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.
Eric Topol boards Flagship as advisor
Flagship Pioneering
Renowned cardiologist Eric Topol, M.D., is setting sail with Flagship Pioneering as an academic advisor for the firm’s Preemptive Health and Medicine Initiative. Topol is director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, which he founded in 2007 within San Diego biomedicine hub Scripps Research. He also serves as executive vice president, chair and professor of translational medicine at Scripps Research and is considered a leader in individualized medicine. At Flagship, Topol will help guide the design of platforms and products across the portfolio. The venture outfit’s preemptive health initiative has already led to new biotechs Etiome, Apriori Bio and Harbinger Health. Release
Idorsia CEO hits the exit
Idorsia
Srishti Gupta, M.D., manned the helm at Idorsia for only nine months before stepping down from the board of directors and her role as CEO. The departure comes after Gupta and the company’s board “mutually agreed” to her exit, leaving Idorsia to kick off the search for a new CEO. Until then, Board Chairman Jean-Paul Clozel will take over to lead “day-to-day operations” as interim CEO. Gupta first took over from former CEO Andre Muller upon his retirement in June, bringing to the company a background in portfolio development and business strategy from her years on Idorsia’s board and her 18 years of experience as a senior leader in pharmaceutical and global health practices at McKinsey & Company. Now, Idorsia’s board hopes to select a successor with “extensive pharmaceutical leadership experience and strong commercial expertise,” Clozel said. Story
Mestag adds $40M, 2 new C-suiters
Mestag Therapeutics
Immunology-focused Mestag Therapeutics has announced a $40 million financing round alongside the appointment of two executives. Lindsey Rolfe has been named chief medical officer and is joined on the executive team by Pascal Merchiers, Ph.D., as chief development officer. The new funding and leadership will support the company as it advances toward a phase 1 study of a novel FAP-targeted bispecific therapy for patients with solid tumors.
Founded in 2020, Mestag was named to the Fierce 15 in 2021, recognizing its focus on fibroblasts—an often overlooked type of connective tissue cell. Rolfe most recently served as chief medical officer at targeted radiotherapy company 3B Pharmaceuticals in Berlin, where she led early-stage clinical trials of the company’s molecules. Merchiers brings 25 years of experience in drug discovery and preclinical development and previously served as chief development officer at Commit Biologics, where he worked on novel antibody-based BiCE bispecific molecules. Release
> Bristol Myers Squibb vet Jenny Xie, Ph.D., is joining the ship at Harbour BioMed, where she will lead the company’s global innovation strategy as chief scientific officer, immunology and head of global external innovation. Release
> IsomAb picked physician-scientist Philip Brainin, M.D., Ph.D., to take over as CEO and help bring its lead chronic stable angina candidate into the clinic. Release
> Regenerative medicine company Cellino promoted its SVP of engineering Ed Tekeian to the C-suite as chief operating officer. Release
> Neurocrine Biosciences’ Andrew Ratz, Ph.D., is moving up to the executive management team as chief technical operations officer following a year of work as SVP of drug development, delivery and device. Release
> Protein degrader outfit Amphista Therapeutics is prepping for the clinic by bumping head scientist Louise Modis, Ph.D., to the CEO spot, replacing the retiring Antony Mattessich, and bringing in Patrick Kelly, M.D., as chief medical officer. Release
> Brian McKelligon is taking the helm as CEO at immune system specialist Infinity Bio to keep the company’s antibody platform moving. Release
> Recludix Pharma has rewarded some senior leaders with promotions, bestowing R&D head Ajay Nirula, M.D., Ph.D., with the additional title of president and moving SVP Catherine Bovenizer to the C-suite as chief financial officer. Release
> Michael Tolentino, M.D., has been appointed CEO of gene therapy platform company Vesicor Therapeutics. A retinal surgeon and entrepreneur, Tolentino has co-founded several biopharma companies. Release
> Computational drug discovery biotech Deep Origin has promoted Natalie Ma, Ph.D., to chief business officer and welcomed Mostafa Ahmed, Ph.D., as senior principal scientist. Release
> R1 Therapeutics has emerged from stealth with $77.5 million in funding to develop treatments for chronic kidney disease. The company will be led by co-founder and CEO Krishna Polu, M.D., a nephrologist who previously served as an advisor to R1 investor Abingworth. Story
> Kaida BioPharma, which develops therapies for hard-to-treat gynecologic cancers, has named its chairperson and founder, Stella Vnook, as acting CEO. George Peoples, M.D., has been appointed part-time chief medical officer, and John Langenheim, Ph.D., will serve as part-time chief scientific officer. Pamela Swiggard is now Kaida’s head of regulatory affairs, Eric Hacherl, Ph.D., was named head of manufacturing and Mark Booth has been appointed chief commercial officer, according to a release shared with Fierce Biotech.
