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.
Ring Therapeutics – Flagship Pioneering-founded Ring Therapeutics expanded its leadership team with multiple appointments. Yong S. Chang was named chief scientific officer, John Huynh was named senior vice president of technical operations, and Kevin B. Johnson was named chief regulatory officer.
Chang brings significant experience from KorroBio, where he managed and advanced scientific development of ADAR mediated RNA editing platform. Chang worked with Intellia Therapeutics providing the first systematically delivered CRISPR/Cas gene editing candidate. Prior to Intellia Therapeutics, he worked with several large biotech and pharma companies: Aileron Therapeutics, MedImmune/AstraZeneca, Bayer, and Roche.
Huynh most recently led the establishment and growth of the gene therapy technical operations department at PTC Therapeutics. Prior to PTC Therapeutics, Huynh held positions of increasing responsibilities at Merck, WuXi AppTec, and the Gene Therapy Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Most recently, Johnson led global strategy and tactics for product development, regulatory, and quality pursuits with Inozyme Pharma. Prior to Inozyme, he served as lead regulatory officer at several biotech and pharma companies including Imara, Vtesse/Sucampo/Mallinckrodt, and GSK.
Caribou Biosciences – Dara Richardson-Huron was appointed to the board of directors of Caribous Biosciences. The company also named Ruhi Khan as chief business officer. Richardson-Heron most recently served as Pfizer’s chief patient officer, where she was responsible for developing the organization’s global strategy to advance patient-focused programs. Prior to Pfizer, Richardson-Heron served as the chief engagement officer and scientific executive for the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program.
Khan most recently was the founder of an advisory firm that provided business development and finance advice to life sciences companies. Previously, she served as vice president of business development for Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to Acorda, she worked in a similar capacity at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics – Sidney A. Spector was named senior vice president of global strategy and medical affairs and Kim Thacker was named SVP of medical affairs and clinical innovation at BrainStorm. Spector is a clinical associate professor of neurology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Prior to BrainStorm, he was vice president of U.S. medical affairs at AveXis. Spector was also clinical lead responsible for management of Asia/Pacific clinical development and regulatory submissions in Japan. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles in CNS drug development at Elan Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer Inc. Prior to joining BrainStorm, Thacker was VP of Medical Affairs at Urogen Pharma. She also held senior roles at Mesoblast, Forest Research Institute, Sanofi Aventis, Pfizer and Roche Laboratories.
Ichnos Sciences – Eric J. Feldman was named chief medical officer. Previously, Feldman served as CMO at GlycoMimetics. He also served as CMO at Amphivena.
SalioGen Therapeutics – John Maraganore, Mark McClellan and Andrew Lo were appointed to the advisory board of SalioGen. Maraganore is the founding chief executive officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Alnylam, he served in senior roles for various other companies, including Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Biogen. McClellan is the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. He currently serves as the Robert J. Margolis Professor of Business, Medicine, and Policy, and founding director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University. Lo is co-founder of BridgeBio Pharma and is currently the Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor of Finance and the Director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
BeyondSpring Pharmaceuticals – Mark Santos was appointed to the board of directors of BeyondSpring. Santos currently serves as the SVP of Pharma Strategy and Contracting at OneOncology. He was President of ION Solutions from 2011 to 2018.
Intima Bioscience – Novartis and Gilead Sciences veteran Alessandro Riva was named CEO of Intima. Riva most recently served as CEO at Ichnos Sciences. Before Ichnos, he was EVP and Global Head of Oncology Therapeutics and Cell & Gene Therapy at Gilead Sciences. Prior to Gilead, Riva was EVP and Global Head of Oncology Development and Medical Affairs at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. He was also President ad interim of Novartis Oncology during the $16 billion acquisition of GSK Oncology.
Xalud Therapeutics – Charles Triano was named chief financial officer of New York-based Xalud Therapeutics. Triano joins Xalud from Pfizer, where he served as senior vice president of investor relations since 2008. Prior to his time at Pfizer, Triano served as the vice president of investor relations of Forest Laboratories, where he initiated the company’s first formal investor relations and corporate communications program.
Finch Therapeutics – Zain Kassam is stepping down as CMO of Finch Therapeutics. Debra Silberg will serve as interim CMO. Silberg is a gastroenterologist and the founder of Silberg Consulting, where she provides consultation to biopharmaceutical companies on all aspects of drug development from preclinical studies through regulatory approvals. Previously, she held leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Takeda and Shire (acquired by Takeda), including global vice president, head of clinical science and development for gastrointestinal diseases. Prior to Shire, she was a clinical program lead at AstraZeneca.
Araris Biotech AG – Switzerland-based Araris expanded its advisory board with the appointments of Jeff Sharman and Clive Stanway. Jeff Sharman is a practicing hematologist/oncologist at the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute and Research Center in Eugene, Oregon. He serves as the medical director of hematology research for the U.S. Oncology network. Stanway currently works as an independent cancer drug discovery and development advisor. He is a non-executive director for Atelerix Ltd, CytoSeek Ltd and Babraham Bioscience Technologies and additionally serves on the scientific advisory boards of 4Bio Capital, Locki Therapeutics, NonExomics LLP and ANGLE plc.
PepGen – Boston-based PepGen, Inc. tapped two new executives. Noel Donnelly was named CFO. Prior to joining PepGen, Donnelly worked as the CFO at EIP Pharma Inc. Before joining EIP Pharma, he spent 15 years at Shire PLC in various leadership roles within both research & development and finance functions. Also, Jaya Goyal was named executive vice president of Research and Preclinical Development. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President of Preclinical and Clinical Sciences at Wave Life Sciences, and also spent over 20 years in roles of increasing responsibility at Biogen.
