As Akcea Therapeutics moves forward with a second attempt to gain regulatory approval for Waylivra, it will do so without a number of its C-suite executives.
As Akcea Therapeutics moves forward with a second attempt to gain regulatory approval for Waylivra, it will do so without a number of its C-suite executives. This morning the company announced the departure of the chief executive officer and other senior leaders as new board members take over.
CEO Paula Soteropoulos, Akcea President Sara Boyce and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Goldberg have tendered their resignations effective immediately, the company announced. Soteropoulos and Boyce have also resigned from their roles on the Akcea Board of Directors, but both of them will continue to serve as advisers to the company “to ensure a smooth transition,” the company said this morning. In its announcement, Akcea, a subsidiary of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, did not provide a reason why all three executives departed from their roles simultaneously but the en masse departures have the appearance of being less than voluntary.
Damien R. McDevitt, a member of the board, has been tapped to serve as interim CEO.
Christopher Gabrieli, chairman of the Akcea Board of Directors, thanked the departing executives for their service to the company. Gabrieli said it was under the leadership of Soteropoulos and the others that Akcea experienced significant change and growth, including an IPO, commercializing two rare disease products and building a “world-class team” at the company.
With the leadership changes at Akcea, Gabrieli said parent-company Ionis is “renewing and deepening its commitment to Akcea as it plans to license new antisense drugs to the company in addition to Akcea potentially licensing third party medicines.”
Stanley T. Crooke, chairman of the board and CEO of Ionis, said his company remains committed to the continued success of Akcea “as an important affiliate.”
“We thank Paula, Sarah and Jeff for building a strong commercial organization that can now support the development and commercialization of additional drugs. Akcea is well positioned to optimize the commercial success of Tegsedi and Waylivra (approved in Europe) and to support the development and the launch of additional drugs from our pipeline, including AKCEA-TTR- LRx, which will begin a Phase III program shortly. We plan to increase our commitment to Akcea by licensing to it additional rare disease medicines,” Crooke said in a statement.
McDevitt joins Akcea from Ionis Pharmaceuticals, where he was the chief business officer responsible for leading Ionis’ corporate development activities. Prior to Ionis, he served as senior vice president, corporate development at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals and before that was at GlaxoSmithKline for two decades in various roles of increasing responsibility.
“Having seen the potential of the Ionis technology platform and understanding the many important advances it could bring in healthcare, I am excited to take on this new role as Akcea continues to build momentum. Akcea has two life-changing products on the market and a strong pipeline. I look forward to joining the Akcea team as we continue to build on this strong foundation to benefit patients and create value for shareholders,” McDevitt said in a statement.
The executive departures were announced as Michael J. Yang and Joseph ‘Skip’ Klein III joined the company’s board of directors. New board member Yang is the CCO at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals and also spent time with Janssen where he was responsible for building the company’s U.S. immunology business. Klein has served as a director on the Ionis board since December 2005. He is a founder and currently, managing director of Gauss Capital Advisors, LLC, a financial consulting and investment advisory firm focused on biopharmaceuticals.
