Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Max Bayer, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Biotech's work far from done on gender diversity front
BIO
The gender divide in biotech is starting to close, according to BIO's third annual diversity survey, but there's still much work to be done, especially at the top level of the industry.
As for the positives, women made up 49% of the workforces of respondents polled in 2021, versus 45% in 2019. Meanwhile, 34% of executives were women last year, compared to 31% the year before that. In 2021, 20% of CEOs were women, according to the BIO survey.
Still, 80% of companies surveyed reported little change—less than 5% either way—in representation of women across their organizations.
The data yielded positive trends on race and ethnicity, too, BIO Noted. People of color made up 38% of the staff of companies polled in 2021, versus 32% in 2020. Further, employees of color made up 24% of executives and 28% of CEOs, up from 21% and 24%, respectively, in the previous survey. Fierce Biotech
Women biotech execs persist in spite of industry microaggressions
BIO
Meanwhile, facing down microaggressions and toxic tropes, many women biopharma execs at BIO told Fierce Biotech they're just trying to do their jobs.
Gilly Regev, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of SaNOtize, recalled persistent sexism, such as being cast aside in business meetings in favor of her male peers. Regev also recalled winning a pitch competition. Afterward, an investor remarked that she had won “the shoe competition." Those are the types of comments men would never have to deflect, she said.
“I'm here to do my job, I'm here to get this company to the next level, I'm here to help the world and it doesn't matter, you can't let these things stop you," she said.
SaNOtize is a Canadian company developing nitric-oxide-based treatments to kill viruses, bacteria and fungal infections. Fierce Biotech
ADC's new CEO summons Novartis alum Gilman as strategy chief
ADC Therapeutics
Change is afoot at ADC Therapeutics, where new CEO Ameet Mallik has quickly slotted in Novartis alumnus David Gilman to lead business and strategy. Gilman will report to Mallik as the company's new chief business and strategy officer starting in July.
Like Mallik, Gilman's industry track record includes a stint at Novartis Oncology, where he previously served as global head of portfolio strategy and business development.
Meanwhile, Gilman joins the ADC team from ClearView Healthcare Partners, a global strategy and consulting firm where he'd worked since 2019.
Gilman's areas of specialty include oncology, immunology, infectious and rare diseases. He’s also spent time teaching life sciences to business students, and teaching business to medical students.
At ADC, meanwhile, Gilman will be responsible for all business development and portfolio strategy worldwide. Fierce Pharma
> Biologics specialists Comera Life Sciences has tapped Michael Campbell as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Campbell has already been on deck as interim CFO since April 13, 2022, and will continue to oversee Comera’s finance operations, such as accounting and reporting, corporate tax, treasury and investor relations, the company explained. Release
> Natera has enlisted a new chief medical officer of oncology in Minetta Liu, M.D. In her role, Liu will steer the company's clinical and scientific road map in oncology, "primarily to prove the clinical utility of Signatera and incorporate it into standard medical practice across tumor types," the company said in a release. Liu comes over from the Department of Oncology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. There, she also held a dual appointment in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and served as co-leader of the Genomics in Action Strategic Priority for the Center of Individualized Medicine. Release
> GlycoEra is calling on Tanmoy Ganguly, Ph.D., to join the ranks as the company's new chief scientific officer. Ganguly will spearhead GlycoEra's efforts to develop novel therapeutics targeting degradation of circulating and membrane proteins that cause disease, which will leverage the company's proprietary CustomGlycan platform, GlycoEra explained. Ganguly hails from Evelo Biosciences, where he served as vice president and head of pharmacology, research analytics and bioinformatics. Release
> Anjarium Biosciences is enlisting Stephen Yoo, M.D., to helm the ship as chief executive officer. A 14-year industry vet, Yoo comes over from Third Harmonic Bio, where he was chief medical officer. Yoo was also one of Third Harmonic's first two employees and proved "instrumental" in growing the company and securing key financing, Anjarium said. Before his stint at Third Harmonic, Yoo was the first CMO of Regenxbio, which he helped take from a private company through its IPO debut. Release
> Domain Therapeutics has slotted in Xavier Leroy, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer. Domain is developing drugs targeting G protein-coupled receptors in immuno-oncology, the company explained in a release. Leroy entered Domain as chief technology officer in 2019 to identify and select strategic targets to broaden the immuno-oncology pipeline of the company. Now, he'll lead research and be in charge of pushing the company into the clinic. Release
> Deciphera Pharmaceuticals has tapped Kelley Dealhoy as chief business officer. A 20-year life sciences veteran, Kelley will be in charge of developing and leading the company’s business development efforts as well as supporting corporate strategy initiatives, Deciphera said. Dealhoy joins the Deciphera team from Novartis, where she most recently served as the vice president of business development for the company's oncology unit. Release
> Valo Therapeutics has enlisted Hemanshu Shah, Ph.D., as its new chief business officer. The company develops adaptable immunotherapy platforms for cancer and infectious diseases. Shah's role, meanwhile, will be U.S.-based. Most recently, Shah was VP of corporate development at French biotech Transgene, which specializes in therapeutic vaccines and oncolytic viruses against solid tumors. Release
> Xilio Therapeutics has found a new president from within in Martin Huber, M.D., who will also retain his role as head of research and development alongside his new promotion, the company said Thursday. Further, Paul Clancy has been tapped as chair of Xilio's board of directors. Robert Ross, M.D., CEO of Surface Oncology Inc., has also joined as a member of the board. Release