From cell therapy to precision medicine,
Schond Greenway
has hopped from one burgeoning research area to the next throughout his career. Now he’s heading off to another: psychedelic therapy.
MindMed
tapped
Greenway as CFO on Monday, as CEO
Robert Barrow
guides the company through what he called “an exciting point in our growth.” The New York-based psychedelics company was the second to ever go public on an American exchange, behind
Compass Pathways
. And this year, Barrow’s lining up “numerous near-term milestones ahead across our pipeline.”
“My focus has always been, across all the different companies that I’ve actually tried to be a part of, it’s really focusing on those companies that are looking to have a new paradigm to treating their particular subsector,” Greenway said.
So when a recruiter approached him about the opening at MindMed, he was intrigued. MindMed is one of several companies developing modified psychedelics in search of new and better therapies for mental health. One of their programs, Project Lucy, involves a hallucinogenic dosing of LSD to treat anxiety, administered by a therapist.
Greenway didn’t start out in the pharma industry. He received an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business in 1998, and was an investment banker at
Morgan Stanley
when he helped lead an IPO for an interesting biotech out of the San Francisco Bay Area.
“One thing led to another, and I ended up leaving the world of investment banking and jumping over to the client side,” he said.
That company was
Durect Corporation
, a spinout from the
Johnson & Johnson
subsidiary
Alza Corporation
. And he hasn’t turned back.
Greenway’s résumé boasts a long list of biotech and healthcare-focused roles, including at
Barclays Capital
,
Mesoblast
and
Halozyme
. Most recently, he was CFO at
Avalo Therapeutics
, a small-cap biotech company focused on precision therapies in immunology, immuno-oncology and rare genetic disease. He stepped down in February, just weeks before the company
conducted layoffs
and shrank the pipeline.
When asked about the current bear market, he said, “This may be one of the more challenging biotech markets in recent memory … But all that said, it’s always important to remain active on the outreach front, which is what we will continue to do, whether it’s in person or virtually, or at an investor meeting or at a medical science meeting.”
With multiple milestones ahead, Greenway said he hopes to avoid a “bunker” mentality.
“Some companies will kind of get more insular,” he said. “I think it’s always much more important to continue to be out ahead, be out in front, ensure that the Street understands what our value proposition is and continue to execute.” —
Nicole DeFeudis
→ As the
David Meek
era began at
Mirati
, two key members of the senior leadership
parted ways
shortly thereafter. COO and principal financial officer
Daniel Faga
— who’s
now the interim CEO
of
AnaptysBio
— and CMO
Joseph Leveque
both left the company on Oct. 28, and now the biotech waging a KRAS battle with
Amgen
has welcomed
Laurie Stelzer
as CFO. A
Shire
vet who was finance chief at
Arena Pharmaceuticals
before
Pfizer
snapped it up for $6.7 billion, Stelzer was CFO at Halozyme from 2015-20. Chief accounting officer
Vickie Reed
, who had been pinch-hitting as interim principal financial officer, is slated to retire “later this year.”
And with
Longitude Capital
’s
David Hirsch
stepping down from the board at
Poseida
, Mirati president and R&D chief
Charles Baum
enters as a new member
of the San Diego cell and gene therapy player’s board. Baum, the founder and CEO of Mirati until Meek
took over
, is the chairman of
OncoMyx Therapeutics
.
→
Kanya Rajangam
’s next destination has been revealed after her
resignation
from
Nkarta
, and she’s staying in the NK cell therapy arena,
joining
Tim Lu
’s Endpoints 11
honoree
Senti Bio
as chief medical and development officer in July. Rajangam became CMO of Nkarta in November 2018 and will hand the reins to
David Shook
, who gets the bump from senior medical director to VP, clinical development. A month ago, Nkarta
touted
positive data for its two lead off-the-shelf NK cell therapies, helping shares recover from its nadir the previous session.
→
Doug Treco
has resigned
as CEO of UK monoclonal antibody biotech
Alchemab
“for personal reasons,” passing the baton to
Young Kwon
, who
just arrived
as chief financial and operating officer in November 2021. Kwon left
Biogen
in 2011 to become VP, business development at
Momenta
, steadily climbing to chief financial and business officer before J&J
forked over
$6.5 billion for the company in 2020.
RA Capital
led the way on Alchemab’s $82 million Series A raise last spring.
→ It’s been more than three years since
Katrine Bosley
made her surprise exit as
Editas
CEO, but she’s now jumping into the venture capital side of things —
joining
London-based early-stage investor
Advent Life Sciences
as venture partner. Bosley made an abrupt exit from Editas right as the company was heading into its first-in-human trial. Since then, Bosley has been advising biotechs such as
Galapagos
and
Genocea
on their boards and as chair of
Michael Gilman’s
Arrakis
.
Joining Bosley at Advent as general partners are:
Dominic
Schmidt
, formerly of
Syncona
(who will be based in the UK) and
Satish Jindal
, most recently the CEO of investment fund
BioMotiv
(who will be based in Boston, like Bosley).
→
Precision BioSciences
unveiled
data at ASH in December for its lead candidate
PBCAR0191
that all but reaffirmed the standard durability concerns with allogeneic CAR-Ts that rivals like
CRISPR Therapeutics
and
Allogene
had grappled with in the past. This week the Durham, NC biotech
has poached
Juli Blanche
from
Bristol Myers Squibb
, naming her chief people officer. Blanche, a talent acquisition exec at
Celgene
, stuck around after the buyout and had just been promoted to SVP and HR business partner, global commercialization several months ago at the pharma giant.
→
Jesper Høiland
is retiring
as global chief commercial officer of
Ascendis Pharma
“to return to Denmark with his family,” according to a release. Høiland steered the US commercial efforts for Ascendis’ pediatric growth hormone deficiency drug,
approved
in August 2021 and marketed as
Skytrofa
, and we covered the 30-year
Novo Nordisk
vet’s
appointment
at Peer Review in May 2020 after his three-year run as president and CEO of
Radius Health
.
As Høiland bids farewell, the Copenhagen biotech has promoted
Joe Kelly
to head of US commercial, endocrinology and
Scott Holmes
to head of global commercial strategy, endocrinology, both brand new positions. Kelly became VP of sales at Ascendis in September 2020 and, like Høiland, held posts at Radius Health and Novo Nordisk. Holmes, whose 12 years at Celgene ended in 2018 as head of commercial excellence, North America, had been Ascendis’ VP, commercial analytics ever since.
→
Gary Glick
’s new biotech
Odyssey Therapeutics
,
bursting
onto the scene with a $218 million Series A back in December which was co-led by
OrbiMed
and
SR One
,
has made
Jeff Leiden
chairman of the board. The ex-chief and current executive chairman at
Vertex
recently stepped down as chairman of
Tmunity
,
Carl June
’s CAR-T play which has essentially kept mum since two patient deaths rattled the company
nearly a year ago
.
In another Vertex connection, Odyssey
has locked in
Darryl Patrick
as EVP of non-clinical development. Following his 20 years with
Merck Research Laboratories
, Patrick was VP, non-clinical development and VP, exploratory development for Vertex from 2004-11.
→ We’re seeing movement on the Maraganore Meter again, as
John Maraganore
grabs
another post-
Alnylam
gig as strategic advisor for
Chroma Medicine
, the
Atlas
-backed gene editing startup that
raised
the curtain in November 2021 with $125 million in financing. The biotech bigwigs don’t stop there at Chroma, as former
Novartis
and Celgene business development exec
George Golumbeski
takes his seat on the board of directors. Golumbeski, a partner at
DROIA Ventures
, chairs the boards of
Shattuck Labs
and
Carrick Therapeutics
and is on the board at
Sage
and
MorphoSys
.
→
Noubar Afeyan
has been named
chairman of the board at one of his
Flagship
companies,
Rubius Therapeutics
, whose stock has plummeted further even when the red blood cell biotech tried to play up
data at AACR
in April. Afeyan unveiled another company on Thursday as protein upstart
ProFound Therapeutics
made its debut
with $75 million at their disposal.
→
Xavier Avat
has joined
Linda Marbán
’s crew at Duchenne biotech
Capricor Therapeutics
as CBO. Avat took charge of Latin America operations and then led the
Sovaldi
launch in almost seven years at
Gilead
. Since leaving
Santen Pharmaceutical
in 2017, he had been SVP, global corporate strategy and new initiatives at Irvine, CA medtech
Edwards Lifesciences
.
→
Versant
–
backed
Stablix
—
Tony Kingsley
’s post-
Scholar Rock
landing spot
—
has ushered in
Eddine Saiah
as CSO and promoted co-founder
Kevin Sprott
to COO. Saiah had held the same post to close out seven years at
Navitor Pharmaceuticals
, while Sprott had been Stablix’s SVP of drug discovery before shifting to the C-suite. Among other investors,
New Enterprise Associates
and
Cormorant Asset Management
chipped in on the New York biotech’s $63 million Series A in June 2021.
→ Seoul-based
Genexine
is reeling in
Neil Warma
as president and CEO. Warma joins Genexine after a stint as general manager of
I-Mab Biopharma
US
. Prior to that, Warma held a nearly decade-long career as president, CEO and director of
Opexa Therapeutics
. Earlier in his career, Warma served as president, CEO and director of
Viron
Therapeutics
, co-founded
MedExact
, and served in roles at Novartis.
→ With its non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis drug
brensocatib
advancing to Phase III,
Insmed
has elevated
Drayton Wise
to chief commercial officer, leading the way on commercialization strategies for its refractory MAC lung disease treatment
Arikayce
. Wise joined Insmed in 2014 after 15 years at Novartis, and he had served as head of US and general manager of Arikayce since November 2019. To conclude his tenure at the pharma giant, he was national director, cystic fibrosis sales & account management.
→ Cardio and metabolic disease player
Anthos Therapeutics
has added
Drew Young
into the fold as chief commercial officer and head of patient experience. Young had two separate stints with Bristol Myers (1991-2001 and 2005-11), and in the latter, he took on such roles as business director, CV/metabolics for the northeast US region. He then moved on to Biogen and
EMD Serono
before a brief stay as
Horizon
’s group VP and general manager, gout business unit.
→ Led by ex-
Black Diamond
CSO
Christopher Roberts
and concentrating on beta-propeller proteins to treat cancer,
Civetta Therapeutics
has made
a pair of moves with
Jesse Smith
as CSO and
Sue Ashwell
as SVP of chemistry. Smith spent eight years at
Epizyme
before jumping to
Omega Therapeutics
in 2018 as SVP of early discovery, and most recently he was SVP of biology at
Remix Therapeutics
. After 10 years with
AstraZeneca
, Ashwell was senior director in medicinal chemistry with
Forma Therapeutics
. Before this new post at Civetta, Ashwell had been head of medicinal chemistry at
UCB
by way of
Ra Pharmaceuticals
.
→ Backed by
Andreessen Horowitz
and
beefing up
its pipeline by dusting off an old
Amgen
drug last year,
BioAge Labs
has given
business chief
Peng Leong
additional responsibilities as head of brain aging. Before jumping on board at BioAge in 2019, Leong also held the CBO post at
Kazia Therapeutics
, and among earlier roles, he was head of general medicine business development during his time at
Merck KGaA
. BioAge will get some stout competition in the anti-aging space from
Rick Klausner
’s
Altos Labs
, which
will be helmed
by ex-
GSK
R&D chief
Hal Barron
.
→ Focused on Dravet syndrome and other types of epilepsy,
Epygenix Therapeutics
out of Paramus, NJ
has selected
Lorianne Masuoka
as CMO. From 2017-19, Masuoka — the ex-medical chief of
Nektar
and
Cubist Pharmaceuticals
— was CMO of
Marinus Pharmaceuticals
, which
garnered
its first FDA approval with
Ztalmy
(
ganaxolone
) for seizures associated with CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD) in March. Masuoka is also a board member at
Opiant Pharmaceuticals
.
→ Looking to separate themselves from other DNA sequencing peers with a
$276 million Series C
round last summer, San Diego-based
Element Biosciences
has installed
Mark Aitkenhead
as chief commercial officer. After
Thermo Fisher
acquired
Invitrogen
in 2014, Aitkenhead was the CRO titan’s global commercial leader for the clinical next generation sequencing (NGS) division and, to round out his tenure, the general manager for cellular analysis instrumentation.
→
Beckley Psytech
, the “
toad venom
” psychedelics player out of Oxford that scored an $80 million Series B last August,
has appointed
Laura Trespidi
as chief development officer. Part of
Bob Duggan
’s team at
Summit Therapeutics
as SVP, CMC, supply chain and technical operations, Trespidi also brings CMC experience from Shire, where she worked from 2007-14.
→
Arian Pano
has signed on
to be CMO of
Salubris Biotherapeutics
, a Gaithersburg, MD biotech whose lead asset
JK07
is in Phase I trials for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Pano comes to Salubris from
Kiniksa
, where he was chief clinical development officer, and earlier he took on the roles of SVP, clinical development, US country head and global head of safety simultaneously at
Galapagos
.
→ Multispecific drug developer
Tentarix Biotherapeutics
, which
launched
in October 2021 with a $50 million Series A,
has filled
a number of positions, starting with
Brady Johnson
, who climbs aboard as SVP, finance and operations after seven years as VP, finance and principal accounting officer at
Cidara Therapeutics
.
Oyster Point Pharma
chairman and ex-
Hyperion
CEO
Donald Santel
has been named chairman at Tentarix, while
Tom Bumol
— the executive director of the Allen Institute for Immunology who retired from
Eli Lilly
after 35 years in 2017 — has also been elected to the board. Finally, Tentarix has set up a scientific advisory board consisting of Bumol,
Brian Kuhlman
and
John Teijaro
.
→ Tuning out the market mayhem with a
$123 million IPO
in February, Gaithersburg, MD-based CAR-T developer
Arcellx
has lined up
Michelle Gilson
as CFO. A
Jefferies
and
Goldman Sachs
alum, Gilson makes the leap to biotech after four years as senior equity research analyst and managing director for
Canaccord Genuity
.
→ Gilead antiviral vet
Kenneth Cundy
has been named
CSO of
Anebulo Pharmaceuticals
, which
started listing
on Nasdaq in May 2021 and is focused on cannabinoid overdose and substance abuse disorder. Cundy left Gilead in 2000 and then had a 14-year run at
XenoPort
, where he rose to CSO. Since 2014, he had been chief scientist at mitochrondria-driven
CohBar
.
→ Organ-on-a-chip company
CN Bio
has tapped
Paul Brooks
as CBO. Brooks joins the Cambridge, UK-based company from
Horizon Discovery
, serving as head of business operations & managing director. Prior to that, Brooks was with
Sigma-Aldrich
— which was later acquired by Merck Group to form
MilliporeSigma
, where he served as head of discovery research services & general manager. Before that, Brooks was CCO, executive director and board member of
Oxford
Genetics
.
→ There’s Big Pharma and then there’s
Small Pharma
. The London-based company — focused on the development of short-acting psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental health conditions —
has brought in
Alastair Riddell
as COO. Riddell takes over from
Marie Layzell
, who will be transitioning to the role of chief manufacturing and development officer. Riddell makes his way to Small Pharma with experience from
Pharmagene
(CEO),
Paradigm Therapeutics
(CEO),
Stem Cell Sciences
(CEO) and
Feedback
(chairman).
→ On the heels of
raking in
$381 million at the start of this month with Catalio Nexus Fund III,
Catalio Capital Management
has picked up
Chau Khuong
as general partner. Khuong said goodbye to OrbiMed after nearly 20 years as a private equity partner at the VC, and he’s been a board member at a plethora of biotechs, including current board seats at
Galecto
and
Fusion Pharmaceuticals
.
→ San Francisco-based
Shasqi
has ushered in
Steve Abella
as CMO and
Scott Wieland
as SVP of clinical development. Abella hops aboard Shasqi after serving as CMO at
Vida Development Sciences
and
BioClin
Therapeutics
. Prior to that, Abella was senior director at Gilead and executive director at Amgen.
Meanwhile, Wieland most recently served as EVP of development at nanomedicine company
Nanobiotix
and jumpstarted his career leading the behavioral pharmacology lab at
CoCensys
.
→ San Diego cancer player
Erasca
has bolstered
its clinical team with
Shannon Morris
(SVP of clinical development) and
Amy Grekowicz Parker
(VP of clinical operations). Morris, a GSK alum who was VP of clinical development at
G1 Therapeutics
, held that same title at
Istari Oncology
until this latest move to Erasca. During Parker’s time at Pfizer, she was involved in the NDAs for
Sutent
and PARP inhibitor
Talzenna
, and she recently served as VP of clinical operations for
Oncternal Therapeutics
. Erasca has also tapped Big Pharma vet
John Lo
as senior commercial advisor and member of the research, development, and commercial advisory board.
→ Radiopharmaceuticals-focused
NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes
has signed on
Monica Andersen
as VP, human resources. Most recently, Andersen served in the same role over at
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
and
Covidien
. Prior to those stints, Andersen was VP, human resources at
First Data Resources
,
Western Union
and
General Electric Company
, among others.
→ We have some board changes to sift through at
Amarin
, where recently retired Eli Lilly exec
Chito Zulueta
and
Prettybrook
managing partner
Erin Enright
have clinched spots and
Merck
cardiovascular vet
Per Wold-Olsen
has been named
chairman.
David Stack
and
Joe Zakrzewski
, who were board members for the past decade, are retiring after Amarin’s annual meeting in June.
→
William Heiden
has succeeded
Paulo Costa
as chairman of the board at
MacroGenics
. Heiden, the president and CEO of
AMAG Pharmaceuticals
from 2012-20, also holds a board seat at
Atara Biotherapeutics
and is chairman of
Third Pole Therapeutics
.
→
Roger Perlmutter
has expanded the board of directors at
Eikon Therapeutics
by bringing in
Robin Washington
. The
Alphabet
board member who retired as CFO of Gilead in 2019, Washington will hold a board seat at Eikon alongside Perlmutter, ex-Merck chief
Ken Frazier
and
Foresite
’s
Jim Tananbaum
, among others.
→
ContraFect
president, CEO and chairman
Roger Pomerantz
has been named
vice chairman of Israeli immunotherapy biotech
Enlivex
. Pomerantz, the one-time global head of infectious diseases for J&J and a former Merck exec, also led
Seres Therapeutics
from 2014-19.
→ Amid a huge shakeup at the top, the
acquisition
of
Novosteo
and a pending name change to
Quince Therapeutics
,
Cortexyme
has opened up space
for
Philip Low
on the board of directors. Low’s appointment comes after its unconventional approach to Alzheimer’s flopped, leading to
layoffs
and the
departures
of senior leadership, including founding CEO
Casey Lynch
. Low, a Purdue professor since 1976, has either founded or co-founded such biotechs as
Umoja Biopharma
,
Endocyte
, and yes, Novosteo.
→ Bucking the bear market trend with a $140 million
SPAC deal
to catapult its subsidiary
Scilex
to Nasdaq,
Sorrento Therapeutics
has added
Tammy Reilly
to the board of directors. Now the managing partner of the advisory firm she founded,
TRDx
, Reilly closed out her 15 years at
Roche
in 2005 as EVP for oncology and dermatology.
→
Praxis Precision Medicines
has elected
Jill DeSimone
to the board of directors as its
clinical hold
continues with its epilepsy drug
PRAX-222
. DeSimone just left Merck after eight years as president of US oncology and spent 32 years at Bristol Myers.
→ Former
Heron Pharmaceuticals
CFO
Robert Hoffman
is taking over the reins
as the
Antibe Therapeutics’
new chair of its board of directors. Hoffman has served on Antibe’s board since late 2020. Prior to his stint at Heron, Hoffman had a long career at Arena Pharmaceuticals, culminating in his title of CFO. Currently, Hoffman is president, CEO and chairman of
Kintara Therapeutics
and sits on the boards of
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals
and
FibroBiologics
.
In addition, the company announced the appointments of
Walt Macnee
, outgoing chair, and CSO, director and founder
John Wallace
as vice chairs.
→ Dallas-based
Nanoscope Therapeutics
is bringing in
Naveed Shams
and
Thomas Ciulla
as advisors to the company’s board and management. Shams most recently served as CSO of
ProQR Therapeutics
and was the former president and CEO of Santen. Shams, in his career, has also had stints at Novartis and Genentech/Roche. Ciulla currently serves as CMO and chief development officer of
Clearside Biomedical
and formerly had gigs at
Spark Therapeutics
and
Ophthotech
.
→ Irish biotech
RemedyBio
is welcoming
Sophie Papa
(CMO at
Enara
Bio
);
Simon Chowdhury
(visiting fellow at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Institute); and
Luke O’Neill
(chair of biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin) to the team with the creation of the company’s scientific advisory board.