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 Donavyn Coffey, Marissa Russo and Will Maddox, and it will be featured here at the end of each week.
Bradley Campbell
Travere chief makes way for former Amicus CEO
Travere Therapeutics
Travere Therapeutics CEO Eric Dube, Ph.D., is stepping down after overseeing the company’s launch of the rare kidney disease drug Filspari. On Dec. 1, Bradley Campbell will take the reins after leading Amicus Therapeutics through its recent $4.8 billion acquisition by BioMarin. Dube will stay on as an executive advisor through Feb. 15, 2027, to support the transition.
Travere said Dube is leaving to focus on his family. He rebranded the company as Travere to distance it from its original name, Retrophin, which was founded by “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli. In 2023, the company won FDA accelerated approval for its IgA nephropathy medicine Filspari.
Campbell arrives with more than 20 years of rare disease experience, joining Amicus in 2006 before succeeding founder and longtime helmsman John Crowley in 2022. During his tenure, Amicus graduated from a single-product company in 2023 after scoring FDA approval for its Pombiliti + Opfolda regimen for Pompe disease. Story
Ex-Cue CEO takes the reins at Lift
Lift Therapeutics
Lift Therapeutics has tapped former Cue Biopharma CEO Daniel Passeri as chief executive as it works to advance its lead immuno-modulatory alpha neutrophil (iMAN) program into human trials in 2027. The London-based biotech is developing a new class of immunotherapy for hard-to-treat cancers.
“I am honored to join at this pivotal stage and work closely with Bo [director and president of Lift] to lead the team as we advance our first iMAN therapeutic into the clinic in early 2027 while continuing to build a differentiated portfolio of transformational, allogeneic, neutrophil-based therapies designed to address some of the most challenging tumors,” Passeri said in a release.
Passeri joins Lift after a nine-year run as CEO of Cue Biopharma, which focuses on immunological disorders. Before that, he served as president and CEO of oncology biotech Curis. Release
Nuclera’s new leader sets sights on growth
Nuclera
Protein science biotech Nuclera has brought Carl Raimond on as CEO as the company looks to scale. Co-founder and former CEO Michael Chen, Ph.D., will move into the chief scientific and business officer post.
Raimond previously served as president of Olink Proteomics, which he led through its $3 billion acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2023. He also held senior leadership posts at Agilent Technologies and Affymetrix.
“Now, we’ve reached an important point in the company’s evolution and Carl is the right CEO to lead us forward,” Chen said in a statement. “Carl’s experience building and scaling life-science businesses, combined with his understanding of the opportunity ahead, will be a huge asset to Nuclera.”
Raimond said he aims to sharpen the company’s focus on customer adoption, commercial execution and expanding applications of its technology. The Nuclera leadership transition is effective immediately. Release
> Amgen-backed cancer immunotherapy company ImmunoScape has named Peter Olagunju as its new CEO. Co-founder Michael Fehlings, Ph.D., continues to lead the company’s scientific and technical strategy as chief technology officer. Release
> Roche said its board of directors has approved proposing Christophe Weber, former CEO of Takeda Pharmaceuticals, for election to the board. Release
> Rare disease biotech Mirum Pharmaceuticals has appointed Rob Myers, M.D., chief medical officer. Myers joins Mirum from OrsoBio, where he served in the same role and as head of development. Release
> French biotech Abivax appointed in-house global medical affairs leader Chris Rabbat, Ph.D., chief medical officer as the company advances toward commercialization of obefazimod for ulcerative colitis. Abivax also added Tim Kelly as chief technical officer. Release
> Ona Therapeutics appointed Aleix Prat, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer as the biotech advances into the clinic and builds out its antibody-drug conjugate pipeline. Release
> Wave Life Sciences reeled in Sanofi, Blackstone and Pfizer alum Monika Vnuk, M.D., as chief business officer to help advance its RNA medicine platforms for obesity, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, liver disease and more. Release
> Engitix Therapeutics tapped Sonia Quaratino, M.D., Ph.D., as executive vice president and chief medical officer. Quaratino has been on the Engitix board since 2023 and brings 35 years of experience in oncology, autoimmunity and inflammatory diseases. Release
> Basecamp Research named AstraZeneca, Merck and Biogen alum Richard Pearce chief business officer to help expand pharmaceutical partnerships for the AI-designed medicines company. Release
