Welcome to this 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 Kyle LaHucik, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Galapagos CEO kept his J.P. Morgan promise by naming ex-J&J science chief Paul Stoffels as CEO, who returns to biotech he helped launch
Galapagos
Paul Stoffels, M.D., joins Galapagos as CEO on April 1 after leaving Johnson & Johnson as chief scientific officer and vice chairman last year.
He will replace founding Galapagos CEO Onno van de Stolpe, who spearheaded the Belgian biotech since its origins in 1999. Stoffels helped launch Galapagos when he was chair of Tibotec, an infectious disease biotech that created Galapagos as a joint venture with Crucell. After a nine-year stint as CSO at J&J, Stoffels decided it was time to return home to Belgium and to take over a struggling biotech that has a depleted late-stage pipeline and is in much need of new assets to secure its first U.S. approval. Fierce Biotech
CytoDyn board ousts CEO and replaces him with CFO, while CMO steps down from the board as biotech faces scrutiny from FDA, SEC, DOJ
CytoDyn
President and CEO Nader Pourhassan, Ph.D., was ousted from his positions.
In a series of fantasylike tales at the struggling biotech, the 10-year CEO was also removed from CytoDyn's board this week. He will be replaced at least temporarily by Chief Financial Officer Antonio Migliarese. Pourhassan led a company the FDA publicly chastised for cherry-picking data on a COVID-19 drug that failed a trial last year. The monoclonal antibody, leronlimab, is also being tested as a treatment for HIV. Public statements and documents related to the drug have been subpoenaed by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Board chair Scott Kelly, M.D., who is also chief medical officer, will step down from the board. Fierce Biotech
Atomwise beefs up leadership with Moderna, BridgeBio, Boehringer alums to serve as chief science and financial officers, general counsel
Atomwise
David Thomson, Ph.D., joined as chief scientific officer in November and will work alongside new Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Barr and General Counsel Jeffery Cerio.
Thomson spent half of his career, about 14 years, at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he ended his stint as vice president of small-molecule drug discovery. Barr was previously VP of finance at BridgeBio Pharma. Cerio had held corporate and general counsel roles at Moderna, Alkermes and Triplet Therapeutics. Fierce MedTech
> OncoArendi Therapeutics, a small-molecule biotech, named Samson Fung, M.D., its chief medical officer. Fung was previously CEO of an investment firm and prior to that CEO of Volvox Therapeutics. Release
> Regenerative medicine biotech Athersys named Daniel Camardo its CEO as of Feb. 14, after he leaves his duties as Horizon Therapeutics EVP and head of rare disease and inflammation business units. Interim CEO William Lehmann will continue as president and chief operating officer. Release
> Kidney disease biotech Goldfinch Bio named Edwin Tucker, M.D., its chief medical officer after serving in the same post at Mirum Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Tom DiLenge is now senior partner of global public policy, regulatory and governmental strategy at biotech incubator Flagship Pioneering after serving as president of advocacy, law and public policy at industry organization BIO. Release
> Medical device company Hyalex Orthopaedics named Carl Vause its new CEO and president, succeeding interim leader Michael Hawkins, Ph.D. Vause was previously VP of marketing at CONMED Orthopedic Solutions. Release
> Brain-disease-focused biotech Herophilus named Brad Savall, Ph.D., its new VP and head of chemistry after serving as director of medicinal chemistry at Plexium. Release
> Aptevo Therapeutics Board Chair Fuad El-Hibri will retire April 1, and vice chair John Niederhuber, M.D,. will become chair that day. Release
> Biopharma CDMO Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services named Tony O'Neill its VP of compliance for U.S. operations after 25 years at AbbVie's Allergan, where he was most recently executive director of quality operations. Release
> Senda Biosciences named Stuart Milstein, Ph.D., its first SVP and head of platform biology after holding the VP of platform biology at Korro Bio. Release
Editor's note: This story was updated 2:28 p.m. Eastern time on Jan. 31 to include the Atomwise logo and headshot of David Thomson.