Biotechs continue to pull experienced individuals from larger pharma companies to help progress candidates through the clinic.
A number of biotechs have leaned towards experience when bringing in new recruits this month, with notable figures from Pfizer and GSK joining fledgling companies.
This experience could be particularly useful for two companies working on CRISPR and RNAi technology, as they look to bring these nascent approaches into patients.
Biotechs continue to pull experienced individuals from larger pharma companies to help progress candidates through the clinic.
A number of biotechs have leaned towards experience when bringing in new recruits this month, with notable figures from Pfizer and GSK joining fledgling companies.
This experience could be particularly useful for two companies working on CRISPR and RNAi technology, as they look to bring these nascent approaches into patients.
Aduro Biotech moves to bring in Dimitry Nuyten as its CMO, arriving at the company after nearly six years as immune-oncology clinical development leader at Pfizer.
Aduro is working on developing treatments that harness the body’s immune system, particularly looking at stimulator of interferon genes (STING) and ‘a proliferation inducing ligand’ (APRIL) pathways for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
The biotech currently has five treatments in Phase I – partnering with Novartis, Eli Lilly, and Merck (known as MSD in Europe) on these drug candidates.
Stephen Isaacs, CEO of Aduro, said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Dimitry as we prepare to broaden our development plans for STING agonist ADU-S100 and initiate our first in human study of anti-APRIL antibody BION-1301 in IgA nephropathy.”
At the beginning of the year, the biotech announced a ‘strategic reset’ to focus its efforts on its candidates using the STING and APRIL pathways. The action saw its workforce cut by 37%, with the resources going instead to its lead programs in development.
Iain Ross returns to Silence Therapeutics as chairman of the board directors, nine years after he left the same role.
Ross has worked in the life sciences industry for over 40 years, in which time he has had roles at Sandoz, Roche, and at the Royal Holloway, London University. He previously performed the role of chairman for six years at Silence.
He currently holds the positions across the industry, as non-executive chairman at Redx Pharma, e-Therapeutics, and Kazia Therapeutics.
Iain Ross commented on his appointed, “I am delighted to be returning to Silence Therapeutics and I look forward to working with the new management team and all stakeholders. With a renewed strategy in place and a return to the clinic imminent, I believe Silence now represents a fundamentally transformed value proposition and I am excited to work with the team and to bring some stability to the board to deliver on its potential.”
Silence is working with RNA interference technology, the same area that is generating greater interest among larger companies based on Alnylam’s recent approval, and has three drug candidates that are currently at the pre-clinical stage in haematology and cardiovascular diseases.
Flagship Pioneering announced the launch of a new biotech company and the man who will act as the CEO, Paul-Peter Tak.
Tak transitioned into the role after holding a venture partner position at Flagship for seven months before being appointed CEO of the biotech.
Tak previously held the position of SVP and chief immunology officer at GSK, working at the company for seven year, and also had experience leading Tempero Pharmaceutical, a biotech spin-off from GSK, for four years.
Flagship’s latest project will focus on the gut and its immune cells to generate ‘a new class of precision enteric medicine’. Kintai will apply its PEM discovery and development platform to therapeutics that target the enteric signalling system.
Tak said, "I believe Kintai is poised to transform gastrointestinal biology and is particularly well positioned to make major therapeutic advancements in the field by leveraging a prolific and disruptive discovery and development strategy.”
“I am proud of the team, which has already harnessed new insights into more than 10 drug programs," he continued.
The drug programs are spread across autoimmune, metabolic, neurologic, and cancer indications.
KSQ Therapeutics fills the positions of CFO and CMO, with the appointments of Douglas Pagán (pictured, left) and Beni Wolf (pictured, right), respectively.
According to the company, it is working towards advancing its first program into the clinic in 2020, which will utilise CRISPR technology for the treatment of solid tumours.
Pagán joins the company after having previously been the CFO for Paratek Pharmaceuticals for four years, as well as a director of finance for Biogen for a similar amount of time and six years at Johnson & Johnson, as a marketing research associate.
While Wolf arrives from Blueprint Medicines, where he was SVP for clinical development for four years. He also spent seven years working at Genentech, where he ended his time associate medical director, and worked as medical director at Amgen.
“I believe that KSQ’s CRISPRomics approach holds tremendous potential for developing high-impact cancer medicines that can set new standards in the field of oncology,” said Wolf.
CRISPRomics is the name given to KSQ’s drug discovery engine, which has allowed the biotech to develop a pipeline of over a dozen investigational drug targets.
The former CEO of Bayer and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Marijn Dekkers, will join Ginkgo Bioworks as chairman of the board of directors and strategic advisor to the company.
Ginkgo terms itself an ‘organism company’ and works in the synthetic biology space to make enzymes for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Gingko pointed towards Dekkers’ 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry as a contributing factor to his appointment.
Jason Kelly, Ginkgo Bioworks CEO and co-founder, said, “Dekkers’ deep experience in life science and leading complex businesses is unmatched and we are eager to benefit from his expertise. There is no doubt that Dekkers will be an invaluable addition to our team, advising on our business and long-term strategy.”
In terms of contribution, Dekkers will balance the role with his current position as chairman of Unilever and founder of investment firm, Novalis LifeSciences.
Dekkers will work from Ginkgo’s Boston, US, office one day per week, to guide “special projects to build new companies on top of Ginkgo’s platform for biological engineering.”
“The synthetic biology industry continues to amaze me in terms of the breadth of possibilities it has to offer – and Ginkgo has already tapped into many markets that are ripe for a new wave of innovation,” said Dekkers.
