BioSpace Movers & Shakers, Jan. 22

LabCorp – Ann Sesok-Pizzini was named chief medical officer of Labcorp Diagnostics. She succeeds Dot Adcock, who retired. Sesok-Pizzini joins Labcorp with over two decades of experience in healthcare. Prior to joining Labcorp, she held multiple appointments with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, including Patient Safety Officer, chief of the Division of Transfusion Medicine and Vice-Chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. She was also a professor of clinical pathology and laboratory medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Viridian Therapeutics – Jonathan Violin was named president and chief executive officer of Viridian Therapeutics, Inc., a company previously known as miRagen Therapeutics. Violin, who previously served as Viridian’s president and chief operating officer, succeeds Lee Rauch as CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Rauch will remain as strategic advisor for the company. Prior to co-founding privately held Viridian Therapeutics, Violin had founded and served as CEO of two virtual drug discovery companies, Quellis Biosciences and Dianthus Therapeutics, and co-founded and held several executive positions at Trevena, Inc. Additionally, Viridian named Barrett Katz as its chief medical officer. Katz comes to Viridian from BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. where he developed therapeutics to treat orphan eye diseases. During his tenure at BridgeBio, Dr. Katz held leadership positions in two subsidiaries, as president and CMO of Retinagenix and CEO of Fortify Therapeutics. Prior to BridgeBio, he was CMO at GenSight Biologics.

Evolve Biologics – Jim Caggiano was named CEO of Evolve Biologics. Caggiano joins Evolve Biologics after most recently serving as CEO of Dendreon Pharmaceuticals LLC. Among his earlier leadership roles in the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries, Caggiano directed the divestiture of Allergan’s LAP-BAND to Apollo Endosurgery in 2013. In 2015, he was hired by Valeant to run the Dendreon business, where he doubled the company’s enterprise value. Caggiano held senior roles at Allergan, Inc., Abbott Laboratories and TAP Pharmaceuticals.

Chiasma Inc. – John Doyle was named CFO of Chiasma, Inc. Prior to joining Chiasma, Doyle served as vice president of Finance and Investor Relations at Verastem, Inc. Prior to joining Verastem, he served as Head of Financial Planning & Analysis at SimpliVity Corp.. Before that, Doyle was Director of Business Unit Financial Planning & Analysis, Early Phase Division, at PAREXEL. Earlier in his career, he served in increasingly senior financial planning and analysis roles at Hologic, Inc., a provider of medical diagnostic, surgical and imaging products. Mark Fitzpatrick, Chiasma’s current president and principal financial officer, will remain with the company in a consulting role through June 30 to help facilitate a transition of responsibilities to Doyle.

AVROBIO – Diana M. Escolar was named CFO of Cambridge, Mass.-based Avrobio, Inc. A board-certified neurologist and fellow of the American Academy of Neurology , Escolar previously served as chief medical officer at miRagen Therapeutics. She also served as the CMO of Akashi Therapeutics, Inc. , the principal medical consultant for Acceleron Pharma’s muscular dystrophy program and a senior medical consultant and advisory board member for the muscular dystrophy programs at Shire, Plc. Escolar was the principal medical consultant for Genzyme’s pivotal trial for Myozyme, an enzyme replacement therapy approved to treat adult-onset Pompe disease.

CHF Solutions – Nestor Jaramillo was named president and CEO of Minnesota-based CHF Solutions. He previously served as president and COO. Jaramillo joined CHF Solutions in May 2019 and has driven the evolution of the company’s therapeutic focus strategy from solely heart. Prior to joining CHF Solutions, Jaramillo was president and CEO of Innerspace Neuro Solutions, Inc. He also worked in a variety of capacities at startup Transoma Medical, as well as Medtronic and St. Jude Medical (now Abbott). Former CEO John Erb will continue to serve as the company’s chairman of the board.

Zimmer Biomet – Ellison (Ellie) M. Humphrey was appointed to the newly-created position of chief transformation officer of Indiana-based Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. Humphrey will be responsible for connecting key initiatives and implementing a higher level, more integrated transformation strategy across the organization. Humphrey joins Zimmer Biomet from global medical technology company Medtronic, where she held several leadership roles, most recently serving as Vice President of Enterprise Excellence and Business Transformation. Prior to her 11-year tenure at Medtronic, Humphrey served as an associate principal at McKinsey & Company, advising corporate clients on growth, commercial, operational and business development strategies.

Talking Medicines – Social medicines company Talking Medicines tapped three senior executives. Tatiana Nantes joins the team as Head of Product from VMware, Tom Lynch joined as Senior Engineer, and Adrian Mursec was named Frontend Developer.

Atriva Therapeutics – Ulrich Dauer was named chairman of the advisory board of Germany’s Atriva Therapeutics GmbH. Dauer is a biotechnology entrepreneur and serial executive who has been serving as CEO of Vivoryon Therapeutics N.V. since May 2018. Before that, he was CEO of Ventaleon GmbH and OMEICOS Therapeutics GmbH, founding CEO of 4SC AG, and Chief Strategy Officer at Activaero GmbH. Dauer succeeds Stephan Ludwig as chairman. Ludwig will continue to serve on the Advisory Board of Atriva Therapeutics. Emilie Hofstetter resigned from the board and Michael Grissinger took over her position on Jan. 1.

Imara – Kenneth Attie was named CMO of Boston-based Imara Inc. Prior to joining Imara, Attie served as Vice President of Medical Research at Acceleron Pharma. Before Acceleron, Attie held clinical development and medical affairs leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Altus Pharmaceuticals, Insmed, Inc. and Genentech, Inc.

Imago Biosciences – Matthew J. Plunkett was named CFO of Bay Area-based Imago. Plunkett will lead the company’s business and financial operations. Plunkett joins Imago from Nkarta Therapeutics, Inc., where he was CFO from 2018 to 2020. Previously, he was chief financial and business officer at Medeor Therapeutics from 2017 to 2018. Prior to that, he served as a business development executive at CTI BioPharma from 2012 until 2017, including as CBO from 2014 to 2017. From 2000 to 2009, Matt held positions of increasing responsibility in the healthcare investment banking division of CIBC World Markets and its U.S. successor Oppenheimer & Co.

BioSpace Movers & Shakers, Jan. 22

By Alex Keown

Labcorp – Ann Sesok-Pizzini was named chief medical officer of Labcorp Diagnostics. She succeeds Dot Adcock, who retired. Sesok-Pizzini joins Labcorp with over two decades of experience in healthcare. Prior to joining Labcorp, she held multiple appointments with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, including Patient Safety Officer, chief of the Division of Transfusion Medicine and Vice-Chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. She was also a professor of clinical pathology and laboratory medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Viridian Therapeutics – Jonathan Violin was named president and chief executive officer of Viridian Therapeutics, Inc., a company previously known as miRagen Therapeutics. Violin, who previously served as Viridian’s president and chief operating officer, succeeds Lee Rauch as CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Rauch will remain as strategic advisor for the company. Prior to co-founding privately held Viridian Therapeutics, Violin had founded and served as CEO of two virtual drug discovery companies, Quellis Biosciences and Dianthus Therapeutics, and co-founded and held several executive positions at Trevena, Inc. Additionally, Viridian named Barrett Katz as its chief medical officer. Katz comes to Viridian from BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. where he developed therapeutics to treat orphan eye diseases. During his tenure at BridgeBio, Dr. Katz held leadership positions in two subsidiaries, as president and CMO of Retinagenix and CEO of Fortify Therapeutics. Prior to BridgeBio, he was CMO at GenSight Biologics.

Evolve Biologics – Jim Caggiano was named CEO of Evolve Biologics. Caggiano joins Evolve Biologics after most recently serving as CEO of Dendreon Pharmaceuticals LLC. Among his earlier leadership roles in the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries, Caggiano directed the divestiture of Allergan’s LAP-BAND to Apollo Endosurgery in 2013. In 2015, he was hired by Valeant to run the Dendreon business, where he doubled the company’s enterprise value. Caggiano held senior roles at Allergan, Inc., Abbott Laboratories and TAP Pharmaceuticals.

Chiasma, Inc. – John Doyle was named CFO of Chiasma, Inc. Prior to joining Chiasma, Doyle served as vice president of Finance and Investor Relations at Verastem, Inc. Prior to joining Verastem, he served as Head of Financial Planning & Analysis at SimpliVity Corp.. Before that, Doyle was Director of Business Unit Financial Planning & Analysis, Early Phase Division, at PAREXEL. Earlier in his career, he served in increasingly senior financial planning and analysis roles at Hologic, Inc., a provider of medical diagnostic, surgical and imaging products. Mark Fitzpatrick, Chiasma’s current president and principal financial officer, will remain with the company in a consulting role through June 30 to help facilitate a transition of responsibilities to Doyle.

Avrobio, Inc. – Diana M. Escolar was named CFO of Cambridge, Mass.-based Avrobio, Inc. A board-certified neurologist and fellow of the American Academy of Neurology,Escolar previously served as chief medical officer at miRagen Therapeutics. She also served as the CMO of Akashi Therapeutics, Inc., the principal medical consultant for Acceleron Pharma’s muscular dystrophy program and a senior medical consultant and advisory board member for the muscular dystrophy programs at Shire, Plc. Escolar was the principal medical consultant for Genzyme’s pivotal trial for Myozyme, an enzyme replacement therapy approved to treat adult-onset Pompe disease.

CHF Solutions – Nestor Jaramillo was named president and CEO of Minnesota-based CHF Solutions. He previously served as president and COO. Jaramillo joined CHF Solutions in May 2019 and has driven the evolution of the company’s therapeutic focus strategy from solely heart. Prior to joining CHF Solutions, Jaramillo was president and CEO of Innerspace Neuro Solutions, Inc. He also worked in a variety of capacities at startup Transoma Medical, as well as Medtronic and St. Jude Medical (now Abbott). Former CEO John Erb will continue to serve as the company’s chairman of the board.

Zimmer Biomet – Ellison (Ellie) M. Humphrey was appointed to the newly-created position of chief transformation officer of Indiana-based Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. Humphrey will be responsible for connecting key initiatives and implementing a higher level, more integrated transformation strategy across the organization. Humphrey joins Zimmer Biomet from global medical technology company Medtronic, where she held several leadership roles, most recently serving as Vice President of Enterprise Excellence and Business Transformation. Prior to her 11-year tenure at Medtronic, Humphrey served as an associate principal at McKinsey & Company, advising corporate clients on growth, commercial, operational and business development strategies.

Talking Medicines – Social medicines company Talking Medicines tapped three senior executives. Tatiana Nantes joins the team as Head of Product from VMware, Tom Lynch joined as Senior Engineer, and Adrian Mursec was named Frontend Developer.

Atriva Therapeutics – Ulrich Dauer was named chairman of the advisory board of Germany’s Atriva Therapeutics GmbH. Dauer is a biotechnology entrepreneur and serial executive who has been serving as CEO of Vivoryon Therapeutics N.V. since May 2018. Before that, he was CEO of Ventaleon GmbH and OMEICOS Therapeutics GmbH, founding CEO of 4SC AG, and Chief Strategy Officer at Activaero GmbH. Dauer succeeds Stephan Ludwig as chairman. Ludwig will continue to serve on the Advisory Board of Atriva Therapeutics. Emilie Hofstetter resigned from the board and Michael Grissinger took over her position on Jan. 1.

Imara Inc. – Kenneth Attie was named CMO of Boston-based Imara Inc. Prior to joining Imara, Attie served as Vice President of Medical Research at Acceleron Pharma. Before Acceleron, Attie held clinical development and medical affairs leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Altus Pharmaceuticals, Insmed, Inc. and Genentech, Inc.

Imago Biosciences – Matthew J. Plunkett was named CFO of Bay Area-based Imago. Plunkett will lead the company’s business and financial operations. Plunkett joins Imago from Nkarta Therapeutics, Inc., where he was CFO from 2018 to 2020. Previously, he was chief financial and business officer at Medeor Therapeutics from 2017 to 2018. Prior to that, he served as a business development executive at CTI BioPharma from 2012 until 2017, including as CBO from 2014 to 2017. From 2000 to 2009, Matt held positions of increasing responsibility in the healthcare investment banking division of CIBC World Markets and its U.S. successor Oppenheimer & Co.

TwinStrand – Seattle-based TwinStrand Biosciences appointed Gary Gilliland to its board of directors. Gilliland brings over 30 years of clinical and research leadership experience, most recently serving as president and director of the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center from 2015 to February 2020.