→ It didn’t take long for
Natalie Holles
to rebound after the decision to wind down operations at her previous company. She
has replaced
Elisabet de los Pinos
as CEO of
Aura Biosciences
, which is investigating
belzupacap sarotalocan
(or
bel-sar
) in early choroidal melanoma. Aura
indicated
that it wanted to enroll 100 patients for the Phase 3 CoMpass study, and the Boston biotech says it has signed up 86 patients so far. Holles ran
Audentes Therapeutics
after it was purchased by
Astellas
and subsequently known as
Astellas Gene Therapies
. The company and the field itself were severely rattled by the
deaths
of
four patients
in a trial for a rare disease called X-linked myotubular myopathy. Holles
launched
Third Harmonic Bio
in 2022 with a $105 million Series B in addition to a previously undisclosed $50 million Series A, and when nobody else dared, Third Harmonic
went public
six months later. But in April 2025, the biotech
said
it would close and sell its lead program
THB335
.
Holles
has also jumped
to the board of directors at
LeonaBio
, along with
Fred Callori
and ex-
Merus
COO
Peter Silverman
. She currently chairs the board at
Renasant Bio
, a kidney health biotech that
raised
$54.5 million in a seed round last year.
→ Former
Celgene
boss
Mark Alles
has handed over
CEO duties to
Aran Maree
at Los Angeles-based ADC maker
TORL BioTherapeutics
. Alles will still chair the board at TORL, which has promoted
Christine Loggins
to COO and
Steve Ritland
to CSO this year while bringing in
Vince Ruiz
as general counsel. Maree had multiple roles over an 18-year period at
J&J
before taking the CMO job at TORL in October 2024. TORL has corralled more than $450 million in financing, including a
$96 million Series C
in October 2025 that fell short of its earlier rounds.
→
Pfizer
has poached an obesity expert from
Novo Nordisk
.
Rahul Ganguly
has taken the role of VP and US obesity medical lead at the US giant, according to a
post
on LinkedIn, and will doubtless help guide development of the obesity programs Pfizer obtained when it bought
Metsera
last year —
beating Novo to the prize
. Ganguly left Novo at the end of last year, having spent over a decade at the Danish company. He initially oversaw health economic strategy for Novo’s diabetes and obesity operations, and rose to become VP of cardiovascular and emerging therapy areas. Before that, he spent 11 years at
GSK
.
→ Former Novo Nordisk exec
Camilla Sylvest
is on the verge of
clinching a spot
on the board of directors at another one of its competitors. She’s slated to become the newest board member at
Zealand Pharma
, which
said last week
that it saw comparable weight loss to
Wegovy
with its
Boehringer Ingelheim
-partnered obesity med
survodutide
in a Phase 3 trial. Sylvest had been EVP, commercial strategy and corporate affairs before she ended a 29-year career with Novo in April 2025. She also sits on the board at
argenx
, and she emphasized
in a LinkedIn post
that she would concentrate solely on these types of roles for the next two to three years.
→ The president of
Merck
’s manufacturing division announced his retirement
in a lengthy LinkedIn post
.
Sanat Chattopadhyay
spent the last decade in this position, and 27-year Merck vet
Dave Maraldo
will take his place. Chattopadhyay came to Merck in 2009. “Together, we helped shape some of the company’s most defining chapters: transforming our vaccines operations, launching Keytruda in record time and scaling it up to be the largest monoclonal antibody ever produced for an acute care product, as well as expanding our global biologics and vaccines capabilities to reach more patients around the world,” Chattopadhyay wrote, adding, “We created a resilient manufacturing and supply network designed not just for today, but for the patients who will depend on it for decades to come.”
→
Astellas
has found
its new chief strategy officer after
Adam Pearson
stepped down
in March.
Takahiko Iwaya
previously held a number of roles across Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, J&J and
Sanofi
. He is currently president of
Sanofi Japan
and also chairs the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations in Japan. He is scheduled to step down from both roles in June. Pearson had joined Astellas in 2004, climbing to chief strategy officer in 2023. He led Astellas’
buyout
of
Iveric Bio
that gave it the eye drug
Izervay
. In the interim, Astellas’ head of corporate strategy
Peter Sandor
has been serving as chief strategy officer.
→ This is
Nathan Jorgensen
’s last day as CFO of
Voyager Therapeutics
,
according to an SEC filing
. It’s the second major resignation at Voyager in the last several months after medical chief
Toby Ferguson
packed his bags. Ferguson’s LinkedIn page says that he’s the new SVP of the neuroscience therapeutic area at
Alnylam
. The RNAi pioneer has several neuro candidates in its pipeline, including
mivelsiran
for Alzheimer’s and
ALN-HTT02
for Huntington’s disease. Like Ferguson, Jorgensen is resigning less than two years into his tenure.
→
Christopher Missling
has been fired as CEO of New York-based neuro biotech
Anavex Life Sciences
, and senior advisor
Terrie Kellmeyer
has stepped in
as interim chief. An SEC filing
says
that Missling was terminated “for cause” due to “conduct that the Special Committee believed was inconsistent with company policy.” Last year around this time, Peer Review
told you
that Kellmeyer had joined
Aardvark Therapeutics
as SVP of regulatory affairs after a stint with Anavex as SVP of clinical development. Anavex has drawn criticism for altering the primary endpoints in a topline readout for its Alzheimer’s drug
blarcamesine
in 2022. Undeterred, Anavex
said
in March that it’s sent more data to the FDA to boost its NDA chances.
→
Halozyme
Therapeutics
, the
drug delivery technology company
,
has tapped
one of its partner’s executives to become its next CFO. J&J’s head of IR
Darren
Snellgrove
will get started on June 8. Halozyme has worked with J&J for years, helping the healthcare giant deliver
Darzalex
Faspro
under the skin, broadening its use beyond the original injectable formulation. Snellgrove was
succeeded
by
Ryan
Koors
on Thursday. Koors was previously CFO for
J&J Innovative Medicine
’s global R&D.
→ We know where
Stefan Irion
is headed after we told you about his departure from
BlueRock Therapeutics
last week. He
has succeeded
co-founder
Alex Ng
as CSO of
GC Therapeutics
, a stem cell startup from the lab of
George Church
(hence the name) that
broke cover
in September 2024 with $75 million in financing. Ng will still be part of the team as chief innovation officer. “Cell therapy’s first generation proved engineered cells can durably treat disease. The next generation has to do something more ambitious: not just replace cells, but reprogram sick and aged cells into young, healthy ones and reach far more patients than today’s approaches allow,” Irion
wrote on LinkedIn
. “That’s exactly what drew me to GCT.”
→
Doretta Mistras
is leaving after two years as CFO of
Viatris
, and chief accounting officer/corporate controller
Paul Campbell
is taking over
. Campbell was with
Mylan
for 18 years before the merger with
Upjohn
to create Viatris. The generics giant posted Q1 results on Thursday that beat consensus estimates, and shares
$VTRS
hit a 52-week high.
→ Just a dream and the wind
to carry him
:
Flagship
’s circular RNA startup
Sail Biomedicines
has recruited
Gene Marcantonio
as CMO. Marcantonio ran what’s now known as
Rycarma Therapeutics
from 2022-24 after nearly five years as the
Forbion
-backed biotech’s president and CMO. During a decade at Merck, he was promoted to associate VP, translational lead for infectious diseases, vaccines and immunology.
→ California cell therapy maker
Kyverna Therapeutics
has another new executive,
naming
Nadia
Dac
as its chief commercial officer. Dac started Monday, as the biotech seeks the first treatment approval for
stiff person syndrome
. She joined from the same post at
Omeros
, where she led the launch of a treatment for a stem cell transplant-associated condition. Prior to that, she also led the market entry of migraine prevention drug
Vyepti
at
Alder
BioPharmaceuticals
.
→
MBX Biosciences
has also hired
a chief commercial officer as it gears up for Phase 3 studies of its hypoparathyroidism drug.
Mark Soued
spent 20 years with Pfizer before he moved over to Alnylam as head of global commercial. He had been head of US for
Yvonne Greenstreet
’s crew since March 2024. MBX’s stock
$MBX
doubled in September 2025, when it
disclosed
positive Phase 2 data for
canvuparatide
.
→
Diagonal Therapeutics
is turning to
a recent M&A finance whiz to lead its growth.
Jonathan
Piazza
helped lead
Orbital
Therapeutics
to an exit
to
Bristol Myers Squibb
and is quickly picking up another CFO role. Diagonal noted his quarter-century of experience in “company building, strategic finance, capital markets and M&A.” He joins with a recently bolstered balance sheet, thanks to a
$125 million Series B
for its rare bleeding disorder drug that will be tested in additional indications down the road.
→ The DNA damage response experts at
Artios Pharma
have selected
Jeremy Fitch
as CBO,
Michael Alrutz
as general counsel, and
Guy Ruble
as VP, regulatory affairs. Fitch joined Eli Lilly in 1992, and he just finished his career at the Indianapolis pharma with a year as VP, corporate business development transactions, immunology. Alrutz is the latest newcomer from
Chimerix
, where he was general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer. We
mentioned in February
that three other senior leaders followed Artios CEO
Mike Andriole
from Chimerix. And Ruble is a 22-year Lilly vet who had the same job title at
Iovance Biotherapeutics
.
→
OncoNano
CEO
Kartik Krishnan
has stepped down
to take the CMO post
at Miami-based
Pasithea Therapeutics
. Krishnan was elevated to the top spot in 2024, and OncoNano
formed an alliance
with
Gilead
at the start of this year that could be worth as much as $300 million. He’s also been CMO of Gilead’s longtime partner
Arcus Biosciences
from 2019-22. Krishnan will draw upon his knowledge of MEK inhibitors as Pasithea’s lead program
PAS-004
goes through early-stage testing. His big project at
Genentech
was a MEK inhibitor called
cobimetinib
that was approved in 2015 and marketed as
Cotellic
.
→
Robert Blaustein
has been named
CMO at
Immutrin
, a Cambridge, UK-based amyloidosis biotech that recently
captured
an $87 million Series A from
Frazier Life Sciences
,
SR One
and others. Blaustein had a 15-year run at Merck, working his way up to associate VP and section head for atherosclerosis. In January 2025, we
informed you
about his appointment as chief development officer at
Edgewise Therapeutics
.
→
Tenax Therapeutics
has welcomed
a new chief commercial officer after the
appointment
of CFO
Thomas Staab
last month.
AbbVie
vet
Timothy Healey
ran the commercial team at
Eversana Life Science Services
for six years and was SVP, commercial for
Lantheus
.
→
Tris Pharma
has promoted
Jim Potenziano
to chief science and development officer. Potenziano had served as VP, medical science and information, and
was described in a press release
as “the ideal leader to bring together the full breadth of Tris’ capabilities” by CEO
Ketan Mehta
. An NDA is on the horizon for Tris’ acute pain drug
cebranopadol
.
→
Spruce Biosciences
has lined up
Brian Walls
as VP, market access, and
Darren Johnson
as VP, commercial operations. They held the same positions at
Applied Therapeutics
, which
was foiled by a CRL
for its galactosemia drug and would
later be acquired
by
Cycle Pharma
. They also worked together at
Reata Pharmaceuticals
until
Biogen
bought
the
Skyclarys
maker for more than $7 billion. Spruce is developing a therapy for Sanfilippo syndrome type B and hopes to submit a BLA by the fourth quarter.
→
Jeito
Capital
is padding its leadership team. Fresh off a
$1.2 billion sophomore fund
, the Paris-based firm is now strengthening its BD and IR functions along with its talent oversight. Former
Blackstone
Life
Sciences
deputy operating chief
Elaine
Caughey
has joined
Jeito as partner of BD and IR. Meanwhile, former
Oxford
Science
Enterprises
chief talent officer
Sarah
Shackelton
is becoming partner of talent at the
Rafaèle Tordjman
-led biotech investment fund. The partners will work with portfolio companies on business development and leadership and board development, respectively.
→
Tim Walbert
has racked up multiple board appointments since orchestrating one of the largest drugmaker M&A deals of the past five years, but the former
Horizon
Therapeutics
CEO still hasn’t outlined a full-time executive role at a biopharma. Instead, he’s continuing to line up more advisory positions.
Patient
Square
Capital
is his next destination. “We have known Tim for a long time and believe that his depth of experience will be an exceptional resource to our team and our portfolio companies as we expand our investment activities in the therapeutics sector,” Patient Square managing partner
Jim
Momtazee
said in a
press release
. Walbert has taken his industry chops to the boards of
Mirum Pharmaceuticals
,
Latigo Biotherapeutics
,
BioMarin
and others.
→ CAR-T innovator
Carl June
leads a cast of characters that will help out
Legend Biotech
as scientific advisors.
Georg Schett
,
Renier Brentjens
,
Ottimo Pharma
’s
Spencer Fisk
,
Maximilian Konig
and
Anthony Polverino
are also involved. “These advisors bring an exceptional breadth of experience that will help guide our scientific priorities and identify new opportunities for innovation,” Legend CEO
Ying Huang
said in a statement
.
→ Cancer biotech
Actuate Therapeutics
has added
Martin Huber
to its board of directors. Huber became CEO of
Mersana Therapeutics
at a time when the biotech hit a particularly rough patch with
patient deaths
and
clinical failures
. He
then sold
Mersana to
Day One Biopharmaceuticals
, which was
scooped up
by
Servier
for $2.5 billion.
Elizabeth Cairns and Lei Lei Wu also contributed to this edition.