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.
Flagship-backed biotechs name new leaders
Flagship Pioneering, Apriori Bio, Valo Health
Two industry veterans are taking the reins at Apriori Bio and Valo Health, biotechs backed by VC firm Flagship Pioneering. Craig Williams has been promoted to CEO-partner at Flagship and is now CEO of Apriori Bio, while Brian Alexander, M.D., is joining as CEO-partner and will lead Valo Health. Williams joined Flagship as an operating partner and president of Apriori in 2023 after more than two decades at GSK and ViiV Healthcare, and Alexander was most recently a senior vice president for R&D at Roche/Genentech. Alexander is joined in Valo’s C-suite by Brett Blackman, Ph.D., who was promoted to chief operating officer. Release & Release
Rubedo wrangles Allergan vet as new CEO
Rubedo Life Sciences
Frederick Beddingfield III, M.D., Ph.D., has found a new executive home at Rubedo Life Sciences. Beddingfield will replace founder Marco Quarta, Ph.D., as CEO, while Quarta will transition to chief scientific officer. Beddingfield was most recently executive partner at Apollo Health Ventures, focusing on biotech startups in longevity and age-related diseases, which Rubedo focuses on. He previously had a 10-year tenure at Allergan (now part of AbbVie), including stints as therapeutic area head of dermatology and chief medical officer of Allergan Medical. Release
Zipping toward commercialization, Zentalis taps new leadership
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals
San Diego-based Zentalis Pharmaceuticals is switching up its executive team as it moves forward with its lead product candidate, azenosertib, for advanced solid tumors. Merck-acquired Harpoon Therapeutics’ former CEO Julie Eastland will succeed Kimberly Blackwell, M.D., as CEO while Blackwell stays on as a strategic adviser to the company’s board. Meanwhile, experienced oncology executive Ingmar Bruns, M.D., Ph.D., was selected for the chief medical officer spot following the August departure of Diana Hausman, M.D. Under its new leadership, Zentalis looks to quickly complete the clinical studies needed to bring azenosertib to market. Release
> Cherry Thomas, M.D., is joining Wugen as chief medical officer as the company heads toward a key trial for its CAR-T cell therapy. Release
> Nobias Therapeutics is going all-in on its drug for genetic disease 22q11 deletion syndrome by bringing GSK vet Patrick Dougherty on board as CEO. Release
> Devin Blass will head up technological and manufacturing strategies at cell therapy maker Longeveron as chief technology officer and senior vice president of chemistry, manufacturing and controls. Release
> Kailera Therapeutics has a new chief legal officer in Scott Akamine, who served in the same role at Cerevel Therapeutics until its recent acquisition by AbbVie. Release
> After holding leadership roles at Moderna, Takeda and Johnson & Johnson, J. Rodrigo Mora, M.D., Ph.D., is heading to GenEdit as chief scientific officer. Release
> U.K.-based biotech Mestag Therapeutics is bolstering its leadership team with Jan Endell, Ph.D., joining as senior vice president, head of development, plus Alison Hood as general counsel. Release
> Retinal-disease-focused Ocular Therapeutix promoted its former development strategy consultant Namrata Saroj to the chief business officer seat as the company advances its Axpaxli for wet age-related macular degeneration. Release
> Mirati Therapeutics’ former chief medical officer Alan Sandler, M.D., is taking on the same role at ALX Oncology Holdings after a stint on the company’s board. Release
> Windtree Therapeutics’ CEO Craig Fraser is hanging up the hat after nearly nine years at the helm and will transition to the board’s chairman as experienced executive Jed Latkin takes the reins. Release
> Oncologist J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, M.D., is joining SpotitEarly as chief medical officer to guide the company along its mission to use AI and canines in early-detection cancer screening. Release