Biopharma and life sciences companies strengthen their leadership teams and boards with these Movers & Shakers.
Cidara Therapeutics – Christopher Kurtz was named executive vice president of Technical Operations at Cidara Therapeutics. Kurtz brings more than 26 years of experience in global manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, CMC development and program management for drugs and devices at various stages of development. Prior to joining Cidara, Kurtz served as head of commercial API manufacturing at Gilead Sciences. He previously served as vice president, for drug device industrialization at AbbVie, where he led product scale-up and industrialization projects for drug-device combinations. Prior to that, Kurtz held a number of leadership positions at various companies, including Monsanto, Nektar Therapeutics, Alza Corporation, Alexza and Novo Nordisk.
Vir Biotechnology – Vividion Therapeutics Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Hartfield was appointed to the board of directors at Vir Biotechnology. Hartfield previously served as CEO of Vitae Pharmaceuticals prior to its acquisition by Allergan. Before Vitae, Hartfield held a number of executive positions at Bristol Myers Squibb.
X4 Pharmaceuticals – Diego Cadavid was named chief medical officer of Boston-based X4 Pharmaceuticals. Cadavid will be responsible for the strategy, direction and execution of the company’s clinical development programs. Most recently, Cadavid served as senior vice president and Head of Clinical Development at Fulcrum Therapeutics where he led the development of multiple small molecules for the treatment of genetically defined rare diseases. Prior to Fulcrum, Cadavid held several leadership positions at Biogen, including Senior Medical Director of the multiple sclerosis clinical development group.
LogicBio Therapeutics-- Daphne Karydas and Jeff Goater have been appointed to the company’s board of directors. Karydas is chief financial officer at Syndax Pharmaceuticals. Previously, she served as senior vice president of corporate financial planning & analysis and strategy at Allergan plc. Prior to joining Allergan, Karydas spent over 17 years in asset management and investment banking focused on the biopharmaceutical sector. Goater is CEO at Surface Oncology, an immuno-oncology company developing next-generation antibody therapies. Previously he was CFO of Voyager Therapeutics. For almost 10 years he was an investment banker, most recently at Evercore.
Aktana – AI-focused Aktana hired Dmitri Daveynis as CTO and senior vice president of Engineering, and Manny Triggiano as senior vice president of Professional Services. Daveynis will lead the technology strategy, product development, and cloud operations for Aktana. Prior to Aktana, Daveynis served as vice president of engineering at Verint and held prior leadership roles at Capsilon, Quantros, HP, and Kodak. Previously, Triggiano was chief operating officer of Theorem and spent nearly 20 years in various leadership roles at IMS Health.
TISSIUM – France’s TISSIUM announced Michel Thérin has been appointed to the company’s board of directors. Thérin is the president of Advanced Therapies at Siemens Healthineers. He previously spent more than a decade at Medtronic in the company’s Minimally Invasive Therapies Group where he served as the global vice president and General Manager of General Surgery, and in various roles working on research, development, and strategy. For nearly a decade prior to that, he was a general manager and vice president of Research & Development at Floreane Medical Implants that eventually was acquired by Covidien.
Aclaris Therapeutics – Pennsylvania-based Aclaris Therapeutics formed a new Scientific Advisory Board that includes Stanley Cohen, Marco Colonna, James Krueger, and Michael Weinblatt. Cohen is a physician at Rheumatology Associates, Colonna is the Robert Rock Belliveau Endowed Professor of Pathology, Krueger is the D. Martin Carter Professor in Clinical Investigation and Head of the Laboratory of Investigative Dermatology at The Rockefeller University and Weinblatt is the co-director of Clinical Rheumatology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
SpringWorks Therapeutics -- Badreddin Edris has been promoted from chief business officer to COO and Mary Smith, currently senior vice president of Clinical Research and Development, has been promoted to chief development officer at SpringWorks. Edris joined SpringWorks in 2018 as CBO to lead the company’s corporate strategy, business development and intellectual property efforts. Prior to SpringWorks, Edris was an investment and operating professional on the private equity team at OrbiMed. Dr. Edris also co-founded and held operating roles at two OrbiMed portfolio companies, Silverback Therapeutics and Edgewise Therapeutics. Smith joined SpringWorks at the company’s inception in 2017 and was a founding member of the management team. Prior to SpringWorks, Smith was the executive vice president of Gene Therapy at Bamboo Therapeutics. Before Bamboo, Smith was the vice president of Product Development at United Therapeutics.
Model N -- Manisha Shetty Gulati, COO of Clarify Health Solutions, was appointed to the board of directors of Model N, Inc. Prior to joining Clarify, Gulati was a partner at McKinsey and Company, working with the Life Science, Medical Products and Health Systems practices in the US and EMEA.
Recro – CDMO company Recro announced David Enloe as its new president and CEO. Most recently, he served as president and CEO of Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services, a global, fully integrated CDMO. Before Ajinomoto, Enloe served as Head of Lonza’s Viral Therapeutics Business Unit. Enloe spent 14 years at Introgen Therapeutics, holding several roles of increasing responsibility.
AB2 Bio – Swiss pharma company AB2 Bio Ltd. named Djordje Filipovic as its new chief commercial officer. Prior to joining AB2 Bio, Filipovic held a number of senior roles at Novartis, including overseeing the development and commercialization of several key small molecules and monoclonal antibodies. He was also chairman of the Novartis Oncology Portfolio Management Board.
Kymera Therapeutics – William Leong was named vice president of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls and Paul Cox was named vice president of Investor Relations and Communications at Kymera. Prior to Kymera, Leong he served as head of Technical Operations at Complexa Inc., where he was responsible for leading all CMC operations, including formulation development, process development, analytical science, regulatory, and supply chain activities. Prior to Kymera, Cox held leadership roles in investor relations, corporate affairs, strategy, and communications at Sage Therapeutics, Neon Therapeutics, and Voyager Therapeutics.
Rockwell Medical -- Andrea Heslin Smiley was appointed to the board of directors at Rockwell Medical. Smiley currently serves as president and CEO of VMS BioMarketing and is a member of the board of directors of life science company, Assertio. She joined VMS BioMarketing in 2008 and has served as its president and CEO since 2011. Prior to VMS BioMarketing, Smiley spent 18 years at Eli Lilly and Company in various positions of increasing responsibility in finance, business development, corporate affairs, brand management and business unit leadership roles.
CorVista Health – Scott Burger was named CCO of Toronto-based CorVista Health, formerly known as Analytics 4 Life. Burger has held executive sales positions with two software-based medical device startups where he led commercialization strategy. Burger also served in key strategic leadership positions in Johnson & Johnson’s cardiovascular group.
SAB Biotherapeutics -- Mani Mohindru and Mervyn Turner were named to the board of directors of SAB Biotherapeutics. Most recently, Mohindru was the CEO of CereXis, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for rare tumors. Previously, Mohindru was CFO and CSO of Cara Therapeutics. Earlier, she served as CSO at Curis, Inc. Turner currently operates his own consulting firm, MJ Turner Consulting, where he counsels biotech, pharma, venture capital and investment banking firms. He spent 27 years at Merck & Co. Inc., holding positions of increasing responsibility in Merck Research Laboratories before joining the company’s executive committee as CSO.
Immune Regulation – U.K.-based Immune Regulation Ltd. named Peter Greenleaf as its chairman of the board of directors. Greenleaf currently serves on the board of Aurinia and previously served as CRO of Cerecor Inc., Sucampo Pharmaceuticals and Histogenics Corporation. He also served as president of MedImmune LLC. Jones W. (Woody) Bryan, Perry Calias, Jeff Myers, Marylyn Rigby and Nancy Vinh have also joined Immune Regulation’s leadership team.
Rinri Therapeutics – Terri Gaskell was named CTO of U.K.-based Rinri Therapeutics. Gaskell joins from the UK Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult where she worked for over seven years. Prior to this, Gaskell held senior roles at Cell Guidance Systems and Cellartis AB.
BeyondSpring – Jeffrey Vacira, CEO of the Board of New York Cancer & Blood Specialists, was named to the board of directors of BeyondSpring. Vacirca is the immediate past president of the Community Oncology Alliance and is Medical Director for International Oncology Network at AmerisourceBergen and for Oncology Network Development at Mt. Sinai Health Network.
VectivBio Holding – Intercept Pharmaceuticals CFO Sandip Kapadia was appointed to the board of directors of Switzerland-based VectivBio. Kapadia held numerous finance leadership positions at Novartis and its affiliates in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States, most recently serving as CFO of Novartis’ generic division, Sandoz, in North America.
