BioSpace Movers & Shakers: Sept. 3

Oerth Bio – Christ Otey was named Chief Technology Officer of N.C.-based Oerth Bio. Laura Schuchart was also named Head of Corporate Development and Communications. Prior to joining Oerth Bio, Otey was Vice President of Commercial Strategy at Indigo Agriculture, Inc. He has held senior positions with Alexandria Venture Investments and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to Oerth Bio, Schuchart held various global leadership positions within Syngenta Seeds, most recently Head of Learning & Transformation. She has also held communications, business development, and strategic marketing positions with BTB Communications, Grafik Marketing, and Mottis Creative.

Elsevier – Josh Schoeller was named President of Elsevier’s Clinical Solutions business unit. Since 2018 Schoeller has served as Chief Executive Officer of the healthcare business of Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions, part of RELX. He will maintain his CEO responsibilities for Healthcare at LexisNexis Risk Solutions in addition to his leadership role with Clinical Solutions.

Ziopharm Oncology – Kevin S. Boyle was named CEO of Ziopharm. Most recently, Boyle was CEO of Kuur Therapeutics. The company also promoted Raffaele Baffa to Head of Research and Development, adding to his role as Chief Medical Officer. Baffa will oversee and direct research and preclinical development activities. As the Head of Research and Development, he will also be responsible for ensuring the quality of science and expansion of its therapeutic application. Adam Levy was appointed to Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Levy joined Ziopharm in November 2020 as Executive Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Previously, he held the position of Executive Director and Head, Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations for Gilead Sciences. Prior to Gilead, Levy served in corporate strategy roles at Alexion and Bristol Myers Squibb.

XBiotech – Mark Ziats was named Medical Director of Texas-based XBiotech. Ziats will be involved in developing and managing a diverse clinical portfolio for the Company’s drug candidates.

Avomeen – Alex Garner was named Director of Formulation and Clinical Trial Manufacturing at Michigan-based Avomeen. Garner comes to Avomeen with more than a decade of experience in the CDMO and biopharmaceutical industries. Most recently, he served as Pharmaceutical Development Scientist II at Metrics Contract Services, a Division of Mayne Pharma Inc. Prior to this, he held scientist positions at Patheon and Metrics, Inc. and Mayne Pharma.

Rubius Therapeutics – Jim Jogerst was named Chief Business Officer. He will oversee business development strategy and execution, including strategic partnerships, collaborations and alliances that align with Rubius’ overall corporate strategy. He joined Rubius from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, where he led licensing transactions in the company’s Infectious Diseases and Vaccines business. Before that, Jogerst spent nearly 10 years at Alcon, Inc.

Sequana Medical – Jackie Fielding, a former Medtronic executive, was appointed to the board of directors of Belgium-based Sequana Medical. Fielding spent 28 years with Medtronic, most recently as Vice President UK / Ireland. She held a number of external posts alongside her role at Medtronic, including Chair of the British Cardiovascular Intervention Association and council member of the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society.

PepGen Inc. – Heidi Henson joined PepGen’s Board of Directors. Henson has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Pardes Biosciences, Inc. since January 2021 and was previously an advisor to Pardes. She previously held financial and operational leadership roles at other biotechnology companies including Imbria Pharmaceuticals, Kura Oncology and Wellspring Biosciences, Inc. The company also announced the promotion of Jane Larkindale to Vice President of Clinical Science. She initially joined PepGen as Senior Director of Clinical Science in April.

Dante Labs – Sandra Close was appointed to the Dante Labs Board of Directors. She was formerly the Chief Diagnostics Strategy Officer at Invitae, a leading medical genetics company, which acquired ArcherDX in 2020. Prior to that, Close served as CEO and Independent Consultant at GenEngine.

Pyxis Oncology – Pamela Yanchik Connealy was named CFO of Pyxis. She will lead the Finance, Investor Relations and Human Resources function at Pyxis. Most recently, Connealy served as CFO and Chief Human Resources Officer at Immunovant. Previously, Connealy worked as CFO and COO of Kiva. Earlier in her career, she held various executive roles of increasing responsibility at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Salesforce and Genentech.

Check-Cap – Hanit Brenner-Lavie was named Vice President of Clinical Affairs. Brenner-Lavie will be responsible for leading the company’s overall clinical strategy and implementation as well as innovation. Most recently, Brenner-Lavie was the Vice President of Clinical Affairs at Alma Lasers.

Avisa Diagnostics – Richard K. Murray was appointed to the newly-created position of CMO. His most recent position was Vice President and Deputy Chief Patient Officer. Murray was also a Fellow at the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.

Global Nephrology Solutions – GNS appointed two new board members. Bruce Perkins held multiple roles at Humans, leading hospitals and health plans. Perkins is currently the managing member for Perkins, Smith & Associates, L.L.C., a healthcare consulting firm in Kentucky. Mark Vachon serves on the boards of bluebird bio and Numotion, the national leader in complex rehab technology services. Prior to retiring in 2012, Vachon held a variety of leadership positions at General Electric.

Molecular Testing Labs – Infectious disease expert Christopher Hall was named Medical Director of Clinical Affairs. Hall will be responsible for the company’s clinical operations as well as the development and promotion of diagnostic initiatives focused on sexual health, wellness and chronic conditions. Hall also served as Clinical Affairs Medical Director for the STD Control Branch of the California Department of Public Health and Medical Director of UCSF’s California Prevention Training Center, prior to more recent work with the National Coalition of STD Directors and two digital health care practices with national reach.

GoodCell – Chris Garcia was named CEO of GoodCell. Garcia will work to scale GoodCell’s commercial strategy. Most recently, he served as the CEO of Remedy Partners which is now part of Signify Health and presently serves as a director of two private equity-backed healthcare companies.

Caladrius Biosciences – Kristen K. Buck was named CMO of Caladrius. Buck joins Caladrius from ICON plc where she served as CMO. Prior to that, she was Senior Vice President & Chief of Clinical Development at Optum Insights.

Avacta – Fiona McLaughlin was named Chief Scientific Officer of Avacta’s Therapeutics Division. She began her career at GlaxoSmithKline and has subsequently held leadership positions in multiple biotech companies including Vice President, Translational Research at Antisoma plc and Director of Pre-clinical Development at BTG plc. Other roles include Head of Biology at TopoTarget A/S. Most recently, McLaughlin was Vice President of New Opportunities at Algeta ASA, a Norwegian biotech developing alpha radio-pharmaceuticals.

Cyxone – Cornel Pater was named CMO. Most recently, he held the position of Global Medical Director of Clinical Development at Novartis Pharma. Most recently, Pater held roles as Global Medical Director Clinical Development at Novartis and as a consultant to several Swedish and Swiss pharmaceutical companies.

Limbix – Benjamin Aloug was named CMO and will oversee the clinical development of SparkRx, a cognitive-behavioral therapy-based digital therapeutic program for teens and young adults with symptoms of depression. Before joining Limbix, Alouf served as the CMO at Aetna Better Health of Pennsylvania. Previously, he held leadership positions in large hospital organizations and health plans, as well as faculty positions at Albany Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, and the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

Femasys, Inc. – Edward G. Evantash was named CMO of Atlanta-based Femasys. He previously served as CMO of Alydia Health and vice president of medical affairs at Hologic, Inc., both medical technology companies focused on women’s healthcare. He will be responsible for providing leadership and direction for Femasys’ pipeline of clinical development programs.