Biopharma and life sciences organizations strengthen their leadership teams and board with these Movers & Shakers.
Biopharma and life sciences organizations strengthen their leadership teams and board with these Movers & Shakers.
Muna Therapeutics – Denmark’s Muna Therapeutics named Niels Plath as its chief scientific officer. Plath was previously the acting Head of Global Research at Lundbeck, leading drug discovery and development for neurologic and psychiatric diseases. Prior to this role, Plath was Vice President for Neuroscience.
Akouos – Stacy Price was named chief technical officer. At Akouos, she will be responsible for the strategy and operations of vector development and manufacturing, as well as device development and engineering. Price was most recently senior vice president of technical operations at Ziopharm Oncology. Prior to Ziopharm, Price was head of pharmaceutical development operations at Shire, where she led CMC program management as well as laboratory and pilot plant operations, and set overall operations strategy.
BioCryst – Jinky Rosselli was named chief data and insights officer of N.C.-based BioCryst. Rosselli joined BioCryst in 2015 as vice president of global business analysis and operations. Prior to joining BioCryst, Rosselli led the global business intelligence and insight team at United Therapeutics. Before that, she spent over four and a half years in marketing analytics and marketing roles at Talecris Biotherapeutics (now Grifols). Prior to Talecris, Rosselli spent five years in a variety of market research and analytics roles at Novartis.
AGC Biologics – Jean-Baptiste Agnus was appointed chief business officer of Seattle-based AGC Biologics. Agnus brings more than 20 years of experience in biopharmaceuticals and contract development and manufacturing. He joins AGC Biologics after three years with Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services, where he led the company’s strategic vision of its worldwide sales and marketing activities. Prior to that, he worked for 13 years at Novasep. Before Novasep, he was the Business Manager at Isochem in the SNPE group.
BioVie Inc. – Joseph M. Palumbo was named chief medical officer of Nevada-based BioVie. Palumbo will oversee the company’s clinical development and operations activities, including the advancement of NE3107, an oral small molecule, blood-brain permeable modulator of ERK and NFkB. Palumbo joins BioVie from Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, where he was also CMO. Prior to Zynerba, Palumbo held senior worldwide governance roles at Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma in both the United States and Japan. Before Mitsubishi Tanabe, Palumbo was Global Head and Franchise Medical Leader for Psychiatry, and the Interim Head of Global Neuroscience at Johnson & Johnson. Before Johnson & Johnson, Palumbo headed up Psychiatry and Neurology at Pharmanet.
Coya Therapeutics – Adrian Hepner was named CMO of Houston-based Coya Therapeutics. Greg MacMichael was also named Chief Technical Officer. Hepner will drive the ongoing clinical and regulatory advancement of Coya’s expanding pipeline, and MacMichael will oversee manufacturing and process development. Hepner previously served as CMO and Head of R&D at Pharnext and Executive Vice President and CMO at Eagle Pharmaceuticals. He has also held the positions of Vice President of Clinical Research at Avanir Pharmaceuticals and Vice President of Clinical Research and Medical Affairs at BioDelivery Sciences International. Prior to BDSI, Hepner was senior medical director at UCB BioSciences, Inc. MacMichael was CTO of Castle Creek Biosciences, Inc., and President of CMC Bioservices, a consultancy focused on the development and manufacturing of cell and gene therapies, biologics and vaccines. Previously, he served as the Senior Vice President of Technology for Axovant Sciences, Senior Vice President of Development, Manufacturing and Quality Control at NantKwest, and Senior Vice President of Process, Development, Manufacturing and Quality Assurance at Rocket Pharma. He has also served as the Global Head of Biologics Process Development at Novartis.
Bristol Myers Squibb – Bristol Myers Squibb named Pamela Fisher as its chief diversity and inclusion officer. Fisher will drive the company’s Global Diversity & Inclusion business strategy. The announcement comes on the heels of BMS’s first Global Diversity and Inclusion Report, which details the company’s progress in addressing global health disparities, clinical trial diversity, supplier diversity, employee giving, and workforce representation. Fisher joins BMS from Johnson & Johnson where she served as Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Global Strategy and Partnerships. Most recently, she led the launch of an evidence-based D&I strategy that helped grow the business by reaching diverse and multi-cultural patients and consumers. Fisher also worked to increase diverse workforce representation and improve workforce engagement and sentiment on inclusion.
NuCana – Scotland’s NuCana tapped Elliott M. Levy as a member of its board of directors. Levy brings over 20 years of experience at global pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen and Bristol-Myers Squibb, and has a strong track record of leading clinical strategy and development efforts for numerous programs at all stages of development. Levy was most recently Senior Vice President of R&D Strategy and Operations and Global Development at Amgen. Previously, Levy spent 17 years at BMS where he was Senior Vice President and Head of Specialty Development and held a range of senior positions in BMS’s research and development group. Prior to BMS, Levy was a member of the Renal Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Levy currently serves as a director for Omega Therapeutics and previously served as Board Chair of TransCelerate BioPharma.
Context Therapeutics – Jennifer Minai-Azary was named chief financial officer of Philadelphia-based Context. Minai-Azary brings more than 20 years of finance and accounting experience to Context. Prior to joining Context, Minai-Azary served in roles of increasing responsibility at Millendo Therapeutics. Earlier in her career, Minai-Azary was director of technical accounting at Parexel and began her career in Ernst & Young’s audit practice.
CalciMedica, Inc. – Allan L. Shaw was appointed to the board of directors. Previously, Shaw was the CFO and Treasurer of Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and was Managing Director of Alvarez & Marsal LLC. Shaw’s previous experience includes serving as the CFO of Serono S.A., NewLead Holdings Ltd. and Viatel, Inc. Shaw is the founder and Senior Managing Director of Shaw Strategic Capital LLC, an international financial advisory firm.
Nitrase Therapeutics – Pierre Beaurang was named chief executive officer of Nitrase, which was formerly known as Nitrome Biosciences. Beaurang joins Nitrase from Nurix Therapeutics, where he was most recently the company’s chief business officer. Prior to joining Nurix, Beaurang was part of the founding team of Five Prime Therapeutics.
Cara Therapeutics – Christopher Posner, a member of the company board of directors, was named president and CEO. Posner succeeds Derek Chalmers, who will transition to a Senior Advisor role. Posner joins the Company from LEO Pharma, Inc. Prior to joining LEO, Posner was the Head of Worldwide Commercial Operations at R-Pharma-US, LLC, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on oncology and chronic immune disorders. Previously, Posner held roles of increasing responsibility in senior management positions in commercial and marketing operations at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Pfizer Inc., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Endo Pharmaceuticals plc.
Imcyse – Belgium-based Imcyse appointed Gene Mack as CFO. Mack joins Imcyse from OncoC4, a privately held biotechnology company that spun out of MSD’s acquisition of OncoImmune. Before that, Mack was CFO for a number of development-stage and commercial-stage biopharmaceutical companies. Mack spent over 15 years as a senior publishing analyst covering biotechnology and life sciences for a number of investment banks, including Gruntal & Co., Lazard and HSBC.
Better Therapeutics -- Thiago Licias de Oliveira was named chief peoples officer. In this newly created role, Thiago will develop and implement a people strategy to build, structure and retain an exceptional team through a period of anticipated high growth. Most recently, Thiago was the Head of Global Talent Management for Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices.
National Pharmaceutical Council – Steven Romano, executive vice president and CSO of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, was elected chairman of NPC’s Board of Directors. Romano has served on NPC’s Board as Vice Chair for the past year. Romano has been with Mallinckrodt since 2015 and is responsible for research and development, medical affairs, health economics and outcomes research, safety, pharmacovigilance and regulatory affairs functions. Prior to joining Mallinckrodt, Romano spent 16 years at Pfizer, where he served in a series of senior roles. Before Pfizer, he spent four years at Eli Lilly performing clinical research.
