William Chou
William Chou
has a lot on his hands at
Passage Bio
as the
Jim Wilson
-founded biotech
attempts a rebound following a rough year of
executive departures
,
layoffs
and pipeline pruning.
Chou himself recently departed another gene therapy developer that has essentially shuttered.
Aruvant
, from the
Roivant
web, ceased clinical development of a lentiviral gene therapy for beta thalassemia
after enrolling seven patients
, and a preclinical AAV gene therapy for patients with hypophosphatasia, the
parent company announced this summer
.
But Chou has experience bringing to market the first CAR-T cell therapy,
Kymriah
, which was under his watch at
Novartis
, and he’s intent on retaining the “brain power” at the 110-employee biotech that he now helms, the CEO told
Endpoints News
on his fourth day on the job.
“Building culture and building a cohesiveness is going to be so important as we move forward at Passage. It’s something that’s important for every biotech company,” Chou said, “but I know Passage has been through a lot, so really it’s something we’re going to focus on as we move forward.”
With two recent gene therapy approvals over at
bluebird bio
— and a third that Chou anticipates in sickle cell disease next year — and the FDA accepting
BioMarin
’s hemophilia A gene therapy for review, the Passage CEO thinks the tide is turning for biotechs attempting to create one-time treatments.
“A rising tide rises all ships, and we are a part of that,” he said, speaking over Zoom in front of a turtle named Swimmy, which his brother “foisted” upon him 16 years ago. If offered a turtle, don’t accept it, Chou mused, noting he’s Swimmy’s primary caretaker now that his children are in college.
It’s the potential patient impact that Passage Bio can have that attracted him to join the Philadelphia biotech, Chou said.
“I’ve had the privilege to work on two genetic medicine programs: one for patients with cancer and one for patients with sickle cell disease. And in both of those cases, have had the opportunity to dramatically changes patients’ lives. And once you get that feeling, you want that again in your next program,” Chou said from his home office in New Jersey, after spending the first three days on the job across state lines in the company’s Philly office. “That’s what we have the opportunity to do here at Passage for patients with CNS disease.”
An early focus on manufacturing and analytical capabilities also caught Chou’s attention, he said, noting he learned from the Kymriah rollout that a lot of lead time is required for a successful launch. Passage Bio has a manufacturing facility in the Princeton area, which Chou said he’ll be visiting soon as the biotech works through its three clinical-stage programs in central nervous system diseases: GM1 gangliosidosis, Krabbe disease and frontotemporal dementia.
—
Kyle LaHucik
Harold Bernstein
→ BioMarin is in the market for a CMO, just as they were last year.
Harold Bernstein
has ventured off to
Maze Therapeutics
in the dual role of president, R&D and CMO, while
Eric Green
has been promoted to CSO at a biotech making precision medicines like its lead Pompe disease program
MZE001
with a human genetics and functional genomics platform called COMPASS. Bernstein replaced
Geoff Nichol
as the medical chief of BioMarin in October 2021, and now
JJ Bienaimé
has a decision to make on a successor as the March 31 PDUFA date
looms for its hemophilia A gene therapy
, known as
Roctavian
in Europe and
valrox
elsewhere. Earlier, Bernstein was head of translational medicine, as well as VP of global medicines development and medical affairs at
Vertex
.
Green had been SVP of research and translational sciences, and before he helped co-found the biotech
that launched with a $191 million round
in 2019, he was an entrepreneur-in-residence at
Third Rock
and head of translational research for
MyoKardia
. Maze topped off its cash reserves
with a $190 million Series C
in January.
Peter Maag
→
Peter Maag
is taking over for
Dominic Borie
as CEO of California autoimmune disease biotech
Kyverna Therapeutics
, but Borie isn’t going anywhere, shifting to a new role as president of R&D. Maag, the former president and CEO of
CareDx
, was president of
Novartis Diagnostics
as part of his 11-year tenure with the Swiss pharma. Like Maze, Kyverna also enjoyed a big financing round in January,
raising $85 million in a Series B
as an IND gets submitted for its autologous anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy
KYV-101
for lupus nephritis.
Athena Countouriotis
→ For
Laura Shawver
, it’s on to the next challenge after
Silverback
’s
reverse merger
with
ARS Pharmaceuticals
as she runs the show at
Capstan Therapeutics
, a Penn spinout looking to unlock the potential of mRNA to help develop
in vivo
CAR-T therapies. A month removed from
Capstan’s $165 million Series A
reveal,
Athena Countouriotis
is chairing the board
, while
Michael Rosenzweig
joins the squad as EVP, portfolio strategy and product development. Countouriotis, the chief executive at
Turning Point
until the $4.1 billion M&A deal with
Bristol Myers Squibb
this summer, picks up her second such appointment in as many months (she’s the new chair at
Recludix Pharma
). And her LinkedIn says she’s back as a CEO for little-known
Avenzo Therapeutics
, a biotech that’s pulled together $170 million, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled for future announcements on who contributed to the financing. Rosenzweig is a
Merck Research Laboratories
vet in oncology and immunology discovery who just completed a stint as an entrepreneur-in-residence at
RA Ventures
.
Jenny Sundqvist
→ Developing the late-stage drug
cobitolimod
for ulcerative colitis, Stockholm’s
InDex Pharmaceuticals
will have a new CEO
at the beginning of next year as
Jenny Sundqvist
takes over. During two separate stints at
AstraZeneca
, Sundqvist was the global brand manager for the asthma med
Symbicort
and head of the global research portfolio in oncology before she led commercial and strategy development at
Isofol Medical
, where she was promoted to chief commercial officer in January.
Johan Giléus
had been pinch-hitting in the CEO spot at InDex and will return to his role as CFO.
Nicolas Poirier
→ It hasn’t been long since
Alexis Vandier
picked up the CEO hat at
OSE
Immuno
therapeutics
in July, but he’s already being seen out the door. The board
has elected
Nicolas
Poirier
, the company’s chief scientific director, to be his successor. Poirier has been with OSE since 2016 and started his career at
Tcl
Pharma
.
→
JD Finley
will lead
what’s left of Carlsbad, CA-based
Palisade Bio
on an interim basis after CEO
Thomas Hallam
“ceased his duties” on Monday,
as the release states
. When it was known as
Leading BioSciences
, the biotech merged with
Seneca Biopharma
under Hallam’s leadership, but Palisade
had to cut 20%
of an already small workforce a few weeks ago as clinical trials continue with its GI drug
LB1148
. Finley became CFO not long before Hallam’s promotion to chief executive in 2017.
Michelle McMurry-Heath
→
Michelle McMurry-Heath’s
unexpected exit at
BIO
came without warning or reason early this week. Internal tensions reportedly culminated in McMurry-Heath’s resignation, and she’ll now serve the organization in an advisory role. McMurry-Heath had held the position for a little over two years and prior to that was with
J&J
. Now, BIO has plucked up longtime biotech exec and former
GlycoMimetics
CEO
Rachel King
to take over the mantle in an interim capacity. In the meantime, the search for a full-time replacement is now underway.
Imran Babar
→
Frazier
-backed TYK2 player
Sudo Biosciences
popped the cork with a $37 million Series A round in late September and
has now picked up
Imran Babar
as CBO. The ex-
OrbiMed
VP co-founded the
Rare Genomics Institute
and had been business chief at
Cydan II
from 2018-21. “It seems pretty clear that TYK2 inhibitors are now emerging as the next major class of anti-inflammatory therapeutics,” Sudo CEO
Scott Byrd
told Lei Lei Wu last month
. “So we’re part of a big wave.”
Eyal Attar
→ Founded by
Sid Mukherjee
, who chairs the scientific advisory board,
Vor Bio
has appointed
Eyal Attar
as CMO. Attar held the same title at
Aprea Therapeutics
since 2019, and he was senior medical director and IDH hematology medical lead during a five-year run at
Agios
. Going after acute myeloid leukemia with its hematopoietic stem cell therapy
VOR33
, the biotech’s
in-house manufacturing facility
in Cambridge, MA is now operational.
Julie Maltzman
→ Run by ex-
Forty Seven
chief
Mark McCamish
, San Diego oncolytic virus upstart
IconOVir Bio
has welcomed
Julie Maltzman
as CMO. Maltzman, who just concluded her four years at
Genentech
as VP and global head of gastrointestinal and cancer immunotherapy, is the ex-VP of clinical development at
Nektar
whose pharma background also extends to stops at
Gilead
and
GSK
. It’s a tight three-person C-suite for now at IconOVir with McCamish, Maltzman and chief technology officer
John Huynh
leading the way on its preclinical candidate
ICVB-1042
.
Jakub Simon
→
Two key posts have been filled
at California vaccine maker
Vaxcyte
: Business chief
Mark Wiggins
comes from another CBO gig at
Tracon Pharmaceuticals
, and from 2003-09, he was EVP of corporate and business development for
Biogen
.
Jakub Simon
— who slides into the CMO slot after doing some consulting work for Vaxcyte — is the ex-director of clinical research for vaccines at
Merck
and, among other responsibilities, was the clinical lead for the Big Pharma’s Ebola program.
→ ARCH-backed
Walden Biosciences
, a kidney disease upstart that launched two years ago around this time
with a $51 million Series A round
,
has recruited
Peter Linde
as CMO. Linde — the ex-project lead, clinical asset development at
AbbVie
— has also been
Acceleron
’s VP, medical research, and we had him in this space in March 2020 when
he took the CMO job
at
Morphic Therapeutic
.
Patrick Genestin
→ One of our 2021
Women in Biopharma R&D honorees
,
Jen Nwankwo
,
has found
a business chief at her AI shop
1910 Genetics
.
Patrick Genestin
was previously the VP of business development and pipeline strategy with
Hikma Pharmaceuticals
, and in the back half of his 15-year tenure with Novartis, he was VP, business development & licensing at
Sandoz
, the generics business that
Vas Narasimhan
finally spun off in late August
after much hemming and hawing.
Clare Hunt
→
Clare Hunt
has been promoted
to chief people officer at
Alector
, which is partnering with GSK on its frontotemporal dementia drug
AL001
. Hunt joined Alector as head of people when there were only 25 staffers in 2017, and she was elevated to VP of people in September 2020. Alector is back in Peer Review
after telling you
about
the arrivals
of CFO
Marc Grasso
and CMO
Gary Romano
earlier this year.
Dana Washburn
→ Shooting for a regulatory hat trick with
Imcivree
after two earlier approvals,
Rhythm Pharmaceuticals
has named
Alexion
vet
Dana Washburn
as SVP of clinical development. Washburn served as executive director and global medicine leader at Alexion, now the rare disease arm of AstraZeneca, and he was fleetingly the CMO at
Lyra Therapeutics
. With the initial obesity nod in November 2020, Imcivree (
setmelanotide
)
then earned an approval
for Bardet-Biedl syndrome a few months back — and hypothalamic obesity is next on Rhythm’s radar after its
Phase II data drop
in July.
→
Atlas
-backed
Rectify Pharmaceuticals
— “the leaders in ABC transporter biology”
in the words of
CEO
Rajesh Devraj
—
has tapped
Xiaobing Li
as chief development officer and
Robert Hughes
as EVP, drug discovery and preclinical development. Formerly the global program leader for
Linzess
at
Ironwood
and
Zulresso
at
Sage
, Li was recently chief portfolio officer with
Clover
; she’s also been
Voyager
’s head of program leadership and portfolio management. Hughes worked at
Pfizer
and
Boehringer Ingelheim
before becoming the head of molecular discovery at
Disarm Therapeutics
, and he has an Atlas connection from his time as an entrepreneur-in-residence.
Juliette Han
→
Juliette Han
over at
Cambrian BioPharma
is adding the CFO post to her résumé and will also retain her current role as COO. Han is also adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and academic advisor at Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining Cambrian in 2020, Han had gigs at
Two Sigma Private Investments Group
,
Citadel
and
McKinsey New Ventures
.
→
Araris Biotech
has welcomed
Filippo Mulinacci
as CBO. Mulinacci joins the Swiss-based company from
Basilea Pharmaceutica
. Mulinacci also has experience under his belt from stints at
Philochem
,
Roche
and
Serono
.
Paul Tiseo
→
Paul Tiseo
has signed on
as the first VP of clinical development at CNS biotech
Cognition Therapeutics
, which just celebrated its one-year anniversary as a public company. Tiseo is a Pfizer and
Regeneron
alum who joined
Centrexion Therapeutics
in 2018 as senior director of clinical development and spent the last three years there as executive director. Cognition is testing its lead asset
CT1812
in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, as well as in dry age-related macular degeneration.
→ A bevy of new clinical execs
has congregated
at
Stew Campbell
’s biotech that tackles the gut-brain axis,
Axial Therapeutics
:
Gabriel Belfort
(VP, clinical development sciences and operations) is a
Takeda
and Sage vet who just held the role of VP, clinical development sciences at
Praxis Precision Medicines
;
Kelly Bourdon
(head of clinical operations) is the ex-director of clinical operations at
Scipher Medicine
and a former clinical trial manager with
Sarepta
;
Philinia Lehr
(head of clinical trial recruitment) was previously a manager and clinical trial educator at
Quintiles
; and
Margaret Nelson-Lowe
(associate director, clinical operations) also left Praxis, where she was a senior clinical trial manager.
Vincent Bille
→ French vaccines company
Osivax
has named
Vincent Bille
as chief manufacturing officer. Bille joins the company to help scale up the manufacturing process of its lead program and he has the experience to back it up — having spent 15 years as an independent consultant and as a former director of sales at
Lonza
.
→ Atlanta-based
Femasys
— a company focused on meeting women’s needs —
has brought on
Christine Thomas
as SVP of regulatory and clinical affairs. Most recently, Thomas was with
IQVIA MedTech
, where she served as head of regulatory solutions. Thomas also brings with her experience from previous roles at
Cardiac Science
,
GE Healthcare
,
Boston
Scientific
,
Smiths Medical
and
RTI Surgical
.
→ German CDMO
Rentschler Biopharma
has tapped
Tobias Glueck
as SVP, human relations. Glueck hails from
Novartis Germany
, where he was managing director, people & organization. Prior to that, Glueck was VP human resources at
Cameron
.
Bobak Azamian
→
Starting an ad campaign
called “Look at the Lids,” Demodex blepharitis biotech
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals
is revamping
its board of directors, naming CEO
Bobak Azamian
as chairman after co-founder
Michael Ackermann
’s decision to exit the role. Merck alum
Wendy Yarno
will now be the lead independent director of a board that’s also expanded
with the recent appointment
of
Scott Morrison
. After retiring from
EY
in 2015, Morrison has taken board seats at such biotechs as
Global Blood Therapeutics
,
Zai Lab
and
Vera Therapeutics
.
→ While extending its cash runway with a $34.2 million direct offering,
Axcella
has made room for
Robert Rosiello
and
Torben Straight Nissen
on the board of directors. Rosiello became an executive partner at
Flagship
after three decades at
McKinsey
, and Straight Nissen is a senior partner at Flagship who held several roles at Pfizer, including VP, strategic portfolio management and planning, worldwide R&D.
Adora Ndu
→
BridgeBio
chief regulatory affairs officer
Adora Ndu
has clinched a spot
on the board of directors at
Nuplazid
maker
Acadia Pharmaceuticals
, which just kicked off its
“Rett Revealed” campaign
to raise awareness for Rett syndrome. Ndu ended her five-year tenure at BioMarin in February as group VP, head of worldwide R&D strategy, scientific collaborations and policy.
→ Putting some extra pep in its step
with positive Phase Ib data
for its hearing loss drug
DB-020
over the summer,
Decibel Therapeutics
has elected
former Acceleron CFO
Kevin McLaughlin
to the board of directors. In addition to Decibel, McLaughlin is a board member at
Stealth BioTherapeutics
and
Vericel
.
Jennifer Jarrett
→
Greg Verdine
’s
LifeMine Therapeutics
liked being in Peer Review so much, it’s back for a second consecutive week
as it welcomes
Arcus
COO
Jennifer Jarrett
to the board of directors. LifeMine
brought in
CSO
Martin Stahl
and head of CMC
Louis Plamondon
last week.
→ Here are some board appointments Peer Review didn’t get to last week that we wanted to bookmark:
Mallinckrodt
has handed out
another board seat with the arrival of 34-year Pfizer alum
Susan Silbermann
after the Irish drugmaker brought
Karen Ling
into the fold in August;
Paul von Autenried
, who spent 10 of his 26 years at Bristol Myers as chief information officer,
has replaced
Adam Goulburn
on the board at
Science 37
; and former
J&J
exec
Michael Meyers
, who left as CMO and chief development officer of
Syndax
in March,
has become
the 10th board member at
Nuvalent
.
→ To recap some of the appointments in Beth Bulik’s MarketingRx roundup:
Neera Chaudhary
is taking over the CEO reins from
Dave Imre
at
Imre
, after her recent stint as president, North America at
Ketchum
and a prior role at
Golin’s
global healthcare business unit as president; after a three-year stint at
Evoke
as president, North America,
Jen O’Dwyer
is joining
Harrison
and Star
as the company’s new CEO; and last, but not least,
Relevate Health
has passed down the CEO baton to
Tim Pantello
as he takes over for co-founder
Jeff Spanbauer,
who is transitioning to chairman of the board. Pantello comes in from
Syneos
Health
, where he was president for almost three years.