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 or Gabrielle Masson, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Moderna mulligans on CFO after May hiring debacle
Moderna
PerkinElmer finance chief James Mock is giving Moderna’s current CFO, David Meline, another shot at retirement. Mock will pick up the torch from Meline on Sept. 6, with Meline set to retire that same day. Meline–who also served as Amgen’s CFO from 2014 through the end of 2019–will remain onboard for some time as a consultant to help smooth the CFO transition, Moderna said in a release.
While Mock’s work will be squarely focused on Moderna’s COVID-19 shot for the foreseeable future, the company has big plans for its mRNA platform, with dozens of candidates against infectious diseases, cancer and more in hopper.
"This is a company with an exceptionally bright future and it is a privilege to be part of it,” Mock said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Meline is giving retirement a third attempt after he was pulled back into the Moderna fold in May. That month, the company appointed a new finance chief in Dentsply Sirona CFO Jorge Gomez. That appointment was ill-fated, however, with Gomez ousted just one day into the new gig after his former employer revealed an internal accounting probe.
With Gomez’s departure, Moderna quickly summoned Meline once more, offering him upward of $700,000 in salary plus annual incentives and eligibility for stock options and awards. He’d originally come out of retirement in 2020 to get the mRNA specialist ready for its commercial debut. Fierce Pharma
Philips helmsman van Houten jumps ship amid recall storm
Philips
After 10 years and a recent spate of medical device recalls, Philips CEO Frans van Houten is headed for the exit. Van Houten’s role will be taken over by Roy Jakobs, who’s been orchestrating the Dutch company’s response to the recall for months.
Pending shareholder assent at a Sept. 30 meeting, Jakobs will adopt the dual role of president and CEO starting in mid-October. Van Houten and Philips’ supervisory board have already OK’d the move, the company said in a release.
Much like his predecessor, Jakobs has been with Philips for more than a decade. He enlisted with the company in September 2010 as chief marketing and strategy officer for the lighting business then covered by the Philips umbrella. Over time, Jakobs picked up executive roles within the company’s Middle Eastern unit plus its domestic appliances and personal health segments.
Jakobs took on his current post as chief business leader of Philips’ connected care division in February 2020. As part of that role, Jakobs has overseen the company’s recall of around 5.5 million of its CPAP machines and other respiratory devices, specifically leading the charge on the ongoing repair-and-replace program for all affected machines, as well as working with the FDA and other authorities throughout the process.
Wrapping up the recall will be a key fixture of Jakobs' new role, Philips said in a release. He’ll also be tasked with leading Philips' recovery from the recall. The company recently suggested that its respiratory device sales won’t return to their pre-recall, pre-pandemic levels until 2025, with ongoing supply chain shortages exacerbating the recall situation. Fierce Biotech
Ambrx CEO out as precision biologics firm puts pipeline under microscope
Ambrx
In the aftermath of a Bristol Myers Squibb heart failure collaboration gone awry, engineered precision biologics outfit Ambrx is bidding adieu to its current chief executive Feng Tian, Ph.D. Plus, a broader company reset could be in the cards.
Tian is being replaced “immediately” by Ambrx board member Kate Hermans, who will act as interim CEO, Ambrx said earlier this week.
Alongside the regime shift, Ambrx announced that it’s kicking off a “strategic review” of its drug pipeline.
The move follows the termination of phase 2 development of BMS and Ambrx’s heart failure drug FA relaxin back in July.
Meanwhile, Tian will be on deck in an advisory capacity as the company searches for a new CEO—a process Ambrx says it’s already kicked off.
Hermans, for her part, boasts more than two decades of experience across the healthcare industry, including stints at BMS and Pfizer.
As for the pipeline review, Ambrx’s figures its R&D soul searching will help “maximize our commercial opportunities and further extend the cash runway.”
“Ambrx remains confident in the clinical data of its drug candidates, in its platform technology, and in the ongoing promise of precision biologics,” the company said in a statement. Fierce Biotech
> Amid a workforce reduction and restructuring, Clarus Therapeutics has decided to combine its chief administrative officer and chief financial officer. In light of the change, former CFO Ric Peterson will transition out of his role and exit the company, while CAO Steve Bourne will assume the CFO role. Fierce Pharma
> Acorda Therapeutics Chief Operating Officer Lauren Sabella is resigning effective Sept. 30. She is departing to work instead in an advisory role for early-stage biotechs. Her responsibilities at Acorda will be assumed by two of her current direct reports. Release
> Sanuj Ravindran, M.D., is taking the reins as Simcha Therapeutics’ CEO and director. Ravindran most recently served as CEO-in-residence at BridgeBio, where he was CEO of PellePharm and executive chair of Phoenix Tissue Repair. Release
> Respira Technologies has appointed Brian Quigley, former Altria Group exec and current Respira COO, as CEO. Respira founder and current CEO Mario Danek will transition to chief technology officer. Release
> Magenta Therapeutics Chief Medical Officer Jeffrey Humphrey, M.D., has left the company. Effective immediately, SVP Shawn Rose, M.D., Ph.D., will take on additional responsibilities, assuming the role of SVP and head of clinical development. Release
> Respira Technologies has appointed Brian Quigley, former Altria Group exec and current Respira COO, as CEO. Respira founder and current CEO Mario Danek will transition to chief technology officer. Release
> Nuvig Therapeutics has appointed Joanne Quan, M.D., as its chief medical officer. Quan was previously CMO at Modis Therapeutics, which was acquired by Zogenix. Before that, she held roles of increasing responsibility at Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, InterMune, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Bayhill Therapeutics, ALZA, Genentech and PathoGenesis. Release
> Myriam Mendila, M.D., is joining CureVac as chief development officer effective Feb. 1, 2023. Mendila has more than two decades of leadership experience across Roche, Genentech and Novartis. Release
> Kriya Therapeutics has appointed Pedro Huertas, M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer of its rare disease division. Before Kriya, Huertas served as CMO at Inozyme Pharma, Sentien Biotechnologies and Eloxx Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Vanitha Sekar, Ph.D., is making the jump from big pharma to biotech, leaving Gilead Sciences for the newly created chief business officer role at Enveda Biosciences. Sekar brings more than 20 years of experience leading at Gilead, Merck and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Resverlogix has tapped Ewelina Kulikowski, Ph.D., as its chief scientific officer following the retirement of co-founder and former CSO Norman Wong, M.D. Release
> Life sciences investment firm Foresite Labs has appointed Uplaksh Kumar, Ph.D., as its chief operating officer. Kumar joins Foresite from Grail, where he was the SVP of strategic operations and scale. Release