BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics is replacing CEO Eli Wallace, putting its CSO Pedro Beltran in the role, and making board member Neil Kumar executive chairman.
The changes come as there’s been growing competition in cancer over drugs that target KRAS, a difficult but compelling approach to treating tumors. BridgeBio Oncology has three such programs in early clinical testing: a pan-KRAS drug in solid tumors, a KRAS G12C inhibitor in non-small cell lung cancer, and a small molecule drug that targets the relationship between RAS and PI3Kα, which can help drive cancer growth.
The competition in the KRAS space put added pressure on the company to move quickly to get efficacy data, according to two people familiar with the thinking behind the leadership changes.
Part of that push has come from Cormorant Asset Management, a key investor behind the SPAC that took the BridgeBio spinout public, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Cormorant owns just over 20% of BridgeBio Oncology as of late last year. But the company hasn’t been valued in the public markets in the same way that other similar companies have, one of the people said.
“This leadership transition is designed to accelerate and focus the development of BBOT’s programs and continue the company’s ethos of putting patients first,” Kumar said in the Wednesday
statement
announcing the changes.
Wallace, the outgoing CEO, will become a senior advisor, the company said in the statement.
In 2024, BridgeBio Oncology was spun out of its parent company, BridgeBio, where Kumar serves as CEO. The next year, the cancer business went public through a SPAC led by Cormorant.
“This change in leadership reflects our goal to move with urgency to deliver returns for patients and investors alike,” Cormorant’s founder and CEO Bihua Chen said in the announcement.
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