A few comings and goings before the Independence Day holiday in the US:
Cyrus Taraporevala→ Pfizer has welcomed former State Street Global Advisors president and CEO Cyrus Taraporevala to the board of directors. Taraporevala retired from State Street in 2022, and he has board seats at Shell and Bridgepoint Group. With another $1.5 billion in cost cuts coming down the pike, Pfizer is gearing up for its second-quarter earnings report after CEO Albert Bourla called its Q1 performance “phenomenal,” according to CNBC.
Andrew Joe→ Merus was one of the big winners from this year’s ASCO conference, drawing buzz for positive Phase 2 data from its petosemtamab/Keytruda combo for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and raising $400 million in the process. But a little more than a month later, CMO Andrew Joe and CBO/head of Merus US Hui Liu are both out. Fabian Zohren has already replaced Joe, and the search continues for a new business leader. Zohren had been named medical chief at ImmunoGen in November, when AbbVie announced that it would purchase the Elahere maker for $10.1 billion, and he was also the global clinical development leader for prostate cancer and DNA repair during his six years with Pfizer.
Those experiences with drugs like Xtandi and Orgovyx make Zohren an appealing choice as Merus looks ahead to a pair of Phase 3 trials with petosemtamab, William Blair analysts wrote in a note. “An immediate reaction to the news is that near-term hopes for M&A may be pushed back,” they added.
Peter Pfreundschuh→ We told you in April that Peter Pfreundschuh resigned as CFO at Voyager Therapeutics (a position that will be filled by ex-Vor Bio finance chief Nathan Jorgensen on July 8). Pfreundschuh has now taken the CFO job at Y-mAbs Therapeutics, a biotech that garnered an FDA approval for one neuroblastoma drug but has been stymied by the FDA and EMA with another. Before his two years with Voyager, Pfreundschuh held this role at Frequency Therapeutics, UroGen, Sucampo Pharmaceuticals and Immunomedics.
Michel Dahan→ The Joshua Boger-chaired Stargardt disease biotech Alkeus Pharmaceuticals has named Michel Dahan as president and CEO. He succeeds co-founder Leonide Saad, who slides into the CSO slot. Dahan held multiple positions at Akebia Therapeutics, including CBO and COO, and he had been on the board at Alkeus for the past year and a half. Alkeus plans on filing an NDA for its Stargardt candidate gildeuretinol sometime this year.
Orlando Oliveira→ Lonnie Moulder has brought in Orlando Oliveira as chief commercial officer of Zenas BioPharma. Oliveira is the latest Mirati exec to find a new landing spot after it was sold to Bristol Myers Squibb, helping Krazati get EMA approval as head of international. He’s also a 13-year Amgen vet who has worked for Agios and Tesaro as general manager, international.
Gene Mack→ Gain Therapeutics CEO Matthias Alder has packed his bags “to pursue other opportunities,” and the Maryland biotech has installed Gene Mack as interim chief executive. Mack has appeared in his space several times for his CFO appointments at Gain, Sellas Life Sciences and, in quick succession, Coya Therapeutics and Imcyse. Gain has reached the clinic with its lead asset GT-02287 for GBA1 Parkinson’s disease.
Iain Kilty→ Oxford, UK-based autoimmune and inflammatory disease biotech Sitryx has tapped Iain Kilty to replace Neil Weir as CEO, while Weir shifts to the role of president at the Eli Lilly partner and keeps his seat on the board. Kilty had served as CSO at Sitryx since April 2021 and is a venture partner at SV Health Investors, which provided the seed money and contributed to Sitryx’s Series A.
Kathy Ivey→ Timothy Hoey has ended his six-year run as CSO of Tenaya Therapeutics, but he has joined the South San Francisco heart disease biotech’s scientific advisory board, along with the University of Florida’s Barry Byrne. Tenaya also announced what CEO Faraz Ali called a “well-deserved promotion” for Kathy Ivey, who is now SVP of research. “Kathy was instrumental in Tenaya’s formation in 2016 and has led our genetic medicines discovery efforts since day one as Tenaya’s first full-time employee,” Ali said in a statement. Finally, NGM Bio founder Jin-Long Chen has exited the board to concentrate on his duties as managing partner of TCG Labs and CEO at Soleil.
David Johnson→ Competing with such drugs as Travere’s approved therapy Filspari and Vertex/Alpine Immune Sciences’ povetacicept in IgA nephropathy, atacicept developer Vera Therapeutics has selected former Global Blood Therapeutics commercial chief David Johnson as COO. Johnson spent 11 years with GSK and another 15 years with Gilead, where he was VP of sales and marketing for the California pharma company’s liver disease business unit.
→ Adrian Haigh has stepped down as COO of Fennec Pharmaceuticals after getting called up from the board of directors last August. “The company is actively searching for a US-based leader,” Fennec CEO Rosty Raykov said in a statement. During Haigh’s short tenure, Dutch-based Norgine shelled out €40 million upfront to launch Fennec’s Pedmarqsi in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Dave Borah→ PepGen has introduced Agios vet Afsaneh Mohebbi as SVP, portfolio and program management, and Dave Borah as SVP, investor relations and corporate communications. Mohebbi also led portfolio and program management for Renovacor and she’s been doing consulting work, including with PepGen. Borah is a Bicycle Therapeutics alum who had been with Alkermes spinout Mural Oncology as SVP of investor relations and corporate affairs since last September.
Jodie Morrison→ The board of directors at Verve Therapeutics now comprises nine members with the additions of Nia Tatsis and Jodie Morrison. Tatsis is the current chief regulatory and quality officer for Vertex, while Morrison runs Q32 Bio and is an advisor to Atlas Venture.
→ There’s more reshuffling on the board at Carisma Therapeutics, as it brings in Harvard’s David Scadden and Seres Therapeutics CFO Marella Thorell after the resignations of Regina Hodits and Björn Odlander. Another shakeup occurred in April, when Carisma elected John Hohneker to the board and Chidozie Ugwumba also resigned.