→
Srishti Gupta
took over
as CEO of
Idorsia
last summer, but the job is open again as chairman
Jean-Paul Clozel
kicks off another search. Idorsia’s shares dropped more than 13% on the Swiss exchange when the news broke on Monday. Gupta was called up from the board of directors to replace
André Muller
, who retired in July 2025 after just a year in the top spot. During Muller’s brief tenure, Idorsia
came up empty
on a proposed licensing deal for
Tryvio
, but the FDA gave the green light for its
updated label
, saying the blood pressure medicine didn’t need a REMS requirement.
→
George Eliades
hopes to once again give a bounce to
Jazz
Pharmaceuticals
, the oncology and neuro drugmaker that he left in 2024. Eliades
is returning
to the Irish and US biopharma under his previous title of chief transformation officer. He played a different tune for the past two years, serving as
CEO
of
Mythic Therapeutics
, but that bet
fizzled out
due to lackluster interest from investors in the clinical-stage ADC startup. Now he’s returning to a revamped Jazz to “help accelerate our next phase — sharpening our focus, strengthening execution, and ensuring we’re positioned to deliver meaningful impact for patients and their families,” according to a LinkedIn post. Since his departure in the spring of 2024, Jazz welcomed a new CEO,
acquired
Chimerix
for a now-
approved
brain tumor treatment, inked the
highest
priority review voucher sale in a decade, and continued to expand its
epilepsy pipeline
.
→
Andy Nixon
wrote about his departure from
Boehringer Ingelheim
on LinkedIn and
posted a photo
holding a cool going-away present: a Gibson guitar. Nixon spent the last five years as global head of biotherapeutics discovery research at the German pharma giant and had a 17-year career with
Dyax
. “The unexpected gift of the guitar perfectly highlighted what I’ve always valued during my time at Boehringer: being seen and appreciated as a complete person,” Nixon said, adding, “The genuine appreciation shown at my recent farewell event made leaving a much harder step than I anticipated.”
→
Purple Biotech
’s
Gil Efron
will step aside
in August after four years as CEO and eight years overall. Efron was elevated to president and CFO in July 2021 and succeeded
Isaac Israel
as CEO a year later. The Israeli cancer biotech’s lead asset is a trispecific antibody for solid tumors called
CAPTN-3
. Efron will stay on the board of directors.
→
Amphista Therapeutics
CSO
Louise Modis
will now be taking over
the company from retiring CEO
Antony Mattessich
, marking another female chief exec in the biotech circle. Modis joined the UK molecular glue biotech in 2023 after a gig as CSO at
Mogrify
. Before that, she had a seven-year stint at
GSK
and an eight-year run with Boehringer Ingelheim. Besides Modis’ appointment, Amphista also announced
Patrick Kelly
as CMO, having served in the same role at
Forma Therapeutics
, where he helped lead development of
olutasidenib
.
→
Korsana Biosciences
, the latest startup out of biologics shop
Paragon Therapeutics
,
has secured
a CFO with IPO experience.
Mark Vignola
departed the CFO post at
Terns Pharmaceuticals
last winter, months before the drug developer
ditched
its obesity plans to go all in on cancer. Korsana doesn’t appear to be in immediate need of a finance whiz: The company raised a massive
$150 million launch round
in the fall of 2025, but waited until last month to unveil its Alzheimer’s ambitions that are eerily similar to
Roche
’s late-stage program that penetrates the blood-brain barrier.
→
AbbVie
’s
new
head of M&A comes from GSK’s search and evaluation team.
Garrett
Rhyasen
has jumped from the UK pharma giant, which is undergoing a CEO transition, to the Chicago-area drugmaker as VP of business development and acquisitions. Rhyasen is joining one of the most active BD teams in industry. AbbVie is digesting about 30 transactions worth $8 billion over the past two years, as noted by finance chief
Scott Reents
at
Leerink
’s healthcare conference in Miami last week.
→
Harbour BioMed
has named
Jenny Xie
as chief scientific officer for immunology and head of global external innovation for the Hong Kong-listed biotech with operations across China, Europe and the US. Xie was previously head of discovery immunology at
Bristol Myers Squibb
, where she spent the past 20 years and worked on “tolerance induction, immune reset and tissue repair,” with tools such as T cell engagers, according to her LinkedIn bio. Harbour has built a suite of
partnerships
in immunology, including with Xie’s longtime former employer and
AstraZeneca
.
→ Australian biotech
Mesoblast
has welcomed
Teresa Montagut
as its first head of clinical development and medical affairs. Montagut spent more than five years with
Regeneron
and had been global head of early pipeline studies in oncology, as well as head of medical affairs for investigator-sponsored studies of gastrointestinal and genitourinary conditions. Mesoblast wants to expand the label for its graft-versus-host disease treatment
Ryoncil
, the first-ever mesenchymal stromal cell therapy to
receive an FDA approval
.
→ We’ve got a few promotions to discuss, starting at
Neurocrine
.
Andrew Ratz
has been bumped up
to chief technical operations officer after a year as SVP of drug development, delivery and device. He had an assortment of roles over 28 years at
Eli Lilly
, including SVP, delivery, device and connected solutions. Neurocrine’s
Ingrezza
is already approved for tardive dyskinesia and for chorea in patients with Huntington’s disease, but the San Diego biotech
said in December
that the drug flopped in a Phase 3 study for dyskinetic cerebral palsy.
→ Molecular glue specialist
Monte Rosa Therapeutics
said in its Q4 update
that it has promoted its drug discovery leader
Magnus Walter
to chief technology officer, and
Andrew Funderburk
to chief investor relations and strategy officer. Walter is a longtime Lilly veteran who then worked for
AbbVie
as head of discovery chemistry, screening biology and operations. Funderburk joined Monte Rosa in 2024 as SVP, investor relations and strategic finance. Back in September,
Novartis
shelled out
$120 million upfront for its second molecular glue deal with Monte Rosa in as many years.
→
Ajay Nirula
has catapulted
to president of
Recludix Pharma
and will continue to lead R&D, while the San Diego biotech has also promoted
Catherine Bovenizer
to CFO. Bovenizer held this position at
Renova Therapeutics
before she jumped to Recludix in 2020, and she had been SVP of finance and business operations since 2022. Peer Review told you about Nirula’s appointment as head of R&D in 2024, ending an eight-year run with Lilly. Recludix has been dosing healthy volunteers for a Phase 1 study of its
Sanofi
–
partnered
STAT6 inhibitor
REX-8756
, good for a $20 million milestone payment.
→
IsomAb
has a new CEO
:
Philip Brainin
will now be steering the ship of the UK biotech, succeeding
Jackie Turnbull
. Brainin spent eight years on the medical side of things in Region Hovedstaden and previously was with
Sound Bioventures
, where he helped advise companies including
Boost Pharma
,
VarmX
and
AnaCardio
. Besides Brainin, IsomAb has also swapped out chairman
Paul Edwards
, who will remain on the board, with
Anker Lundemose
.
→ Cambridge, UK-based
Alchemab Therapeutics
has recruited
Ulrich Wendt
as CBO, ending a 25-year career with Sanofi in numerous capacities. He was global head of business development for the French pharma’s immunology & inflammation franchise for the past six years. Alchemab’s ALS candidate
ATLX-1282
is at the heart of a
licensing deal with Lilly
that could be worth as much as $415 million.
→ Bispecific antibody developer
Bambusa Therapeutics
has welcomed
Todd James
as CFO. James was SVP, corporate affairs and investor relations at
Viridian
and from 2015-21 he was with
Acceleron
, where he helped secure more than $1 billion in financing. Bambusa was founded by
BioNTech
veterans
Shanshan Xu
and
Helmut Jeggle
and collected
$140 million in Series A
financing last year. The money will be used to fund clinical- and early-stage candidates, including dermatology and respiratory drugs
BBT001
and
BBT002
.
→ Early cancer detection company
ClearNote Health
has rolled out
Jeffrey Venstrom
as CMO.
Ventstrom served in the same role at cancer screening company
Grail
, which last week announced that its CEO
Bob Ragusa
was retiring
.
Besides Ventstrom, ClearNote also hired
Daniel Black
as general manager of international markets,
Jeremy Bennett
as head of marketing, and promoted
Irene Hsieh
to VP of regulatory affairs and quality assurance.
→
Besides
collecting $40 million
this week,
Mestag Therapeutics
has
also brought on
Lindsey Rolfe
as CMO and
Pascal Merchiers
as chief development officer. Rolfe served in the same role at both radiotherapy company
3B Pharmaceuticals
and
Clovis Oncology
, where she helped secure marketing approvals in the US and Europe for
Rubraca
in ovarian and prostate cancer. Meanwhile, Merchiers has served in roles at
Commit Biologics
,
Oncurious
, Roche-acquired
Tusk Therapeutics
and
Galapagos
. The cash injection will help fund Mestag’s Phase 1 trial, slated to start in mid-2026, which will evaluate its candidate
MST-0312
in cancer.
→ Virginia-based CDMO
Phlow
has plucked up
Dawn Von Rohr
as COO. Von Rohr joins the team after a stint as life sciences division president of
Pace Life Sciences
. Von Rohr had a long career at
Mallinckrodt
, ending a 22-year run with the company with her role as VP and general manager, global APIs. Last July, Phlow picked up
$37 million in a Series C
raise, looking to expand its API and key starting material manufacturing capacity in the US.
→ One of the industry’s longest-tenured investors,
Frazier
Life
Sciences
,
has a fresh face
in its biotech-building shop.
Mansi Shinde
is now VP of company creation at the firm. She was in corporate development roles at
Nvelop
Therapeutics
and then carried on those duties when it merged with
Chroma Medicine
to become
nChroma
. Shinde helped form new biotech companies during a couple-year stint at
4:59
, the incubator unit of
5AM
Ventures
. She will be based in Frazier’s Boston office alongside colleagues
Lauren
Mifflin
and
Joe
Cabral
. The Frazier ecosystem is massive, with more than $5 billion in capital spread across both venture-backed startups and publicly traded life sciences companies.
→
Vertex Ventures
has lost managing director
Christine
Brennan
to another life sciences investor. Brennan departed the
Temasek
–
backed firm
to return to the corporate venture capital and large pharma strategy side of the industry. This week, she joined
Johnson & Johnson Innovation
, or
JJDC
, as a partner in the healthcare giant’s Cambridge office. As Brennan wrote in a LinkedIn
post
, she has “huge shoes to fill” in succeeding
Marian Nakada
, who
left in September
after more than a dozen years working on investing strategy at one of the
oldest corporate venture arms
in existence. Brennan has worked in CVCs before, having spent multiple years at
Merck
and Novartis’ units.
→
Royalty
Pharma
is in Peer Review for the second time this month as the royalty aggregator poaches a bulge bracket banker to help expand its portfolio.
Greg Butz
,
Bank of America
’s global co-head of healthcare investment banking,
will become
EVP of partnering and investments at Royalty. The firm added a head of Asia this spring,
plucking
Kenneth Sun
from
Morgan
Stanley
. Meanwhile, Royalty said five-year company veteran
Chris
Hite
is now its chair of partnering and investments. The
Citi
alum just picked up a board seat at
Vera Therapeutics
.
→
CSL Behring’s
Korean subsidiary
has recruited
Se-eun
Hwang
as its new manager. Hwang was previously general manager of
Biogen Korea
and held roles at
Abbott Korea
and
JW Pharmaceutical
. Earlier this week, CSL announced that its hemophilia B gene therapy
Hemgenix
was
temporarily out of stock
, warning that some patients would experience delays in treatment.
→ Synthetic biology company
Antheia
has picked up
Chris Savile
as VP, business development and partnerships. Savile spent six years as CEO of
Willow Biosciences
, which sold its operating subsidiary in 2025 to become
Evolutia Bio
, while the rest of the company rebranded as
Atlas Energy Corp
and pivoted to international oil and gas royalty. Savile also previously held roles at
Intrexon
and
Codexis
. Antheia, which is partnered with
Ginkgo Bioworks
,
hauled in $56 million
in a Series C financing round last year to commercialize its API product
thebaine
, boost its US capacity and expand into Singapore.
→ Stockholm-based pediatric skeletal disease biotech Boost Pharma
has enlisted
Elaine Jones
as chair of its board. Jones succeeds
Ingelise Saunders
, who will remain on the board. Jones’ résumé is stacked with board seats, including at
CytomX
,
NextCure
and
Gritstone bio
.
Now led by
former
Galecto
CEO
Hans Schambye
, Boost is developing a cell therapy for osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare bone disease with no approved treatments.
→ Radiopharma biotech
Convergent Therapeutics
has added
former
Y-mAbs
CEO
Michael Rossi
to its board of directors. Rossi’s 30-year experience in radiopharmaceuticals through his previous roles — including
Mirion Technologies
,
Advanced Accelerator Applications
and
Jubilant Radiopharma
— will help the company and its radioantibody candidate
CONV01-α
, which is finishing up its Phase 2 trial in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
→
Muna Therapeutics
CEO
Rita Balice-Gordon
has joined the board of directors at
Lundbeck
. Balice-Gordon started with Muna in 2020 as CSO before taking the top exec spot the next year. Under her leadership, Muna
forged a pact
with GSK in Alzheimer’s in 2024. Earlier this month, Lundbeck CEO
Charl van Zyl
told
Endpoints News’
Zach Brennan
that the company would not be forging a “most favored nation” deal with the White House, but instead would participate in one of the CMS pilots.