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.
Biopharma veteran takes her CEO Cue
Cue Biopharma
Shao-Lee Lin
Not long after the departure of former CEO Usman Azam, a new leader is taking her Cue in the form of Shao-Lee Lin, M.D., Ph.D. Lin steps into Cue’s president and chief exec spot after previously serving as founder and CEO of eye disease specialist Acelyrin, which later merged with Alumis. After spending three years as a researcher in the lab of Nobel Laureate Ralph Steinman, M.D., Lin built her biopharma credentials over the next decade with career stops at Amgen, Gilead Sciences and AbbVie. She then pivoted to biotech as chief scientific officer of Horizon Therapeutics, which several years later was the subject of a $27.8 billion buyout by her former employer, Amgen.
Lin replaces interim leader Lucinda Warren, who took the reins after Azam’s departure. Lin’s “exceptional track record progressing breakthrough therapies from concept to clinic” will be a boon to Cue’s lead autoimmune candidate CUE-401, board chair Pasha Sarraf, M.D., Ph.D., said. The company is currently working to advance CUE-401 into phase 1 testing. Release
Kyverna nabs commercial chief to prep for launch
Kyverna Therapeutics
California-based Kyverna Therapeutics has hired former Omeros and AbbVie executive Nadia Dac as its new chief commercial officer. In her role, she will lead commercial strategy for the company’s CAR-T therapy, which is on track to become the first such treatment approved for an autoimmune disease.
Kyverna’s phase 2 trial of mivocabtagene autoleucel in patients with stiff person syndrome (SPS) met its primary, secondary and exploratory endpoints. SPS is a rare, progressive neurological autoimmune disease characterized by muscle stiffness and painful spasms that impair mobility and gait.
As the company prepares for a commercial launch, Dac brings experience from her tenure as CCO at Omeros, where she led the commercial organization for rare disease programs focused on hematologic and immune-mediated conditions. During her time there, the company launched Yartemlea for hematopoietic stem cell transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy. Story
Anavex promotes from within after ousting CEO
Anavex Life Sciences
Neurodegenerative disease-focused Anavex is casting off its longtime CEO, Christopher Missling, Ph.D., after a special committee made up of independent board directors called for the end of his 13-year tenure. The for-cause termination was based on conduct that the committee saw as “inconsistent with company policy,” the biotech explained. Missling has also been requested to resign as a member of the board. Meanwhile, SVP of clinical development Terrie Kellmeyer, Ph.D., is moving to the CEO spot on an interim basis, the latest move in her 30-year biopharma career that has seen her work in various leadership roles across a spectrum of drug development sectors. Filing
> As the calendar turned from April to May, CBER director Vinay Prasad, M.D., stepped down from the agency, as planned, with his deputy Katherine Szarama, Ph.D., taking over in the interim as a replacement is sought. Story
> Acadia Pharmaceuticals R&D leader Elizabeth Thompson, Ph.D., has announced plans to retire, with the company now hunting for a worthy successor. Release
> Mark Kowalski, M.D., Ph.D., is retiring as chief medical officer of Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals, with Jeymi Tambiah stepping in to lead the Canadian biotech’s eosinophilic esophagitis candidate through clinical development. Release
> Precision tumor therapy biotech Aura Biosciences has announced a leadership transition, appointing Natalie Holles as president and CEO. She succeeds Aura founder Elisabet de los Pinos, Ph.D. Release
> Kartik Krishnan, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed chief medical officer of clinical-stage oncology biotech Pasithea Therapeutics, effective May 1. He will oversee the development of the company’s neurofibromatosis type 1 asset. Release
> Tris Pharma has promoted Jim Potenziano, Ph.D., to chief science and development officer. In the role, he will lead the company’s expansion beyond ADHD into pain and central nervous system disorders. Release
> Stefan Irion, M.D., has been appointed chief scientific officer of GC Therapeutics, a cell therapy company developing a platform designed to enable expansion into in vivo rejuvenation and reprogramming. Release
> Sail Biomedicines will cruise forward with Merck vet Gene Marcantonio, M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer to guide strategy and development of the company’s CAR-T-focused pipeline. Release
> Growing Immutrin is opening a U.S. subsidiary and welcoming seasoned cardiovascular research and drug development expert Robert Blaustein, M.D., Ph.D., to its leadership team as chief medical officer. Release
> Josh Xiao, Ph.D., is joining the team at Nona Biosciences to head up global scientific strategy in his new position as chief scientific officer. Release
> The latest leadership change that comes from Torl BioTherapeutics’ plan to strengthen its governance sees Mark Alles passing the CEO baton over to Aran Maree, M.D., who’s spent the last two years as the company’s first chief medical officer. Release
> Pyxis Oncology has found a new corporate development strategy leader in Nelson Azoulay, who is joining the company as chief business officer. Release
