Welcome to this week’s Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of significant leadership hirings, firings and retirings across the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Darren Incorvaia or Zoey Becker and it will be featured here at the end of each week.
Tang takes over Aurinia after FDA brouhaha
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals
(Aurinia Pharmaceuticals)
Seasoned biotech takeover titan Kevin Tang has struck again. After serving as board chair of Aurinia since 2024, Tang has now ascended to the CEO spot and swapped out the company’s C-suite with a cadre of his close colleagues. Tang replaces Peter Greenleaf, who will stay on as an advisor during the transition. Ryan Cole, Michael Hearne and Thomas Wei, all longtime employees of Tang Capital Management, will serve as Aurinia’s chief operating officer, chief financial officer and chief scientific officer, respectively. Former COO Matthew Donley, CFO Joseph Miller and Chief Medical Officer Gregory Keenan, M.D., followed Greenleaf out the door on March 20.
Aurinia made headlines last fall after former CDER Director George Tidmarsh, M.D., Ph.D., claimed on his personal LinkedIn page that Aurinia’s lupus med Lupkynis carries “significant toxicity” and “has not been shown to provide a direct clinical benefit for patients.” Though now deleted, the post sparked a lawsuit from Aurinia and an internal probe from the FDA, and Tidmarsh promptly resigned. Tidmarsh and Tang previously worked together at La Jolla Pharmaceuticals. Release & Filing
Abivax, building commercial prowess, snags ex-Takeda exec
Abivax
As its ulcerative colitis prospect obefazimod nears potential commercialization, with a phase 3 readout slated for later this year, Abivax is preparing, with the help of longtime Takeda vet Michael Nesrallah, as its new chief commercial officer. Nesrallah spent close to a decade at Takeda following a stint at Novartis and later Sandoz. At Takeda, the exec started out working within the company’s specialty operations sphere before heading up its IBD franchise and later leading Takeda’s marketing and commercial excellence on a larger scale. His experience building up Takeda’s own ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease blockbuster Entyvio should suit him at Abivax, as the company looks to bring a new once-daily oral therapy to those with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, one that Nesrallah says has potential to “truly make a difference” for patients. Story & Release
Public face of revamped ACIP steps down
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Citing conflicts with leaders at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and saying he was “thrashed” in the press, Robert Malone, M.D., has left his position on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The outspoken ACIP member stepped down this week after a Massachusetts judge ruled against changes made by the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-led HHS to the CDC’s vaccine schedule and blocked multiple ACIP appointments, including Malone’s. Although he later walked back the claim, Malone initially posted on social media that the ruling would lead to ACIP being disbanded and reconstituted.
Malone told The New York Times that if invited to join a reconstituted version of ACIP, he would decline, adding that his decision was not impulsive. He was appointed to the committee last year by Kennedy, who had argued that the previous panel was too closely aligned with the pharmaceutical industry. A physician and biochemist, Malone is credited with early work involving the transfection of designed mRNA packaged within a liposomal nanoparticle. However, he drew widespread attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for criticizing vaccines, including sharing claims linking student-athlete deaths to vaccination. Story
> ReAlta Life Sciences is stacking its executive leadership team with experienced chief Howard Berman, Ph.D., as CEO and seasoned dealmaker Kia Motesharei, Ph.D., as president and chief operating officer. Release
> Johannes Tauscher, M.D., a psychiatrist and neurologist backed by two decades of drug development experience at Takeda and Eli Lilly, is heading over to Leal Therapeutics to serve as chief medical officer. LinkedIn
> Aquestive Therapeutics is welcoming Thomas Zalewski on as chief legal officer and chief compliance officer, swapping in for Lori Braender as she steps down from the executive team and into the corporate secretary role. Release
> Persica Pharmaceuticals’ CEO and co-founder Steve Ruston is hitting the exit as the company nears a new development stage for its chronic low back pain prospect, prompting refreshed leadership in Edward Littler, Ph.D., as executive chairman and David Watson as CEO. Release
> Industry vet Thaminda Ramanayake is joining the team at Anaveon, taking on the CEO role as the company’s co-founder and longtime leader Andreas Katopodis hands over the baton. Release
> Blood disorder-focused Damora Therapeutics has appointed Jennifer Jarrett as president and chief executive officer. She will assume the role on March 30 and previously served as chief operating officer of development-stage oncology biotech Arcus Biosciences. Release
> Crinetics Pharmaceuticals’ chief development and operating officer, Jeff Knight, is resigning effective April 10. He joined Crinetics in 2021 and previously held leadership roles at Genentech, Amgen and Poseida Therapeutics. Filing
> Ryan Fisk has been appointed chief financial and business officer of Adarx Pharmaceuticals, a late-stage biotech developing RNA therapeutics. He joins from Goldman Sachs, where he served as managing director in the healthcare investment banking group. Release
> Incyte has made three new C-suite appointments, naming Pablo Cagnoni, M.D., as president and global head of research and development. He will be joined by Steven Stein, M.D., as executive vice president, chief medical officer, and head of late-stage development, and Mohamed Issa as executive vice president and head of U.S. commercial. Release
> ProKidney, a clinical-stage cell therapy company focused on chronic kidney disease, has named Greg Madison as chief commercial officer. In this role, he will lead the commercialization strategy for the company’s potential rilparencel therapy. Release
> Not long after swapping out CEOs, AI biotech Recursion Pharmaceuticals is now revolving David Mauro, M.D., Ph.D., out of the chief medical officer spot, to be replaced by former FDA reviewer Vicki Goodman, M.D. Release
> Rani Therapeutics has roped in Jesper Høiland as head of strategy to lead an evaluation of the company’s pipeline and partnerships. Release
> Former Tourmaline exec Emil deGoma, M.D., has found a hearty new role as chief medical officer at cardio-focused Braveheart Bio. Release
> Genomic medicine outfit Averna Therapeutics is expanding its leadership, with Robert Mabry, Ph.D., joining as chief scientific officer and Richard Morris as chief financial officer. Release
> AI-powered, billion-dollar biotech Xaira Therapeutics has tapped former Belharra chief business officer Rachel Lane, Ph.D., as SVP of business development and operations. Release
