We take a look at some of the people starting 2022 with a new role in the biopharma industry.
We take a look at some of the people starting 2022 with a new role in the biopharma industry.
Phil Dormitzer M.D., Ph.D., has joined GSK as Global Head of Vaccines R&D.
Dormitzer, who started in the role on December 3, was previously Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, RNA and Viral Vaccines, at Pfizer: providing scientific leadership for the development of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. He headed up the Viral Vaccines R&D portfolio, which included the company’s maternal and older adult respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidates (based on their stabilised prefusion F-based technology), which are now in Phase III clinical trials. He was also responsible for Pfizer’s RNA-based influenza vaccine candidate, being developed in collaboration with BioNTech SE.
Prior to this, Dormitzer held roles of increasing responsibility with Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, including leading the research component of the company’s response to the H1N1 influenza pandemic that supported the development of three licensed vaccines and latterly as Head of US Vaccines Research.
Dormitzer will report to Dr Hal Barron, Chief Scientific Officer and President R&D, and join GSK’s R&D Leadership Team, and the Vaccines Leadership Team. Phil will be based in Greater Boston, Massachusetts, US.
Cartesian Therapeutics, a US clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering RNA cell therapy in and beyond oncology, have appointed five new experts to its board of advisors.
Founded in 2016, the company has a growing pipeline for autoimmune, respiratory, and inflammatory diseases.
The new Senior Advisors are as follows:
Bruce D. Levy, M.D., Parker B. Francis Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Levy's research aims to identify new pathways to resolve pulmonary inflammation, infection or injury through the roles of naturally derived, specialized pro-resolving mediators, and to translate these findings to the pathobiology of important airway diseases.
Peter Libby, M.D., Mallinckrodt Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Cardiovascular Specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Libby's research focuses on vascular biology and the role of inflammation in atherosclerosis, where he has published extensively on the messengers created by the body that may produce arterial plaque and blockages.
Michael A. Matthay, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Anesthesia at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and Senior Associate at the Cardiovascular Research Institute, and Associate Director of the Intensive Care Unit at UCSF. Dr. Matthay's research probes the pathophysiology of acute lung injury and pulmonary edema, and he has published extensively on respiratory disease and treatments such as with human mesenchymal stem cells. He has also led many NIH and non-NIH clinical trials in ARDS and sepsis over the last 25 years and COVID-19 over the last two years.
Tahseen Mozaffar, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the Director of the Neuromuscular Division within the Department of Neurology at University of California, Irvine. Dr. Mozaffar's research interests are in rare and ultra-rare myopathies and characterization of their natural history and myopathology, including gMG.
David S. Wilkes, M.D., is Dean Emeritus, University of Virginia School of Medicine, and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Wilkes is also the founder of ImmuneWorks, a biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for immune-mediated lung diseases.
Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering engineered cell and gene therapies, has appointed Lee Giguere as Chief Legal Officer and Secretary.
Giguere will manage the legal function and serve as a key member of Obsidian’s executive leadership team, playing a critical role in the company’s strategic decision-making. He will provide operational leadership across a wide array of legal, governance and compliance matters.
Giguere has wide-ranging experience and expertise in legal, healthcare compliance and corporate governance for public life science companies. He most recently served as general counsel and secretary at the biotechnology company Chiasma, Inc., responsible for all legal, compliance and human resource matters. Before joining Chiasma, he spent several years with Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. as deputy general counsel, assistant secretary; and Boston Scientific Corporation as senior securities and governance counsel.
Giguere began his legal career as an associate in the business law practice with Goodwin Procter. Lee earned his J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and his B.S. from Northeastern University.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Obsidian Therapeutics is set to take its first cytoTIL15 program (OBX-115) into the clinic this year, expecting to submit an IND for OBX-115 in the middle of the year.
Corbus Pharmaceuticals has appointed Rachael Brake, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer.
Dr. Brake will build upon Corbus' commitment to immuno-oncology and joins the Norwood, Massachusetts-headquartered company following the recent acquisition of monoclonal antibodies that inhibit TGFβ activation.
Dr. Brake will be responsible for advancing Corbus' pipeline of TGFβ-targeting therapeutics as well as current endocannabinoid system targeting drug candidates. She will also help shape the company's broader scientific strategy to help guide future business development opportunities and refinement of the company's research scope.
Dr. Brake most recently served at Takeda Pharmaceuticals where she held multiple leadership roles in R&D, including as Vice President, Global Project Leader in Oncology. In this position, she managed a portfolio of programs and cross-functional teams responsible for the preclinical and clinical exploration of various solid tumor drug candidates spanning diverse mechanisms of action.
She is experienced in early- and late-stage clinical development, regulatory approvals (ALUNBRIG, EXKIVITY), program externalizations (DAY101, sapanisertib), and commercialization efforts.
In her most recent role as the Head, U.S. Medical Affairs, in the Oncology Business Unit, Dr. Brake developed a medical strategy for Takeda Oncology's portfolio and emerging immune-focused pipeline.
Prior to her roles at Takeda, Dr. Brake held leadership roles in Research at Amgen Inc. and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dr. Brake obtained her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Western Australia Perth.
Gamma Biosciences, a global life sciences company serving the academic and advanced therapy market, has appointed Dale Gordon as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of its operating company Mirus Bio.
Gordon succeeds founders Jon Wolff and Jim Hagstrom in carrying the scientific legacy of the company forward with an expanded focus on enabling both the research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing markets.
The company has been delivering transfection reagents to the research community for more than two decades and is now moving into biopharma with the introduction of TransIT-VirusGEN GMP transfection reagents, enhancers and kits earlier this year. The product line offers users the ability to package and transfer vector DNA to suspension and adherent HEK 293 cell types for increased production of recombinant AAV and lentivirus, while helping to minimize safety and regulatory risks.
Gordon brings more than three decades of global leadership experience in life sciences to the new role, most recently as CEO of Gemini Biosciences. Prior to Gemini, Gordon held commercial leadership roles at GE Life Sciences (now Cytiva) and Merck Millipore.
