Tom Frohlich→ Tom Frohlich has signed on as CEO of autoimmune disease specialist Jade Biosciences, a company in the Paragon portfolio that raised an $80 million launch round in August. Frohlich co-founded and was COO at Chinook Therapeutics, the kidney disease biotech that Novartis bought for $3.5 billion last year. It’s a chance to work again with CSO Andrew King and new medical chief Hetal Kocinsky, who came to Chinook from Apellis in 2022 as VP of translational medicine.
The connections don’t stop there: Ex-Chinook CEO Eric Dobmeier has joined Frohlich on the board of directors. Jade filled the cash tank again with an additional $15 million, and two new big-name investors — Frazier Life Sciences and Versant Ventures — have joined the party.
Chris Gibson→ Cell therapy manufacturer Cellino has welcomed Recursion CEO Chris Gibson to its board of directors. This is Gibson’s first-ever board seat at any company, on the heels of Recursion’s acquisition of fellow AI biotech Exscientia and Phase 2 data for REC-994 that produced more questions than answers. Andrew Dunn has covered Recursion extensively and also conducted a Slack interview in October 2023 with Cellino CEO Nabiha Saklayen, which you can read here. “We are thrilled to have Chris’ experience on our board to provide Cellino with a perspective that is both visionary and deeply practical,” Saklayen said in a release.
Phil L’Huillier→ Phil L’Huillier is leaving CatalYm to become CEO of Scancell on Nov. 18. Lindy Durrant will move into the CSO slot at Scancell, which develops vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for a range of cancers. L’Huillier led Munich-based CatalYm to a $150 million Series D round in July to bankroll Phase 2b trials of its monoclonal antibody visugromab for solid tumors. He also had a four-year stint with Merck in London as head of the European Innovation Hub & business development.
Sijmen de Vries→ Pharming Group said in its Q3 report that Sijmen de Vries will step down as CEO. Since his tenure began in 2008, de Vries has led the Dutch company to two FDA approvals: the hereditary angioedema med Ruconest (2014) and Joenja for activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta syndrome (2023). “Our company is in great shape today. So this is the right moment for me to make way for a successor to lead Pharming into the next chapter of its strategy for growth, building on the achievements of the past years,” de Vries said in a statement.
Nick Galli→ Solid tumor biotech Alphina Therapeutics has rolled out the welcome mat for Nick Galli as CEO. Interim chief Barbara Fox, the former CEO of Rheos Medicines and Tilos Therapeutics, will now chair the board. Galli joins the team from Interline Therapeutics, where he was COO, and he’s also been CBO of CytomX Therapeutics. Galli was one of the first employees at Denali and helped the company with numerous partnerships as VP, business development.
→ Elsewhere, Raleigh, NC-based Bryn Pharma has also picked up a new CEO. Joshua Ziel succeeds Sandy Loreaux, who’s stepping down for “family-related reasons” and will remain on the board. Ziel previously served as COO of Aerami Therapeutics and held a number of roles at Syneos Health.
Ray Jupp→ ViaNautis Bio makes a speedy return to Peer Review by naming Ray Jupp as CSO after hiring CEO Adi Hoess. Jupp had held this title at Mestag Therapeutics (which just teamed up with Merck earlier this month), Enara Bio and TRex Bio, and he’s the former VP of immunology research at UCB. Hoess stepped down from Affimed in January after 13 years in the top spot, and spoke to Endpoints News last week about his next chapter at ViaNautis.
→ Shawn Cross has been named CFO at Pacira BioSciences, the non-opioid pain specialist now run by ex-Forma Therapeutics boss Frank Lee after David Stack’s retirement. A Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo vet, Cross took the CFO job at Applied Molecular Transport in 2020, and was chairman and CEO by the time it merged with Cyclo Therapeutics.
Ramzi Benamar→ Ramzi Benamar is back in this space with his appointment as CFO of Apnimed, which has its sleep apnea pill AD109 in a pair of Phase 3 studies. We told you about his previous CFO gigs at Elucida Oncology in September 2023, Bellus Health in late 2020, and DBV Technologies in early 2020. Meanwhile, Apnimed has elected ex-Shire finance leader Gary Sender to the board of directors. Sender also has board seats at Schrödinger, Harmony Biosciences, iBio and Gennao Bio.
TJ Cradick→ HuidaGene Therapeutics — a US-China biotech developing CRISPR-based therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and a rare disease called MECP2 duplication syndrome, among other indications — has recruited TJ Cradick as chief technology officer. Cradick left Excision BioTherapeutics in March after nearly four years as CSO, and he’s also been head of genome editing for CRISPR Therapeutics. Cradick and HuidaGene CEO Alvin Luk have known each other since they were students at UCSF.
Derek Hei→ Chaired by ex-Sage boss and Cure Ventures partner Jeff Jonas, neuro biotech Kenai Therapeutics has brought in Derek Hei as chief technology officer. Hei spent two years in the same role at Clade Therapeutics, and the BlueRock alum had a brief stop at Vertex as SVP of cell and gene therapy, preclinical and clinical manufacturing. Kenai unveiled an $82 million Series A in February with help from Cure Ventures and The Column Group, among other investors.
Rahul Kaushik→ We’ll wrap up this batch of new technical chiefs with the latest hire at Disc Medicine, which has had a strong Peer Review presence all year. Rahul Kaushik comes from FibroGen, where he was SVP of pharmaceutical development, technical operations and manufacturing. He had a 15-year career at Amgen and then pivoted to Nektar Therapeutics in 2018 as executive director and head of external manufacturing. In the last nine months, Disc has welcomed a new commercial chief, CFO and chief regulatory officer while promoting Jonathan Yu to COO.
Michelle Tarver→ The FDA has made an internal hire, picking Michelle Tarver as its new head of medical devices. She replaces Jeffrey Shuren, who’s retiring after 15 years in the role. Tarver previously served in a variety of positions within the agency, most recently as deputy center director for transformation. Her other roles included deputy director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships and Technology Innovation and program director of patient science and engagement.
Lauren Kaskiel→ Milan-based ocular gene therapy developer AAVantgarde Bio has welcomed Lauren Kaskiel as CBO. Kaskiel is a 16-year GSK vet who left Code Biotherapeutics in March after three years as business chief. Earlier, she was head of program and alliance management for Spark as well as chief of staff to the Luxturna maker’s CEO and executive team.
Sam Gokhale→ Now under the direction of CEO Peter Flynn after taking over from Avalon BioVentures managing partner Jay Lichter in June, Arialys Therapeutics has introduced Sam Gokhale as CMO. Gokhale worked on the C5 complement inhibitors Ultomiris and Soliris as a director of clinical development at Alexion, and he had been head of neurology development for Dianthus Therapeutics, which merged with Magenta Therapeutics last year. Arialys is developing ART5803 for anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis —what it calls “a rare, potentially lethal, poorly managed and often misdiagnosed neurological disease.”
→ CRO Parexel has named Keri Mattox as CBO. Mattox joins the team from Zimmer Biomet, where she served as chief communications and administration officer. Mattox’s résumé also includes stints at W2O Group (now Real Chemistry), AmerisourceBergen (now Cencora), Endo International and Auxilium Pharmaceuticals.
Rodrigo Ruiz Soto→ South Korean ADC maker LigaChem Biosciences has tapped Rodrigo Ruiz Soto as CMO. Ruiz Soto oversaw clinical development at Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, the cancer player that was purchased by Ono Pharmaceutical for $2.4 billion. (Ono and LigaChem are now partners.) He’s a Sanofi and GSK oncology alum who was the medical lead for the ovarian cancer drug that is now marketed as Elahere at ImmunoGen.
Sarah Krevans→ Now trading as $GRAL after separating from Illumina this summer, Grail has added Sarah Krevans to the board of directors. Krevans was president and CEO for six of her 23 years at Sutter Health, and she will chair the board at CaringBridge.
→ Autoimmune disease biotech Kyverna Therapeutics has elected Receptive Bio CEO Mert Aktar to the board of directors. New Kyverna CEO Warner Biddle knows Aktar well from their days at Gilead’s Kite: Aktar led corporate development and strategy at Kite from 2020-23, and Biddle was global head of commercial before he succeeded Peter Maag in September.
Alison Moore→ Alison Moore has nabbed a spot on the board of directors at San Diego cell therapy player Artiva Biotherapeutics. The 20-year Amgen vet just started at Codexis as chief technical officer and is the ex-technical chief at Allogene Therapeutics.
→ ProFound Therapeutics CEO John Lepore has joined the board of directors at KSQ Therapeutics, which just picked up a new medical chief and is developing a pair of candidates for solid tumors. Lepore held a number of positions in a 17-year period at GSK, including head of research, before jumping to the Flagship biotech last year.