In this week’s edition of Movers and Shakers, biopharma companies tap executives to serve in various leadership roles.
Datavant – Datavant tapped several new executives as its network of health data partners expands. Former RPX Corporation executive Steven Swank was brought on as chief revenue officer and Nick Colburn, who most recently served as the chief financial officer of Building Robotics, was named chief financial officer. Niall Brennan, chief executive officer of the Health Care Cost Institute and chief data officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Charles Safran, chief of the division of clinical informatics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, were appointed to the company’s advisory board.
Seres Therapeutics – Cambridge, Mass.-based Seres Therapeutics initiated a corporate restructuring that includes a 30 percent reduction of employment and the change of some executives. Chief Scientific Officer David Cook is leaving the company but will continue to provide consulting services to Seres. Matthew Henn, will assume the role of CSO. He was previously head of discovery and microbiome R&D. Henn joined Seres in 2012 and has contributed to the discovery and development of Seres’ microbiome therapeutic candidates. Prior to his time with Seres, Henn served as director of Genome Sequencing Center for Infectious Diseases at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University.
Marker Therapeutics – Houston-based Marker Therapeutics named Eli Lilly veteran Mythili Koneru as senior vice president in charge of clinical development. She will be responsible for clinical development strategy, clinical study design, and medical oversight of the company’s therapeutic product candidates. At Eli Lilly, Koneru served as associate vice president of immuno-oncology. Prior to Eli Lilly, Koneru was an Oncology Fellow in the laboratory of Renier Brentjens at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Hansa Biopharma – Donato Spota was named the new chief financial officer of Hansa Biopharma. He will assume the new role effective May 15. Eva-Maria Joed, currently serving as CFO, will continue in the company as vice president, Finance & Administration and will report to Spota. Prior to joining Hansa, Spota was with Basilea Pharmaceutical AG, a Swiss-listed biopharmaceutical company, for 16 years where he served as CFO for the past five years. He also held roles at Roche.
Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. – Boston-based Proteostasis added two new members to its Board of Directors. The company tapped Emmanuel Dulac and Kim Cobleigh Drapkin. Dulac serves as chief commercial officer for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Drapkin is the Chief Financial Officer at Jounce Therapeutics, Inc.
Relay Therapeutics -- Imogen Pryce was named vice president of strategy and corporate affairs at Cambridge, Mass.-based Relay Therapeutics. Prior to joining Relay Therapeutics, Pryce worked in corporate strategy at Shire Pharmaceuticals. There, she managed and contributed to multiple projects ranging from whole company initiatives to targeted efforts within specific therapeutic areas and functions. Prior to Shire, she worked at the Boston Consulting Group, where she was a core member of the health care practice area.
Kallyope Inc. -- Takeda Pharmaceuticals veteran Brett Lauring was named chief medical officer at Kallyope Inc. At Takeda, Lauring was head of translational research and early clinical development. He was responsible for managing the clinical development of compounds for gastrointestinal diseases through proof of concept. Prior to that, he spent 11 years at Merck working in both early and late clinical development roles in multiple therapeutic areas.
Colorado BioScience Association -- Emily Roberts was named vice president of CBSA. Roberts takes over the role from Jennifer Jones Paton, who was named CBSA president and CEO in November 2018. Roberts will oversee Colorado BioScience Association’s policy and advocacy work at the state and federal level, and collaborate with Colorado BioScience Association’s leadership on the development and execution of strategic initiatives for the continued growth of the association. Before joining CBSA, she served as director of advocacy and strategic alliances at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Primex Pharmaceuticals -- Swiss pharmaceutical company Primex Pharmaceuticals AG tapped Alan Knox as Group CEO. He takes over the helm from Kari Sarvanto who resigned. Knox has held managing director positions with AstraZeneca in the Philippines and with Sandoz in Poland. Prior to joining Primex, Knox was vice president of global portfolio strategy for MSD leading their diversified brands based in the U.S. and Switzerland.
Decibel Therapeutics – Boston-based Decibel Therapeutics tapped Peter Weber as chief medical officer and promoted Paula Cobb to chief operating officer. Weber is an otolaryngologist at Boston University Medical Center specializing in otology/neurotology, brings extensive experience as a clinician, a scientist and a hearing health industry executive. Cobb served as executive vice president of corporate development at Decibel since 2016. Prior to that, she served in a variety of leadership roles at Biogen, where she oversaw the development and commercialization of breakthrough therapeutics across a variety of indications.
Aratana Therapeutics, Inc. -- Rhonda Hellums was named chief financial officer and treasurer of Kansas-based Aratana effective Feb. 1. Hellums will transition into the CFO role from her position as vice president of finance and will succeed Craig Tooman, who was recently appointed the company’s president and CEO. Prior to her role at Aratana, Hellums served as director of global finance at Kinetic Concepts, Inc.
INVO Bioscience, Inc. – Medford, Mass.-based INVO named Michael J. Campbell as chief operating officer and head of business development. Campbell was most recently vice president of IVF Americas Business Unit for Cooper Surgical, Inc. Campbell has been a member of the INVO board of directors since October 2017.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. -- Marc Kikuchi was named CEO of North America Generics for Dr. Reddy’s. Prior to his new role with Dr. Reddy’s, Kikuchi served as CEO of the Americas at Zydus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he served as CEO, Americas since 2016. Prior to Zydus, he held professional leadership roles of increasing responsibility with AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Medrad Inc., PRTM, Johnson & Johnson and Incyte Pharmaceuticals.
