Welcome to this week’s Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of significant leadership hirings, firings and retirings across the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Darren Incorvaia or Zoey Becker and it will be featured here at the end of each week.
Cabaletta corrals cell therapy Legend as commercial chief
Cabaletta Bio
Just a few months after surfacing at Orca Bio following his early 2025 departure from Legend Biotech, Steve Gavel has taken on the chief commercial officer role at yet another cell therapy biotech. He is now CCO at Cabaletta Bio, effective immediately, to which he brings a wealth of cell therapy experience. He previously spent three years at Celgene—prior to its acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb—first as executive director of U.S. commercial strategy and then as U.S. commercial development lead for the CAR-T portfolio, before then joining Legend Biotech for a six-year stint. At Legend, he built out the company’s commercial organization and helped spearhead the launch of Johnson & Johnson-partnered Carvykti. Story
Ashvattha eyes growth with ophthalmology vet as interim CEO
Ashvattha Therapeutics
Fresh off of positive phase 2 results for its lead eye drug program, Ashvattha Therapeutics is bringing in experienced ophthalmology leader Robert Dempsey to man the ship as interim CEO. Demspey has spent more than 20 years in the eye care ecosystem, most notably at Takeda-acquired Shire, where he built out its ophthalmology franchise. His experience across drug development, business deals and commercialization positions Ashvattha to advance toward a potential partnership or launch. With the FDA recently signing off on the company’s phase 2b/3 clinical trial design in two eye disease indications, it has reached a “critical inflection point” that calls for an experienced leader such as Dempsey to “guide the company through the next phase of growth,” co-founder and former CEO Jeffrey Cleland, Ph.D., commented. Cleland will remain at the company as board chairman. Release
Alentis adopts seasoned CEO as leader
Alentis Therapeutics
Experienced biotech leader Mark Pruzanski, M.D., has found his next CEO role at Alentis Therapeutics, a Swiss outfit developing claudin-1-targeting antibodies for fibrosis and cancer indications. Pruzanski was most recently chairman and CEO of Versanis Bio before it was acquired by Eli Lilly for $1.9 billion in 2023. He’s best known as the founder and longtime leader of Intercept Pharmaceuticals, where he led development of liver disease medicine Ocaliva (obeticholic acid). Pruzanski has also spent 14 years as a board member of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization and two full decades on the board of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Release
> Allergy-focused Excellergy emerged with a $70 million series A and a leadership team of CEO Todd Zavodnick, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Geoffrey Harris, Ph.D., and Chief Medical Officer Philip Brown, M.D. Story
> Geron Corporation is bringing in Novartis Oncology vet Ahmed ElNawawi to take over for departing Chief Commercial Officer Jim Ziegler, who, along with longtime Chief Operating Officer Andrew Grethlein, Ph.D., is stepping down to “pursue other interests.” Release
> LB Pharmaceuticals is preparing for phase 3 development of its benzamide antipsychotic drug by tapping an SVP of regulatory affairs in James Rawls. Release
> Mimi Lee, M.D., Ph.D., a neurosurgeon with industry leadership experience, will “supercharge” GeneDx’s work across the industry as its new chief precision medicine officer. Release
> Former FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Namandjé Bumpus, Ph.D., is at the helm of a new scientific advisory board guiding Charles River Laboratories’ strategic shift toward animal testing alternatives. Story
> CDMO Sterling Pharma Solutions has tapped Karl Rotthier to be its new CEO, replacing the retiring Kevin Cook, who has held the top spot since 2013. Release
> Preclinical research outfit Nona Biosciences has found a new leader in Di Hong, who will guide the company’s efforts to innovate antibody discovery from Shanghai. Release
> Libra Therapeutics is balancing its scales by promoting its senior vice president and research head Martin Gill, Ph.D., to chief scientific officer. Release
> Philip Kym, Ph.D., is the new head of drug discovery for aging-focused Calico Life Sciences, joining after retiring from AbbVie in September. Release
