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 Kyle Blankenship, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Novavax, advancing COVID-19 shot, recruits AstraZeneca exec as its chief medical officer
Novavax
Filip Dubovsky will join as chief medical officer.
Dubovsky joins Novavax directly from British drugmaker AstraZeneca, where he served as head of clinical engagement and policy as well as chief medical officer for clinical affairs. Before that, he oversaw a portfolio of more than two dozen malaria vaccines at the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative. Dubrovsky will be tasked with overseeing development of the company's COVID-19 candidate. The company in late May kicked off a phase 1/2 study of the prospect, and it's been working through steps to scale up its manufacturing in parallel. Aside from its COVID-19 work, the company is getting ready to submit an FDA application for its flu vaccine, NanoFlu. FiercePharma
Eli Lilly's R&D revolving door spins again as Gandhi heads back to Dana-Farber
Eli Lilly
Leena Gandhi, M.D., Ph.D., is leaving for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Gandhi, a thoracic oncologist, was tapped in April 2018 to head up a team tasked with overseeing the advance of Lilly’s portfolio of immuno-oncology prospects. She joined Lilly from the NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center, where she served as director of thoracic medical oncology. In that capacity and during an earlier spell at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Gandhi played a leading role in multiple phase 1 to 3 clinical trials including Merck’s KEYNOTE-189 study of a Keytruda-based combination in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Things have changed a lot for Lilly since the spring of 2018: Late last year, Lilly made moves to revamp its cancer research unit, combining the oncology team at Lilly Research Laboratories with Loxo Oncology, the biotech it picked up for $8 billion in January—and putting a trio of Loxo execs at the helm. FierceBiotech
Sensei Biotherapeutics shakes up R&D suite as it nabs new CMO from Merus
Sensei Biotherapeutics
Marie-Louise Fjällskog, M.D., Ph.D., has been named CMO.
Fjällskog will take over from Ildiko Csiki, M.D., Ph.D., who joined as CMO in August 2018 and had previously been vice president of immuno-oncology clinical development at Inovio Pharmaceuticals. Fjällskog will be responsible for leading clinical and development strategy and ops, the biotech said, and joins from bispecific cancer focused Merus, where she served as VP of clinical development and led the development of several clinical and preclinical bispecific antibodies. She’s also served stints at Infinity Pharmaceuticals as well as the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, where she served as a clinical program leader for translational clinical oncology. FierceBiotech
> Irvine, California-based Laboratory for Advanced Medicine has named Samuel Tong as CEO of its Chinese operations. Tong joins from NAMSA, where he served as VP and general manager of the Asia-Pacific region. Release
> Redwood City, California-based Adverum Biotechnologies has appointed Laurent Fischer, M.D. has joined as CEO and a member of the board of directors. Fischer will replace Leone Patterson, who will continue to serve as the company’s president. Fischer was most recently senior VP and head of the liver therapeutic area at Allergan. Release
> San Francisco-based Nurix Therapeutics is fleshing out its leadership team with the promotions of Gwenn Hansen, Ph.D., as CSO and Hans van Houte as CFO. In addition, the company has tapped Michael Lotze as chief cellular therapy officer and Robert Brown as VP of clinical development. Release
> Cambridge, Massachusetts-based FerGene has named Ambaw Bellete as CFO; Vijay Kasturi, M.D., as VP of medical affairs; and Peter Olagunju as senior VP of technical operations. Release
> Rentschler Biopharma SE has named Alexander Dettmer CFO, effective July 1. Dettmer succeeds Stefan Rampf, who will be leaving the company June 30. Dettmer most recently worked as senior VP of corporate business development and M&A at Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA group. Release
> Boston-based Akcea Therapeutics has hired Kia Motesharei, Ph.D., as senior VP of of business development and corporate strategy. Motesharei joins Akcea after a six-year stint at Merck KGaA, where he most recently served as VP and global head of licensing and business development for neurology and immunology. Release
> CANbridge Pharmaceuticals has appointed Carrie Ann Cook as senior VP and global head of business development. Cook joins from Takeda, where she was senior director for the Center for External Innovation, Rare Disease. Release