointment in March 2020 following a 24-year career with Bristol Myers Squibb, where he was elevated to SVP and head of the US innovative medicines unit. Genmab has also promoted Brad Bailey to chief commercial officer and welcomed Rayne Waller as chief technology officer. Bailey came from Ipsen in July 2020 as Genmab’s first US general manager and is the former head of the US immunology business unit at UCB. Waller spent 28 years with Amgen and then joined Capsida Biotherapeutics as chief manufacturing officer, jumping to the COO slot in March 2022.
It’s been an action-packed year for Jan van de Winkel’s crew: In June, the FDA approved a label expansion for Genmab and AbbVie’s Epkinly in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, and the Danish pharma bought antibody-drug conjugate specialist ProfoundBio in early April for its first-ever acquisition. The CEO spoke to Endpoints News about the $1.8 billion all-cash deal. “This is a potential landmark event for the company, but also for cancer patients,” van de Winkel said. “It really, really fit well together. We make each other stronger.”
James Sabry→ James Sabry is coming to BioMarin on Oct. 7 — and it will be a new-look roster by the time he gets there. The former Roche wheeler-dealer will tackle the role of CBO following the retirement of R&D chief Hank Fuchs, who has been with BioMarin since he succeeded current Ultragenyx CEO Emil Kakkis as CMO in March 2009. Greg Friberg will take Fuchs’ place on Sept. 30, and Fuchs will hang around as an advisor through March 3. Friberg is an 18-year Amgen vet who was elevated to VP, global medical affairs, rare disease in May. BioMarin also said in a Wednesday release that Brinda Balakrishnan will leave her post as chief corporate strategy and business development officer on Oct. 1.
It would have been reasonable to assume that Sabry would take a position with another large pharma company after 14 years with the Swiss drugmaker, but there are certainly Roche connections here: BioMarin chief Alexander Hardy spent more than four years as CEO of Genentech, while new chief commercial officer Cristin Hubbard had a long career with Roche/Genentech that ended in May with her role as head of global product strategy for Roche Pharmaceuticals.
In Sabry’s final year with the company, Roche bought obesity and diabetes drug developer Carmot Therapeutics for $2.7 billion, and forked over $7.1 billion for Telavant and its TL1A drug.
Dave Marek→ Ex-Myovant CEO Dave Marek has been called up from the board of directors to take the top spot at inflammatory disease-focused ReAlta Life Sciences, while a Moderna exec will run R&D. Before becoming chief R&D officer at ReAlta, Paolo Martini founded the rare diseases department at Moderna and was CSO of its International Therapeutics Research Centers. ReAlta’s lead program RLS-0071 is in mid-stage trials for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, acute graft-versus-host disease and acute exacerbations of COPD, and the company is already thinking about potential regulatory approval and commercialization. Marek was one of many new board members at ReAlta this year; ex-Kite CEO Christi Shaw and Editas Medicine chair Emma Reeve are part of that group. Marek’s predecessor, Ulrich Thienel, left in April and was one of the LGBTQ+ leaders that we recognized in our inaugural list in 2022.
Arun Swaminathan→ Houston-based Coya Therapeutics has tapped Arun Swaminathan to replace Howard Berman as CEO on Nov. 1. Berman will focus on his role as executive chairman. Swaminathan is a Bristol Myers marketing alum who served as chief business and commercial officer for Actinium Pharmaceuticals, and he was named CBO at Coya in March 2023. The Treg biotech is developing COYA 302 for ALS, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. “At this stage of our evolution, I can think of no one better skilled and dedicated to take us to the next level, to progress our assets forward in the clinic and execute new business deals, all of which we believe will create value for our shareholders,” Berman said in a statement.
Isabel Kalofonos→ Ahead of an NDA submission for its facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy drug losmapimod, Fulcrum Therapeutics has named Isabel Kalofonos as chief commercial officer and Heather Faulds as chief regulatory affairs & quality assurance officer. Kalofonos led the launch of Elahere as chief commercial officer of ImmunoGen before it was purchased by AbbVie. She’s also been global head of the prescription business unit for Galderma and the head of the hereditary angioedema franchise at Takeda that brought you Takhzyro. Faulds is a 12-year Biogen vet who has been in charge of regulatory affairs at Alkermes and Scholar Rock.
→ Paul Streck has landed at Oxford spinout PepGen as its new R&D chief. Streck has bounced around a bit as the CMO of several companies that have been acquired in recent years: Alder BioPharmaceuticals (by Lundbeck in 2019), Arena Pharmaceuticals (by Pfizer in 2021), and Albireo Pharma (by Ipsen in 2023). Last spring, the FDA issued a clinical hold on PepGen’s oligonucleotide PGN-EDODM1 for myotonic dystrophy that would eventually be lifted a few months later. The biotech’s lead asset PGN-EDO51 is in Phase 2 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Dimitrios Arkilo→ Dimitrios Arkilo has replaced Sam Collins as CMO of Actio Biosciences, a San Diego-based rare disease biotech that’s elected Emil Kakkis and The Scripps Research Institute’s Ben Cravatt to the board of directors this year. Arkilos was VP, medical science head of neurology for Sage Therapeutics, and the Takeda alum also had a yearlong stint with Acadia Pharmaceuticals as VP of clinical development, rare disease. Collins, the ex-global clinical leader for achondroplasia at Pfizer, took the Actio job in January.
Kali Stasi→ Competing with the likes of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals and Ascidian Therapeutics in Stargardt disease, SalioGen Therapeutics has appointed Kali Stasi as CMO. Stasi had led clinical development at Adverum Biotechnologies, which is similarly working on eye diseases, since December 2022 and was acting medical chief until Rabia Gurses Ozden took over in June. Stasi also spent eight years at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, where she was a translational medical director.
→ Back in April, Cidara Therapeutics announced sweeping changes to bring an influenza drug back into the fold, raising money for the program. Now, the company is bringing aboard Jim Beitel as CBO. Beitel joins the San Diego-based team from Fate Therapeutics, where he was SVP of corporate development. Cidara reacquired its flu drug candidate from J&J after inking a $27 million upfront deal three years ago.
Neil Singla→ In July, Westlake’s non-opioid pain startup Latigo Biotherapeutics welcomed aboard former Kinnate chief exec Nima Farzan as CEO. Now the company is back in Peer Review with news of Neil Singla’s appointment as CMO. Singla formerly served as CEO of Lotus Clinical Research and chairs the Clinical Trials Special Interest Group for the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). Alongside Singla’s appointment, Latigo released positive Phase 1 data for its pain drug, with hopes to take on Vertex’s suzetrigine.
John Liles→ Co-founded by MIT’s Feng Zhang, epigenetics player Moonwalk Biosciences hits the Peer Review dance floor with John Liles as VP of biology and translational science. Liles is a longtime Gilead vet who just finished up a two-year tenure with Chinook Therapeutics as executive director, kidney disease research & strategy. Moonwalk, which also established a cardiometabolic advisory board with five members, launched in January with a $57 million raise.
Troy Wagner→ California-based cancer biotech Tempest Therapeutics has selected Troy Wagner as VP of quality assurance. Wagner held this position at Tricida and she’s the former head of global corporate quality & compliance for Jubilant Life Sciences.
→ Andrew Beelen has reunited with a few of his colleagues from G1 Therapeutics as VP of clinical development for Incyclix Bio, a cancer drug developer out of Research Triangle Park in North Carolina that has stayed relatively quiet since its $30 million Series B back in 2022. Beelen joined G1 in 2016 and had been executive director of clinical development for the past two years. Before co-founding Incyclix Bio, CEO Patrick Roberts worked at G1 as senior director of translational medicine and CSO Jay Strum held the same title at the Cosela maker.
Peter Lebowitz→ Novo Nordisk’s molecular glue partner Neomorph has opened up a spot for ex-J&J oncology leader Peter Lebowitz on the board of directors. Lebowitz is now focused on multispecific antibodies as CEO of Third Arc Bio, which debuted last month with a $165 million Series A. “This is the area that is right in the right spot of the breaking point where it goes over the edge and actually is transformational for solid tumors,” Lebowitz told Endpoints.
→ Jean-Pierre Garnier will take over for Sofinnova Investments managing partner James Healy as chairman of the board at BioAge Labs, the metabolic disease biotech that secured a $170 million Series D in February. Garnier ran GSK from 2000-08 and chaired the board at Idorsia for three years.
Michele Holcomb→ Michele Holcomb will join the board of directors at PureTech on Sept. 23. Holcomb was chief strategy and business development officer for Cardinal Health from 2016-22, and she had multiple roles during her six years with Teva, including SVP of strategy, portfolio, search and partnerships.
→ Versanis Bio co-founder Lloyd Klickstein has picked up a seat on the board of directors at cell therapy maker Adicet Bio. After Eli Lilly bought Versanis for $1.9 billion last year, Klickstein has become president and CEO of Koslapp Therapeutics, a company we’ll keep on our radar for a future fundraise.
→ Corbus Pharmaceuticals has added Arrivent BioPharma CFO Winston Kung to the board of directors. Meanwhile, former Celldex Therapeutics chief Chip Catlin has handed in his resignation after more than a decade on the board.