Biopharma and life sciences companies strengthen their leadership teams and boards with these Movers & Shakers.
Biopharma and life sciences companies strengthen their leadership teams and boards with these Movers & Shakers.
Scopus BioPharma – Marcin Kortylewski was named Senior Scientific Advisor of Duet Therapeutics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of New York-based Scopus. Kortylewski is a professor in the Department of Immuno-Oncology at the Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope National Medical Center.
insitro – Tom Stocky was named vice president of product at South San Francisco-based insitro, a machine-learning drug discovery and development company. Stocky has spent the majority of his career working in technology, including at Facebook, Google, and most recently in a technology-focused role at Denali Therapeutics. In his role at insitro, he will lead product strategy, planning, and user experience for insitro’s data systems and software tools. In his most recent role, he was a technology fellow at Denali Therapeutics, where he helped expand the use of machine learning techniques to support their discovery work and helped further develop their digital strategy for engaging with patients.
Azura Ophthalmics – Steven M. Altschuler was named chairman of the board of directors. He currently serves as managing director of Healthcare Ventures at Ziff Capital Partners. Previously, he co-founded Spark Therapeutics and served as board chair through its progress from private company to IPO and later acquisition by Roche in 2019. Altschuler formerly held chief executive officer positions at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Miami Health System. Currently, Altschuler is the chair of the board of AsclepiX Therapeutics, 89Bio and PlateletBio, serves on the boards of ImVax, Orchard Therapeutics, Affinivax and WW.
REGENXBIO – Jean Bennett and George Migausky were appointed to the REGNEXBIO Board of Directors. Bennett, a leading molecular genetics researcher, is the F.M. Kirby Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine and previously served as director of the Center for Advanced Retinal and Ocular Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania. She will serve as a member of REGENXBIO’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Migausky, who previously served as chief financial officer of Ocular Therapeutix and Dyax Corp., will serve as a member of REGENXBIO’s Audit Committee.
Evelo Biosciences – Iain McInnes was appointed to the Evelo Board of Directors. McInnes currently serves as the Vice Principal and Head of College to the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Muirhead Professor of Medicine, and Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
Passage Bio – Maxine Gowen, CEO of Tamuro Bio, was appointed chairwoman of the board of directors at Passage Bio. Gowen has been a member of Passage Bio’s board since February 2021 and currently serves on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. She will continue to serve on this committee in her capacity as board chairwoman. Prior to Tamuro, she was the founding president and CEO of Trevena, Inc. Before that, she held a variety of leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline.
Locanabio – Kat Lange was named CFO of Locanabio and will lead the company’s financial operations, planning and strategy. Lange joins Locanabio from J.P. Morgan where she was most recently an executive director in the healthcare investment banking group.
XACT Robotics – Christopher Horton was tapped as vice president of Sales and Marketing. Prior to joining XACT Robotics, Horton served as Regional Vice President of Sales with Merit Medical. Prior to that, he worked in leadership roles with other medical technology and healthcare companies including Monteris Medical, Invuity, Applied Medical, Endocare, Kyphon, Cyberonics and U.S. Surgical.
Cerevance – AstraZeneca veteran Mike Poole was appointed to the Cerevance Board of Directors. He recently served as senior advisor and head of the COVID-19 therapeutics accelerator at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and previously led external investments in the Global Health Office of the President at the foundation. At AstraZeneca, Poole served as Vice President and Head of Neuroscience Innovation at AstraZeneca. Before that, he held similar roles at Wyeth and Pfizer.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals – Isabel Carmona was named chief human resources officer. Carmona will be responsible for all aspects of human resources, including talent acquisition, talent management and organizational development. Prior to joining Rocket, Carmona was chief human resources officer of Ichnos Sciences. Before that, she served in positions of increasing leadership in the global operations and human resources teams at Teva Pharmaceuticals and Shire Pharmaceuticals.
Finch Therapeutics – Marc Blaustein was named chief operating officer of Finch Therapeutics. Blaustein most recently consulted as the Head of Business Development for Guide Therapeutics, which was acquired by Beam Therapeutics in 2021. Prior to Guide Therapeutics, Blaustein was the CEO of NED Biosystems and co-founder and CEO of Akashi Therapeutics.
Fulcrum Therapeutics – Mel Hayes was named chief commercial officer of Fulcrum. Hayes will be responsible for delivering an integrated global strategy that fully maximizes the potential of Fulcrum’s transformative therapies. Prior to Fulcrum, Hayes most recently served as Global Head Commercial, Vice President, Rare Blood Disorders at Sanofi-Genzyme. He also served as U.S. Vice President Hemophilia and Global Head, Hematology Rare Blood Disorders at Bioverativ. Prior to that, he served as Global Vice President, Head of Global Marketing and Launch Excellence at Shire and at Baxalta. Before Baxalta, Hayes spent 10 years and nine years at Bayer and Bristol Myers Squibb respectively in progressive commercial leadership roles.
VectivBio Holding AG – Scott Applebaum was named Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary of Switzerland-based VectivBio. Prior to VectivBio, Applebaum was the Chief Legal & Compliance Officer and Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Trevena. Previously, he served as president of Context Therapeutics and was General Counsel at Vitae Pharmaceuticals.
X4 Pharmaceuticals – Mary DiBiase was named COO of X4, a newly-created position. DiBiase had served as Senior Vice President and previously Vice President of Technical Operations and Quality in addition to Vice President of Program and Alliance Management since joining the company in 2017. Prior to joining X4, she was Vice President of Technical Operations and Program Management at Epirus Biopharmaceuticals.
Catalyst Biosciences, Inc.– Jeanne Jew was appointed to the board of directors. She has served as the CBO of ALX Oncology Holdings, Inc., since August 2020. Jew also currently serves as a QB3 Executive Mentor to early-stage life science companies. Prior to joining ALX, she served for over a decade as Senior Vice President, Business Development of Paratek Pharmaceuticals, and as Senior Vice President, Business Development for KaloBios Pharmaceuticals.
Eloxx Pharmaceuticals – Ali Hariri was named chief medical officer of Eloxx and will lead clinical development efforts for the company’s pipeline. Hariri was previously Senior Global Project Head in Rare Disease Clinical Development at Sanofi. Prior to that, Hariri held several positions of increasing responsibility with expertise across a range of therapeutic areas including nephrology and immunology. Before joining Sanofi, Hariri held clinical development roles at Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Takeda and was a practicing nephrologist.
Pyxis Oncology – Freda Lewis-Hall, Thomas Civik, Darren Cline and Mark Chin were all appointed to the Pyxis Board of Directors. Lewis-Hall previously served as CMO at Pfizer. She also served as the company’s Chief Patient Officer. Prior to this, Lewis-Hall held various senior leadership positions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Pharmacia, and Eli Lilly and Company. Civik served as CEO of Five Prime Therapeutics. He also held multiple roles throughout his career, including Vice President and Franchise Head at Genentech and Chief Commercial Officer at Foundation Medicine. Cline has held various leadership roles of increasing scale and complexity at industry-leading companies including Amgen, InterMune, Alexion, Seagen and most recently, GW Pharmaceuticals, where he served as chief commercial officer. Cline served on the Board of Stemline Therapeutics prior to the acquisition by Menarini Group. As Managing Director, Chin has led Arix Bioscience into key portfolio company investments, including VelosBio, Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Aura Biosciences, Harpoon Therapeutics and Imara. Chin previously held various executive roles at Boston Consulting Group, Gilead Sciences, Genentech, and most recently, Longitude Capital.
Glympse Bio – Tram Tran was appointed to the newly-created role of CMO. Tran previously worked at Gilead Sciences as the Vice President of Medical Affairs, Global Head, Liver Diseases, Fibrosis and COVID-19. Prior to Gilead, Tran was the Medical Director of Liver Transplantation, GI Fellowship Program Director at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and a Professor of Medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
MoMa Therapeutics – Semi Trotto was named Chief Appointment and Experience Officer. Trotto will be responsible for helping develop MOMA’s people, shaping company culture, and managing internal and external communications, facilities and administration. Prior to MOMA, Trotto was at Thrive Earlier Detection, where she initially served as chief people officer. In 2021, she was appointed to general manager following Thrive’s acquisition by Exact Sciences. Previously, Trotto held roles as vice president and head of human resources at Editas Medicine and vice president of human resources for oncology at Baxalta until its acquisition by Shire.
ReForm Biologics – Jeffrey S. Hackman was appointed president and CEO of ReForm. Prior to joining ReForm, Hackman was president of U.S. Operations for EUSA, a global pharmaceutical company focused on oncology and rare diseases. Previously, he had been acting CEO of Novelion Therapeutics. He joined Novelion from Shire Inc., where he had been Senior VP and Head of U.S. Internal Medicine / Oncology Franchise. Previously, he established the North American oncology commercial division for Baxalta, following several years leading US commercial operations for Sigma Tau. John Sorvillo, the immediate past CEO, will stay on with the company as chair of the Advisory Board.
