Biopharma and life sciences companies strengthen their leadership teams and boards with these Movers & Shakers.
Atara Biotherapeutics – Amie Krause was named Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer at Atara Biotherapeutics. In this role, Krause will be tasked with building a company culture that “rewards” values through actions and results. Prior to her tenure with Atara, Krause held several HR leadership positions at Amgen, including her role as Global HR Lead, Organizational Effectiveness during which she served as the human resources lead for Amgen’s global commercial operations covering the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
PsyBio Therapeutics – Michael Spigarelli was named chief medical officer of Ohio-based PsyBio. Before PsyBio Therapeutics, Spigarelli served as CMOr for Lumen Bioscience, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing biologic drugs for highly prevalent diseases. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Medical Affairs for Immucor, Inc., a leading provider of transfusion and transplantation diagnostic products worldwide. Spigarelli previously served as Chairman of the American Board of Clinical Pharmacology.
Rune Labs – Bay Area-based Rune Labs announced the formation of a Scientific Advisory Board of leading experts in neuroscience and biomedical engineering. Carrolee Barlow and Srikantan Nagarajan were named members of the SAB. Barlow formerly served as Chief Executive Officer of the Parkinson’s Institute and Clinical Center. Nagarajan is a Professor in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco.
Umoja Biopharma – Nushmia Khokhar was named CMO of Seattle-based Umoja. Before Umoja, Khokhar was the Senior Vice President, Head of Clinical Development at Autolus where she played a critical role in advancing the company’s autologous T-cell products and clinical programs. Before that, she held numerous roles of increasing responsibility at Janssen Oncology.
Prothena – Hideki Garren was named CMO of Ireland-based Prothena Corporation plc. Garren joins Prothena from Genentech, where he served as Vice President, Global Head of Neuroimmunology. Garren also held the role of Executive Director, Translational Medicine Expert in Neuroscience with Novartis Pharma. Prior to Novartis, Garren served as Co-Founder, Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer, and Chief Operating Officer of Bayhill Therapeutics, Inc., a company he started in 2002 based on a technology platform he co-invented while at Stanford University.
Vivasure Medical – Andrew Glass was tapped to serve as CEO of Ireland’s Vivasure Medical. Glass brings significant global experience in product development, clinical strategy and commercialization within the cardiovascular industry. Founder and former CEO Ger Brett will transition to serving as chief operating officer. Glass held senior leadership roles at Abbott Laboratories for the past fifteen years, most recently as regional director at Abbott Vascular where he was responsible for the commercial operations for 13 European countries. Previously, he served in senior leadership positions in general management, business development, and marketing in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the United States.
Overland ADCT – Overland ADCT Biopharma, a joint venture of Overland Pharmaceuticals and ADC Therapeutics SA, named Eric Koo as CEO. Koo most recently served as Vice President, Head of Oncology Business Unit at Takeda China with a focus on multiple myeloma and lymphoma. Prior to Takeda China, Koo served as Director, Oncology Business Unit and Director, Market Access, External Affairs & Key Account Management at Merck, Sharp and Dome (MSD) Taiwan. Prior to MSD, he served as Regional Marketing Director for APAC & Specialty Care BU Head, Malaysia/Singapore at Bayer APAC. Koo started his pharmaceutical career at Pfizer, spending 16 years in various sales, product management and marketing positions.
Protera – Chile-based Protera appointed Novozymes senior executive Thomas Videbaek as chairman of the Board of Directors and non-executive board member. Most recently, Videbaek was Executive Vice President (EVP) of Corporate Strategy & Business Transformation at Novozymes. Previously, he held a number of senior business development roles, most recently as EVP.
Cogent Biosciences – Boulder, Colo.-based Cogent Biosciences, Inc. announced the formation of a research team led by newly-appointed Chief Scientific Officer, John Robinson. Robinson joins Cogent from Pfizer where he most recently served as Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry. For more than 15 years prior to his time at Pfizer, he was a senior member of the Array BioPharma scientific leadership team. The Cogent Research Team will focus on pioneering best-in-class, small molecule therapeutics to both improve upon existing drugs with clear limitations, as well as create new breakthroughs for diseases where others have been unable to find solutions.
Immuneering Corporation – Biren Amin was named chief financial officer of Immuneering. Amin joins Immuneering from Jefferies Financial Group Inc., where he served as Managing Director, Biotechnology Equity Research.
LEXEO Therapeutics – New York-based LEXEO bolstered its executive team with two appointments. Paul McCormac was named Senior Vice President, Technical Operations and Libbie Mansell, was tapped as Senior Vice President and Head of Regulatory Affairs. McCormac previously served as Medicinal Sciences Category Lead for Pfizer Rare Disease, where he among other responsibilities led gene therapy CMC and vector supply strategy for Pfizer’s rare disease business and research units. Prior to Pfizer, he held positions in process development at Avecia Biotechnology. Mansell served as Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs at Asklepios Biopharmaceuticals. Prior to AskBio, Mansell held regulatory affairs or medical affairs leadership positions at Curis, Sigma-Tau, Genzyme and Millenium Pharmaceuticals among other companies.
Olema Oncology – Yi Larson was appointed to the board of directors of Olema. Larson most recently served as CFO of Turning Point Therapeutics, where she oversaw a period of tremendous growth. Effective May 1, she will become CFO of LianBio. Prior to Turning Point, Larson was a Managing Director of Healthcare Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs. Longtime Olema director Frank McCormick will transition to Chair of Olema’s Scientific Advisory Board.
NPC – John M. O’Brien was named president and CEO of the National Pharmaceutical Council, a health policy research organization. O’Brien, who will assume the role on June 1, will be responsible for overseeing NPC’s policy research and communications capacity, partnerships with other health care organizations, and strategic vision. Prior to joining NPC, O’Brien was senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and deputy assistant secretary of planning and evaluation (health policy). He has also held senior policy positions in the life sciences and managed care industries, including at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, was a career official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services during the Obama administration, and served as a health policy fellow in the U.S. Senate. O’Brien replaces interim president and CEO Robert Dubois, who took on the role after Dan Leonard left NPC in September 2020. Dubois will continue his role as CSO and executive vice president.
Penrose TherapeuTx – Michigan-based Penrose named three new members to its SAB. The new members are: Mircea Ivan, a microbiologist and immunologist whose research contributed to the 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for the discovery of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability; David Rubin, a gastroenterologist with expertise in high-risk cancer syndromes, inflammatory bowel diseases and clinical trial design; and Patrick Farmer, a chemical and biochemical expert whose research includes metal-based therapies for melanoma.
SVB Leerink – Andrew Finberg was named Managing Director, He will be tasked with leading the firm’s new Structured Finance practice, which will advise corporate, academic, and medical not-for-profit clients on royalty monetization and private cash flow and asset-based credit. Fineberg joins SVB from MTS Health Partners where he led the structured finance advisory efforts, primarily focused on structuring and executing royalty monetization, debt financings, and other credit-based transactions.
Exact Therapeutics – Biopharma veteran Dominic Moreland was named CFO of Exact Therapeutics. Moreland has held financial role in multiple life sciences companies, including ICI/Zeneca, Baxter, Genzyme, and two independent businesses, Careology and the Whiteley Clinic as well as Autolus Therapeutics plc.
OneOncology – Eastern Connecticut Hematology and Oncology (ECHO)'s Dinesh Kapur, has succeeded Natalie Dickson, president and CMO of Tennessee Oncology as chair of OneCouncil, the partnership’s all-physician advisory board for clinical and strategic initiatives.
Click Therapeutics – New York-based Click Therapeutics expands its leadership team with executive and board appointments. Wall Street veteran Randall Stanicky joined the company leadership as CFO; digital healthcare executive Lee Shapiro joined the Board of Directors; and former biopharmaceutical executive Muzammil Mansuri, has expanded his role at Click through appointment as Board Chair
Medable Inc. – Pamela Tenaerts was named CSO of California-based Medable. Tenaerts joins Medable from Duke University, where she led CTTI’s efforts to develop and drive adoption of practices that increase the quality and efficiency of clinical trials. CTTI is a public-private partnership co-founded in 2007 by Duke and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It comprises more than 80 member organizations, including government agencies, industry representatives, patient advocacy groups, professional societies, investigator groups, and academic institutions.
Rain Therapeutics – Richard Bryce was named CMO of Rain Therapeutics. Bryce joins Rain from Puma Biotechnology, where he served as chief medical and scientific officer since 2017. Prior to Puma, he served as the senior medical director of clinical science at Onyx Pharmaceuticals. Before Onyx, Bryce was the senior director of medical affairs and oncology at ICON Clinical Research and spent time at Ergomed Clinical Research serving as executive vice president of medical affairs, president and managing director. Earlier in his career, he held senior clinical and medical roles at F. Hoffmann-La Roche, ILEX Oncology, Scotia Pharmaceuticals and Servier Laboratories.
