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.
New Galapagos CEO expected within weeks to revive biopharma; new CSO also imminent
Galapagos
Onno van de Stolpe said a new Galapagos CEO is expected within weeks, not months.
The 23-year Galapagos veteran said last August he'd step down once a successor was chosen, and that seems to be within sight, he said at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Thursday. In his last presentation as CEO, van de Stolpe said a new chief scientific officer will be named soon, as well, after Piet Wigerinck, Ph.D., left last year following late-stage flops at the European biotech. Fierce Biotech
Charles River chief financial officer to retire before 2023
Charles River Labs
David Smith will depart the contract research organization.
The exit will take place once his successor is found. Smith also holds the title of corporate EVP and will step down by the end of this year after joining the company in 2014. He helped with the acquisitions of Argenta and BioFocus and has held the CFO post since 2015. Fierce CRO
Ogilvy Health snags Hessel from Harrison & Star to be new chief creative officer
Ogilvy Health
Adam Hessel is the new chief creative officer at the healthcare marketing giant.
The New York-based agency picked him up from healthcare marketing shop Harrison & Star and will lead creative output for Ogilvy in North America. The C-suite move comes after the company lost its CEO Kate Cronin to Moderna last summer. Cronin was replaced by Kim Johnson, who came from parent company WPP. Fierce Pharma Marketing
> Paige promoted Chief Commercial Officer Andy Moye, Ph.D., to CEO and Chief Precision Medicine Officer Jill Stefanelli, Ph.D., to president and chief business officer. Release
> AliveCor named Archana Dubey its chief clinical officer after a six-year stint as global medical director at HP. Release
> Former 5AM Ventures Partner Mira Chaurushiya, Ph.D., was named partner at Westlake Village BioPartners. Release
> Marc Levesque, Ph.D., M.D., departed his position as senior director at AbbVie to become VP of immunology discovery at Merck. LinkedIn
> ReCode Therapeutics named Shehnaaz Suliman, M.D., its CEO after holding the president and chief operating officer post at Alector. She takes the helm from David Lockhart, Ph.D., who will become chief scientific officer and remain in the president role. Release
> Theresa LaVallee, Ph.D., is the new chief development officer of Coherus Biosciences after serving as VP of translational medicine and regulatory affairs at Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Release
> CohBar promoted Kent Grindstaff, Ph.D., to SVP of research after serving for six years in the VP of biology role. Chief Scientific Officer Ken Cundy, Ph.D., also resigned. Release
> Jim Neal will retire from the CEO post at XOMA once his successor is chosen. Release
> GPB Scientific named Gaurav Vij as its first chief business officer and Joan Haab as SVP of manufacturing and supply chain operation. Release
> Jack Lawler is the new VP of global clinical development operations at Chemomab Therapeutics after holding the VP of clinical operations and data management post at Goldfinch Bio. Release
> Currax Pharmaceuticals named Michael Kyle, M.D., its chief medical officer and SVP after he headed up development at Jiangsu HengRui Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Brian Lestini, M.D., Ph.D., is the new CEO of Pyramid Biosciences after joining the biotech as CMO last March. Co-founder and current CEO Kollol Pal, Ph.D., will transition to the role of chief scientific officer. Release
> Acelyrin named Melanie Gloria its chief operating officer after holding the SVP of development operations duties at Horizon. Release
> Giorgio Calderari named CEO of Helsinn Group after holding the group general manager post. Release
> Cabaletta Bio promoted Gwendolyn Binder, Ph.D., to president of science and technology and Arun Das, M.D., to chief business officer. Release
> Oryzon Genomics named Ana Limón as SVP of clinical development and global medical affairs after serving in the senior director and global program leader posts at Deciphera Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Stephen Smolinski is the new chief commercial officer at Avalo Therapeutics after leading immunology therapeutics at Swedish Orphan Biovitrum. Release
> Nine Square Therapeutics named Robert Paul, M.D., Ph.D., its CEO after serving as CMO at Alector since 2016. Release
> Tod Smeal, Ph.D., is the new chief scientific officer at Cardiff Oncology and Charles Monahan is the new SVP of regulatory affairs. Smeal previously hold the CSO post at Hexagon Bio, cancer biology at Eli Lilly and director of oncology research unit at Pfizer. Release
> Endo named James Tursi as EVP of global R&D after serving in the CSO and EVP of development roles at Ferring Pharmaceuticals U.S. Release
> Todd Branning is the new CFO at NeuBase Therapeutics after leading the same role at Phathom Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Poseida Therapeutics Chief Business Officer and President Mark Gergen promoted to CEO as Eric Ostertag transitions to executive chairman. Release
> insitro named Martha Rook, Ph.D., its chief technical operations leader; Jevan Soo Lenox its chief people officer; Ellen Berg, Ph.D., as VP of biomarker sciences; and Theofanis Karaletsos as VP of data science and machine learning. Release
> Sukumar Sakamuri, Ph.D., is the new chief technology officer at Aro Biotherapeutics after holding the VP and head of chemistry posts at Ambrx. Release
> Kaye Foster is now venture partner at Arch Venture Partners and currently holds the post of senior adviser at Boston Consulting Group and before that was VP of global HR at Onyx Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Annovis Bio named Eve Damiano its SVP of regulatory operations and promoted Cheng Fang, Ph.D., to the post of SVP of R&D. Release
> Joseph McIntosh, M.D., departed the CMO post at Jaguar Gene Therapy to take on the same post at Gennao Bio, and Anuj Goswami joins as general counsel from Ballard Spahr, where he was a partner in the business and finance practice. Release
> Bicycle Therapeutics promoted Michael Skynner, Ph.D., to chief technology from COO. The COO post will be filled by VP of HR and communications Alistair Milnes. Release
> Webb Ding was named global COO and general manager for Oculis' China operations after serving as president of the region for Fresenius-Kabi. Release
> Faron Pharmaceuticals named Marie-Louise Fjällskog, M.D., Ph.D., its CMO after holding the same job at Sensei Biotherapeutics. Release
> Iovance Biotherapeutics named Raj Puri, M.D., Ph.D., its EVP of regulatory strategy and translational medicine after he served as director of the FDA's Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies. Release
> Avicanna named Stephen Kim its chief legal officer and general counsel after posts at Bayer and Celgene. Release
> Andrew Oakley will retire from the CFO spot at Autolus Therapeutics before April and SVP of Finance Lucinda Crabtree will take over at that point. Release
> Michael Pine is the new chief corporate development and strategy officer at EyePoint Pharmaceuticals after holding the SVP of BD post at Medexus Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Carl Decicco, Ph.D., retired as CSO at Foghorn Therapeutics as SVP of Drug Discovery Steven Bellon, Ph.D., fills the post. Release
> iTeos Therapeutics promoted Yvonne McGrath, Ph.D., to CSO after holding the VP of R&D title since June 2020. Release
> Life Science Washington promoted Marc Cummings to president and CEO from VP of public policy and external affairs. Release
> Novartis UK named Roland Kreissig, M.D., is the new general manager of oncology at its UK and Ireland divisions. LinkedIn
> Rafal Kaminski, M.D., Ph.D., is the new chief scientific officer of Angelini Pharma after serving in the same post at OncoArendi Therapeutics. Release
> AlivaMab Discovery Services named Jane Seagal, Ph.D., its VP of antibody discovery after she was a research fellow at AbbVie. Release