Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals AG

None   Welcome to this week's (and last week's) Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Max Bayer or Gabrielle Masson, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.  Teva finds new CEO just weeks after Schultz’s retirement announcement Teva Pharmaceuticals  After only a few weeks of searching for a new CEO, generics mammoth Teva Pharmaceuticals has ended its mission to replace current top exec Kåre Schultz.  Former Sandoz chief Richard Francis will take the reins from Schultz on the first day of 2023, though Schultz’s contract wasn’t set to expire until November of next year. Francis is a biopharma veteran currently serving as CEO of both gene therapy company Purespring Therapeutics and heart function specialist Forcefield Therapeutics. He also served as the leader of Novartis’ generics unit Sandoz from 2014 to 2019, which Novartis officially unveiled plans to spin out this summer.  Before Sandoz, Francis served as a senior executive at Biogen for 13 years, including a spell as leader of the Big Biotech’s U.S. business. Fierce Pharma CEO exits SQZ Biotechnologies amid layoffs, CFO to follow SQZ Biotechnologies  As SQZ sends 60% of its staff packing, CEO and founder Armon Sharei, Ph.D., has exited after nearly 10 years at the helm. The biotech’s board has tapped Howard Bernstein, M.D., Ph.D., former chief scientific officer and current director, to lead as interim CEO, effective immediately. Additionally, Chief Financial Officer Micah Zajic is set to follow in Sharei’s footsteps with plans to leave his role Dec. 31. The company expects to pay out $5 million in costs tied to the restructuring, consisting mainly of severance and other employee-related costs. The initial cost-saving measures are expected to extend the biotech’s cash runway into 2024. “As we navigate an unprecedented operating environment, we plan to be disciplined with our capital and pursue opportunities where we see great potential promise,” Bernstein said in a Nov. 30 release. Fierce Biotech Ex-Roche exec Levin heads to oncology diagnostics company Mainz Biomed Former Roche executive Amy Levin is joining Mainz Biomed, stepping into the role of VP of regulatory affairs.  Levin joins the molecular genetics diagnostic company from Big Pharma Roche, where she served as the director of international regulatory affairs for Roche Molecular Diagnostics after holding many roles of increasing responsibility at the company. Levin has also served in other regulatory positions across multiple biotechs. Now, at Mainz Biomed, Levin will lead regulations for clinical trials and quality initiatives of in vitro diagnostics. She will also contribute to the FDA submission process for ColoAlert, the company’s DNA-based detection test for colorectal cancer. Release > Leonardo Faoro, M.D., has left Exelixis to serve as Quanta Therapeutics' chief medical officer. Before Exelixis, Faoro worked at OncoMed Pharmaceuticals and Genentech. LinkedIn > insitro has tapped former Amgen vet Philip Tagari to serve as its chief scientific officer starting in early 2023. Tagari exits Amgen after 24 years, serving as VP of the Big Pharma's research-therapeutic discovery unit for the last decade. Release > Starting in the new year, Alvotech CEO Mark Levick will step down and Founder and Executive Chair Robert Wessman will take over. Meanwhile, Teva's former EVP and global head of R&D Hafrun Fridriksdottir will step into the role of Chief Operating Officer. Release > Janneke van der Kamp is leaving Novartis to join Grünenthal to serve as its chief commercial officer, effective March 1. She most recently served as Novartis’ head of pharma for Europe. Release  > Pfizer bid farewell to Darrin Beaupre, M.D., Ph.D., most recently a senior VP and head of early oncology development and clinical research at the Big Pharma. Beaupre was named chief medical officer of precision medicine company Ideaya Biosciences, effective Nov. 21. Release  > Michel Wurm, M.D., is replacing Anne Leselbaum, M.D., as BioSenic as interim chief medical officer while the company hunts for a permanent CMO. Both leaders worked together during the processes of the merger between Bone Therapeutics and Medsenic, which started in May 2022. Release > Alongside a $96 million series A launch, Cajal Neuroscience has unveiled several C-suite executives, including CEO Ignacio Muñoz-Sanjuán, Ph.D. Muñoz-Sanjuán is also president and co-founder of the nonprofit Factor-H and joins from the CHDI Foundation, where he was VP of translational biology. Cajal co-founder Ian Peikon, Ph.D., will step into the role as chief scientific officer, while former Celgene/Bristol Myers Squibb leader and Cajal co-founder Andrew Dervan, M.D., will serve as chief operating officer. The biotech has also tapped Julie Harris, Ph.D., who joins from the Allen Institute for Brain Science, to serve as VP of preclinical biology. Release  > Quell Therapeutics has appointed Luke Devey, Ph.D., to serve as chief medical officer. He joins the cell therapy company from Janssen, where he served as VP and head of translational science for its immunology unit. Before Janssen, he held positions at Celgene and GSK. Release   > Microbiotica CEO Mike Romanos is leaving the company he co-founded after six years to pursue a role as associate dean of enterprise in the faculty of medicine at Imperial College London. He’ll be replaced Jan. 1 by Tim Sharpington, currently chief operating officer of the microbiome-based therapeutics developer. Release  > Aeglea BioTherapeutics has selected Jeffrey Goldberg to lead the biotech as president and CEO. He previously served as president and CEO at Immunitas until 2021, and prior to that, was founding chief operating officer at Akcea. Release  > Ahead of the launch of its newly approved advanced ovarian cancer drug, ImmunoGen has appointed Daniel Char as senior VP and chief legal officer. Char comes to the company from Evelo Biosciences, where he was general counsel and secretary. He previously held roles at Targanta Therapeutics, Idenix Pharmaceuticals and Biogen. Release  > Donghoon Lee has been named CEO and president of both SK Biopharmaceuticals and the South Korean pharma’s U.S. subsidiary, SK Life Science, effective Jan. 1. Lee, currently executive VP and head of the biotech-focused investment center of SK’s parent company, will take over the dual role from Jeong Woo Cho, Ph.D., who will become the companies’ president of future growth. Release  > French gene therapy biotech EG 427 tapped Cornelia Haag-Molkenteller, M.D., Ph.D., to serve as chief medical officer. Haag-Molkenteller, a board-certified urologist, most recently held the same title at Urovant Sciences and before that spent a decade at Allergan, where she was VP of clinical development and head of its internal medicine, women’s health and urology therapeutic areas. Release  > New year, new Aclaris Therapeutics. Come Jan. 1, the biotech will switch up its C-suite: Neal Walker, D.O., who co-founded Aclaris and has served as chief executive since its 2012 founding, will step aside to allow Doug Manion, M.D., currently the company’s president and COO, to take the reins. Walker will stay on as chair of the board of directors, replacing Christopher Molineaux, who will instead become lead independent director. Meanwhile, Walker’s co-founder Frank Ruffo will retire from a decadelong tenure as CFO, to be replaced by Kevin Balthaser, who joined Aclaris in 2017 and most recently served as its VP of finance. Release  > Co-founder and former CEO of Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals Ruben Herrendorff, Ph.D., will helm the recently founded NXI Therapeutics. The privately-held biotech is focused on new therapeutic modalities for autoimmune diseases and pathologic immune activation after organ/stem cell transplantation. Release > Frank Mathias, Ph.D., is set to take the helm at Oxford Biomedica as CEO in March 2023. He’ll join the viral vector developer following a stint as chief executive of German CDMO Rentschler Biopharma that began in 2016. Release  > Almirall has tapped Mercedes Diz to serve as VP of corporate strategy. Before Almirall, Diz has worked in roles across Pfizer, Allergan, DuPont Pharma and Johnson & Johnson. Release    > Syncona’s co-founder and CEO Martin Murphy will step into the role of chair Jan. 1, 2023, while Chief Investment Officer Chris Hollowood will take the helm as CEO the same day, a spokesperson told Fierce Biotech via email.  > Swedish biotech Medivir has chosen Pia Baumann, M.D., as its chief medical officer, starting Feb. 20, 2023. She most recently comes from AstraZeneca, where she served as VP of global medical franchise, and has also held roles across Takeda, Incyte and Ariad Pharmaceuticals. Release  > Advanced Clinical has tapped Ravi Karra, M.D., to be VP of the CRO’s oncology unit. Karra has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the FDA and EMA and has been involved in trial designs that use translational research data, including molecular and imaging biomarkers. Fierce Biotech

Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim partnered with Denmark’s Zealand Pharma A/S to study the GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist BI 456906 in two Phase II trials as a potential treatment for adults who are overweight or obese and for adults with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The goal is that once-per-week treatment with the compound can improve NASH conditions through weight loss. BI 456906, which was initially in-licensed by BI from Zealand in 2011, is also being assessed in an ongoing Phase II study in type 2 diabetes. Waheed Jamal, head of Cardiovascular, Metabolic and Respiratory Medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim, said the company’s cardiometabolic research and development is focused on discovering novel treatments for obesity and NASH in order to meet a large, unmet need among people who are facing these issues. “We are exploring a number of unique approaches with great potential to help people living with obesity or NASH. We believe dual agonists are next-generation drug candidates with a potential for higher efficacy in weight loss and NASH improvement/cirrhosis prevention,” Jamal said in a statement. Boehringer Ingelheim and Zealand have a longstanding partnership in the research and development of novel medicines for cardiometabolic diseases. Under the terms of the GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist licensing agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim funds all research, development and commercialization activities. “By combining GLP-1 and glucagon agonism mechanistically, we believe our dual agonist has the potential to achieve increased weight loss, via improvement of the patient’s metabolism, and also has potential to alleviate NASH by reducing upstream steatosis,” Adam Steensberg, executive vice president and chief medical officer at Zealand Pharma said in a statement. “We are very excited to see the initiation of Phase II trials of BI 456906 for obesity and NASH.” Elsewhere around the globe: Antibiotic Research UK – A charitable organization created to tackle bacterial antibiotic resistance, AB UK launched its 2021 Small Research Grants/ Career Development Awards scheme. The charity will award one grant of up to £50,000 and six grants of up to £25,000 each. Grants will focus on antibiotic resistance, new antibiotic therapies, health and societal impact of antibiotic resistance, or antibiotic stewardship. All applications will be reviewed by independent external assessors as well as by members of the Charity’s Science or Education Committees as appropriate. Applicants can find the forms to apply here. Only applicants working in higher education, not-for-profit institutes and non-governmental organizations based in the United Kingdom are eligible to apply. Dotmatics Ltd. – Also based in the U.K., software and services company Dotmatics has been selected by Arkema, a global leader in specialty materials, as its informatics partner in an R&D digitalization project. The partnership covers 800 users and will last five years. The company will implement Dotmatics’ unified electronic laboratory notebook across Arkema’s research sites in France. The agreement supports Arkema’s project to modernize access to R&D data and reduce design times for new products. The objective is to ensure digital continuity of all experimental data, thus allowing for faster innovation of chemicals and materials driven by statistics, calculation and modeling, and artificial intelligence, according to the announcement. Dotmatics will equip Arkema scientists with a complete ELN solution including experiment capture, entity registration and sample tracking, data retrieval, and full data analytics. The unified platform will accommodate the diversity of Arkema’s workflow across synthetic chemistry, formulation and polymers allowing researchers to trace, share, secure and exploit all their R&D data internally and will facilitate collaboration with external partners. Intravacc – Netherlands-based Intravacc announced positive preclinical data from its Lyme disease vaccine. Data from the study will be published in the peer-reviewed journal, Vaccine. This study shows that OMV’s expressing Borrelia (lipo)proteins are a promising vaccine concept that might lead to protect humans against Lyme disease. There is no vaccine against Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness common in North America. This study shows that OMV-based vaccines expressing Borrelia (lipo)proteins are an easy and feasible vaccination method protecting against Lyme disease, and could result in a promising prophylactic vaccine for humans. BioVersys AG – Switzerland’s BioVersys signed a €20 million venture debt transaction with the European Investment Bank. The finances will support the development of the company’s pipeline of antimicrobial-resistant therapies. Its lead asset, BV100, is a breakthrough hospital antibiotic therapy that targets one of the World Health Organization’s top priority pathogens, resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. The drug is currently being studied for the treatment of ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia. Currently, there are little to no effective and safe treatment options for this infection. Due to antibiotic resistance, infections caused by resistant Acinetobacter baumannii have a devastating mortality rate of greater than 50%. Another BioVersys experimental drug is BVL-GSK098, a small molecule that is being tested for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis infections, which is known to be the cause of about 1.5 million deaths annually. Both BV100 and BVL-GSK098 are currently in Phase I clinical trials. Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals – Also based in Switzerland, Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals AG received a 1.2 million Swiss Franc grant from the Swiss Innovation Agency Innosuisse to advance the development of novel injectable glycopolymers to support better ABO-incompatible (ABOi) transplantation patient outcomes. ABOi transplantation, a procedure to transplant solid organs and stem cells without matching ABO blood groups, has been introduced to decrease recipient waiting time and the strongly associated mortality. Funds will be used to leverage Polyneuron’s Antibody-Catch platform to engineer novel injectable glycopolymers that mimic blood group antigens to remove the specific, relevant antibodies. Removal of the isoagglutinins through the use of glycopolymers, could improve patient outcomes and have a positive impact on patients’ quality of life, the company said. Medtronic – Ireland-based Medtronic introduced its new Medtronic Extended infusion set, which can be worn for up to seven days. An infusion set is tubing that delivers insulin from the pump to the body and typically requires a set change every few days. This innovation for the new product doubles the length of time an infusion set can be worn by diabetes patients, who can safely stay on insulin pump therapy with fewer interruptions and insertions.