Aerium Therapeutics, Inc.

None Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of significant leadership hirings, firings and retirings across the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Darren Incorvaia or Gabrielle Masson and it will be featured here at the end of each week. Caribou christens new CMO Caribou BiosciencesTina Albertson, M.D., Ph.D., has been named chief medical officer at CRISPR-focused Caribou Biosciences. Albertson was most recently the CMO and head of development for Lyell Immunopharma. She also led the development of Breyanzi as vice president of global drug development at Juno Therapeutics—including the period when it came under the control of Bristol Myers Squibb—and previously served in a leadership role at Seagen. ReleaseAtara shakes up leadershipAtara BiotherapeuticsImmune-focused Atara is elevating chief scientific and technical officer Cokey Nguyen, Ph.D., to president and CEO, replacing Pascal Touchon who will now be chairman of the board of directors. Outgoing board chair Carol Gallagher will become independent lead director. Before Atara, Nguyen most recently served in leadership roles at Fate Therapeutics and Pfizer. ReleaseCerevance names new CMOCerevanceSagar Vaidya, M.D., Ph.D., will take on the role of chief medical officer at Cerevance, a CNS-focused biotech that is currently prepping for a phase 3 trial of its Parkinson’s disease candidate. Vaidya’s more than 20-year career includes a stint at BioMarin and most recently a position as the VP of clinical development at Travere Therapeutics, where he is credited with overseeing several key programs. Release > Microprotein specialist Velia Therapeutics has named Alan Saghatelian, Ph.D., as chief technology officer. Release> Vaccine developer SpyBiotech is hiring former Aerium chief medical officer Prakash Bhuyan, M.D., Ph.D., to be its CMO. Release> Jonathan Rigby is replacing Cynthia Pussinen as CEO of regenerative medicine cell therapy company Sernova. Release> Recent Fierce 15 winner Ascidian Therapeutics promoted Pfizer vet Robert Bell, Ph.D., to the chief scientific officer role following a three-year stint as the company’s VP, head of research. Release> Oculis’ former chief development officer Bastian Dehmel, M.D., is moving over to Pathalys Pharma, where he will serve as CMO. Release> Back at Oculis, Sharon Klier, M.D., will be filling the chief development officer role at the ophthalmology-focused biotech. Release > Holoclara tapped Brian Varnum, Ph.D., who previously served as CEO of Armata Pharmaceuticals, as its new R&D head. Release> Paul Bruno, Ph.D., was named chief business officer at precision allosteric therapeutics company Atavistik Bio. ReleaseEditor’s note: Fierce Biotech is shaking up the way we report biopharma executive moves, narrowing in on some of the most industry-relevant changes. As always, feel free to send top C-suite transitions to the editorial team for consideration.

SOMERSET, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Legend Biotech Corporation (“Legend Biotech” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: LEGN), a global biotechnology company developing, manufacturing and commercializing novel therapies to treat life-threatening diseases, today announced the formation of a strategic advisory board and the appointments of Michel Vounatsos, former CEO of Biogen Inc., and John Maraganore, PhD, former CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, as advisors. Mr. Vounatsos and Dr. Maraganore will work closely with Legend Biotech’s leadership team and Board of Directors to advise on strategic initiatives to advance the Company’s cell therapy platforms. “We are honored to be joined by such accomplished industry executives, and we welcome Mr. Vounatsos and Dr. Maraganore to our advisory board. We look forward to drawing upon their unique global perspectives and combined experience to help drive the company’s long-term growth objectives,” said Ying Huang, Legend Biotech’s CEO. About Michel Vounatsos Mr. Vounatsos served as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of Biogen Inc. from January 2017 to November 2022, shortly after joining the company as Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer in April 2016. Prior to joining Biogen, Mr. Vounatsos spent twenty years at Merck & Co., Inc., where he held a number of leadership roles in strategy, commercial operations and business development. Most recently, he served as President, Primary Care and Merck Customer Centricity, where he led the company’s global primary care business. While at Merck, Mr. Vounatsos also served as President of MSD China and held several commercial leadership positions across Europe. Prior to joining Merck, Mr. Vounatsos held management positions at Ciba-Geigy, a Swiss pharmaceuticals company that eventually formed Novartis through its merger with Sandoz Inc. Mr. Vounatsos currently serves on the Board of PerkinElmer, Inc., where he is a member of the Audit Committee (March 2020-Present) and Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (Oct.2022-Present). Mr. Vounatsos also serves on the Board of Zai Lab (Jan 2023-Present), where he is Chair of the Commercial Committee and member of the Research and Development Committee. In addition, he is on the Advisory Board of Tsinghua University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Chair of Supervisory Board of LIRYC, the Electrophysiology and Heart Modeling Institute at the University of Bordeaux. Mr. Vounatsos obtained his C.S.C.T. certificate in Medicine from Université Victor Segalen, Bordeaux II, France, and an MBA from HEC School of Management in Paris. About John Maraganore, PhD Dr. Maraganore served as the founding CEO and Director of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals from 2002-2021, where he led the company through the approval and global commercialization of the first four RNA interference therapeutic medicines. At Alnylam, he developed the company’s value strategy, building over $25 billion in market capitalization throughout his tenure. He remains a member of the Alnylam Scientific Advisory Board. Prior to joining Alnylam, Dr. Maraganore held a number of leadership roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., across M&A, strategy, and was responsible for the company’s oncology, and cardiovascular, inflammatory and metabolic diseases businesses. Before Millennium, Dr. Maraganore spent ten years at Biogen, Inc. in a number of business and clinical roles, where he led the discovery and development of ANGIOMAX® (bivalirudin). Prior to that, he was a scientist at ZymoGenetics, Inc. and the Upjohn Company. Currently, Dr. Maraganore serves as a Venture Partner at Arch Venture Partners, a Venture Advisor at Atlas Ventures, a Senior Advisor at Blackstone Life Sciences, Executive Partner at RTW Investments, and as an Advisor at M28. He is Chair Emeritus of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and a member of the BIO board and its Executive Committee. In addition, he serves on the board of a number of public and private companies: Agios Pharmaceuticals, Beam Therapeutics, Kymera Therapeutics, ProKidney Corp, Takeda Pharmaceuticals; Aera Therapeutics (Chair), Aerium Therapeutics, Aitia (Chair), Hemab Therapeutics (Chair), Orbital Therapeutics (Founder and Executive Chair), and Versanis Bio. Dr. Maraganore is actively involved with a number of non-profit organizations committed to the development of future life sciences leaders and to the advancement of innovative medicines for patients. He serves on the Board of the Termeer Foundation, Nucleate, CHDI Foundation, the Advisory Board of n-Lorem and Ariadne Labs, and is a member of the MGH Research Institute Advisory Council. Dr. Maraganore received his BA, MS, and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Chicago. About Legend Biotech Legend Biotech is a global biotechnology company dedicated to treating, and one day curing, life-threatening diseases. Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, we are developing advanced cell therapies across a diverse array of technology platforms, including autologous and allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T-cell and natural killer (NK) cell-based immunotherapy. From our three R&D sites around the world, we apply these innovative technologies to pursue the discovery of cutting-edge therapeutics for patients worldwide. Learn more at and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: Contacts Investor Contacts: Joanne Choi, Senior Manager, Investor Relations, Legend Biotech joanne.choi@legendbiotech.com Crystal Chen, Manager, Investor Relations, Legend Biotech crystal.chen@legendbiotech.com Press Contact: Tina Carter, Corporate Communications Lead, Legend Biotech tina.carter@legendbiotech.com (908) 331-5025 Source: Legend Biotech View this news release online at:

MUNICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tubulis today announced the appointment of Björn Hock, PhD, as Chief Development Officer (CDO) to further strengthen its leadership team with a seasoned drug development expert. Dr. Hock previously served on the company’s scientific advisory board and has more than 20 years of experience in the field of antibody-based therapeutics, including antibody-drug-conjugates (ADCs). At Tubulis, he will be responsible for defining preclinical development strategies for the company’s current drug candidates in oncology to rapidly achieve IND-readiness. In addition, he will work closely with the leadership team to design and execute relevant biomarker studies and investigate novel antibody-drug-combinations to further broaden the company’s pipeline of uniquely matched ADCs for a range of indications. “Björn has been our trusted advisor since 2020, providing valuable guidance and creative input as well as serving as a critical sounding board in the development of our ADC platform technologies and product candidates,” said Dominik Schumacher, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Tubulis. “We are grateful for his extended commitment in supporting us as Chief Development Officer. His contributions will accelerate the advance and expansion of our pipeline as we continue on our mission to usher in a new ADC era and deliver better outcomes for patients.” Dr. Hock added: “Through its differentiated and proprietary technologies covering all aspects of ADC development, Tubulis has established itself as an up-and-coming leader with a unique approach to ADC design. I am highly motivated to support the team in advancing its ADC candidates towards clinical evaluation and exploring novel ADC concepts to bring new treatment opportunities to patients as quickly as possible.” "Gaining Björn’s commitment to move from an advisory position to Chief Development Officer speaks highly of the opportunity that Tubulis represents, and we applaud the leadership for continuing to build an outstanding team,” commented Christian Grøndahl, PhD, Chairman of Tubulis’ Supervisory Board. Over the course of his career, Dr. Hock has led the successful development of several platform technologies and therapeutic programs from concept to lead candidate stage. In addition, he has managed global academic and industrial R&D collaborations. Most recently, he served as interim CEO at Aerium Therapeutics (formerly SwissThera SA), where he was responsible for building the European office and driving the preclinical development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody assets from discovery stage to first-in-human studies in less than 8 months. From 2017 until 2021, he was the Vice President of Biologics, Technologies and Development at Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Prior, Dr. Hock worked in various positions at Merck KGaA for more than ten years, including his last position as Senior Director and Global Head of ADC and Targeted Therapeutics, where he oversaw the development of a variety of protein therapeutics from concept to lead stage. Dr. Hock holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the Chemotherapeutisches Forschungsinstitut Georg Speyer-Haus in Frankfurt. About Tubulis Tubulis generates uniquely matched protein-drug conjugates through the combination of novel proprietary technologies and disease-specific biologic insight. Our goal is to expand the therapeutic potential of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) by increasing design flexibility while overcoming constraints of toxicity, efficacy and indication. Tubulis will build new conjugates to fill its growing pipeline and will continue to collaborate with industry partners to usher in a new ADC era and deliver better outcomes for patients. Visit or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: Contacts For Tubulis Dominik Schumacher, CEO & Co-Founder Phone: + 49 (0) 89 2180 74233 Email: info@tubulis.com Media Requests for Tubulis Trophic Communications Marie Weickert Phone: +49 (0) 151 598 624 18 Email: tubulis@trophic.eu Source: Tubulis View this news release online at: