The gene therapy space is a rapidly developing areas in the industry, as a result those with expertise are finding their knowledge is invaluable to companies looking to advance.
A number of appointments in September were focused on gene therapies, from the biotechs, like Passage Bio, to the bigger manufacturers, such as Catalent. This should not be surprising given the burgeoning pipeline of therapies in the regenerative medicine space.
The gene therapy space is a rapidly developing areas in the industry, as a result those with expertise are finding their knowledge is invaluable to companies looking to advance.
A number of appointments in September were focused on gene therapies, from the biotechs, like Passage Bio, to the bigger manufacturers, such as Catalent. This should not be surprising given the burgeoning pipeline of therapies in the regenerative medicine space.
Alexion announced the transition of its CFO, with Paul Clancy set to exit the company and Aradhana Sarin set to take his place. The switch will occur after the company posts third quarter results, at which point a transition period will begin. Clancy will stay with the company through to the middle of 2020 in the capacity of an advisor.
Clancy has been in the role for two years, after joining from Biogen – where he held the same role for 10 years. Sarin will move internally into the new role, after having held the position of chief strategy and business officer. During her time in this role, Sarin was tasked with rebuilding and diversifying Alexion pipeline of products.
Ludwig Hantson, CEO at Alexion, “As Paul’s successor, I am confident Sarin will help us continue to build on the strong foundation we’ve established and execute on our business strategies. In her nearly two years at Alexion, Sarin has created significant value for the company, leading our business development efforts to rebuild our pipeline and driving our strategic vision as we position the company for long-term success.”
Soliris (Eculizumab) is a big earner for Alexion but the company is now looking to support sales by diversifying its portfolio, especially as rival companies look to develop biosimilars of the product.
With Catalent entering the gene therapy space, through the acquisition of Paragon Bioservices, the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) has moved to bolster the knowledge base of its advisory board. To do so, David Shaffer has been appointed to the biologics advisory board of the company.
Mike Riley, VP and general manager of Catalent Biologics, stated that Shaffer’s appointment will allow the company to consult him on the development of viral vectors and the manufacturing technologies the company had brought on board through the acquisition.
Shaffer works at the University of California, Berkeley, as a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, whilst also working as a director of the Berkeley Stem Cell Center.
In addition, Shaffer holds the position of co-founder and chief scientific advisor at 4D Moleculer Therapeutics, a gene therapy company that works with adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors to target specific tissue types.
Tony Coles is drafted in to take the leadership position at Cereval Therapeutics, which is looking to progress clinical and preclinical drug candidates to treat neurodegenerative disorders. The biotech was formed through the combination of Pfizer’s pipeline and Bain Capital’s investment.
Coles will become CEO of the biotech, which is based in the Greater Boston area, in the US, after having previously worked at the company as executive chairperson since December 2018.
Prior to joining Cereval, Coles had been a co-founding investor and CEO at Yumanity Therapeutics, which is similarly focused on developing treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. He was also CEO of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Amgen, and CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals.
Adam Koppel, managing director of Bain Capital Life Sciences and a member of the board of directors of Cerevel Therapeutics, said, “The board of directors were unanimous in our belief that given his track record of success, Coles was the right person to lead the organization as we aggressively pursue the development of transformative solutions to treat neuroscience diseases.”
Gary Romano was appointed CMO of Passage Bio, a genetics medicine company that is developing AAV-delivered therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) diseases.
Prior to joining Passage, Romano worked as head of clinical development for neurodegenerative disease at Janssen. He also held the role of director of CNS at Merck, known as MSD outside of North America and Mexico, before joining Janssen.
Alongside Romano, Passage also hired Edgar Cale as its general counsel, arriving at the company after serving at GSK as SVP of legal corporate functions.
“Gary and Chip bring deep industry knowledge and drug development expertise that will be pivotal to Passage’s success as we move our lead programs into the clinic over the coming year,” said Dr. Stephen Squinto, co-founder and interim CEO at Passage.
The company currently has four lead programs, which are all at the preclinical stage, though clinical trials are expected to begin on two during the first half of 2020.
Akouos appoints Gregory Robinson to the position of chief scientific officer at the company. Robinson held the same role at Nightstar Therapeutics, a biotech that was bought out by Biogen earlier this year.
There will be overlap between the science covered at Robinson’s new company and his last, with Akouos focused on gene therapies to restore hearing and Nightstar having focused on gene therapies for retinal diseases.
“In the past year, Akouos has made substantial progress advancing our gene therapy pipeline and establishing the leading precision genetic medicine platform focused on inner ear disorders,” said Manny Simons, CEO of Akouos.
Currently, all of its product candidates are preclinical, with the company targeting monogenic deafness and syndromic hearing loss, amongst others. Its lead candidate is AK-OTOF, a gene therapy that uses AAV vectors to deliver a copy of the OTOF gene to cochlear hair cells.
