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.
Acadia brings BMS vet on board as CEO
Acadia Pharmaceuticals
As the biotech approaches $1 billion in sales, Acadia CEO Steve Davis is stepping down and being succeeded by Catherine Owen Adams. Owen Adams most recently led a $20 billion business as senior vice president and general manager, U.S., at Bristol Myers Squibb. Before BMS, she held various leadership roles during a 25-year tenure at Johnson & Johnson after starting her career at AstraZeneca. Release
Abiologics adds exec expertise with new CSO
Abiologics
Abiologics, a programmable medicines company launched by Flagship Pioneering in 2021, is bolstering its C-suite's scientific credentials by appointing Maria-Chiara Magnone, Ph.D., as its new chief scientific officer. Magnone comes from Johnson & Johnson, where she served as vice president, head of discovery for the cardiovascular, metabolic, retina and pulmonary hypertension therapeutic area. Magnone’s experience across the drug development process will help Abiologics create a strong pipeline, the company said. Release
Century Therapeutics shakes up leadership team
Century Therapeutics
Cell therapy maker Century Therapeutics snagged decorated cell therapy pioneer Chad Cowan, Ph.D., as its chief scientific officer following Century’s April acquisition of Cowan-founded Clade Therapeutics. Outside of Clade, Cowan is known as a scientific founder of CRISPR therapeutics and the recipient of a transformative research award from the National Institutes of Health. He’s served as a scientific adviser to Century since its Clade acquisition. With that appointment, Century’s president of R&D Hy Levitsky is leaving his work in Cowan’s hands and will step down from his operational duties to take on an advisory position. The company also brought on Morgan Conn, Ph.D., who will fill the chief financial officer spot that’s been open since Michael Diem, M.D., flew the coop to Pfizer in February. Cowan and Conn are both set to join Century’s executive team in October. Release
> Disagreements over the future of Qualigen Therapeutics led CEO and Chairman Michael Poirier and CFO Christopher Lotz to resign; Kevin Richardson will be interim CEO and CFO, and the board appointed Campbell Becher president of the company effective immediately. Release
> Investor relations firm LifeSci Advisors scooped a new managing director in Lindsey Trickett, who worked in strategy and investor relations at AstraZeneca for 12 years. Release
> After CMO Matthew McClure, M.D., stepped down in April, Hardean Achneck, M.D., is taking on the job at liver and viral diseases-focused Aligos Therapeutics, effective immediately. Release
> CRO Worldwide Clinical Trials welcomed Genentech vet Tracey Marantal to head up the oncology business unit as its president. Release
> Big Pharma vet Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, M.D., Ph.D., will fine-tune Novavax’s R&D strategy as the vaccine maker’s head of R&D come November, following the July retirement of former head Filip Dubovsky, M.D. Release
> Next-generation optogenetics maker Ray Therapeutics eyed a chief financial officer in Christopher Whitmore, who joins the team after hitting the exit from the same position at Immune-Onc in August. Release
> John Murphy is the new CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines, the generic drug group’s first since Dan Leonard departed in December 2022. Release
> Entrada Therapeutics is promoting CSO Natarajan Sethuraman, Ph.D., to president of research and development to advance its pipeline of drugs for intracellular targets, effective immediately. Release
> NextRNA Therapeutics, a company focused on diseases driven by long noncoding RNA, is hiring experienced small-molecule developer Jesse Smith, Ph.D., as CSO. Release