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.
Scholar Rock rocks the boat with new execs
Scholar Rock
Scholar Rock is shaking up its executive team as it prepares to enter the commercial arena with the expected launch of spinal muscular atrophy drug apitegromab later this year. CEO Jay Backstrom, M.D., is stepping down, making room for longtime board Chairman David Hallal to take over. Hallal previously spent more than a decade in C-suite roles at what is now AstraZeneca’s Alexion, culminating in nearly two years as CEO. Also joining the roster at Scholar Rock from Alexion is Vikas Sinha, the company’s new chief financial officer, while its new president of R&D Akshay Vaishnaw, M.D., Ph.D., comes from a stint as Alnylam’s president. Rounding out the new appointments is Chief Operating Officer R. Keith Woods, who will focus on creating a “fully integrated global enterprise” out of Scholar Rock after previously filling the same role at argenx. Release
NIH acting directors take the stage
National Institutes of Health
The NIH has appointed a suite of new acting directors to run the agency’s constituent institutes, even as the Trump administration considers abolishing some of them. This includes Courtney Aklin, Ph.D., as head of the National Institute of Nursing Research; Alison Cernich, Ph.D., at the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development; Monica Webb Hooper, Ph.D., at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities; Andrea Beckel-Mitchener, Ph.D., at the National Institute of Mental Health; Carolyn Hutter, Ph.D., at the National Human Genome Research Institute; and Jeff Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Stat
Engine revs up with new CSO
Engine Biosciences
Cancer biotech Engine Biosciences is driving its precision oncology pipeline toward the clinic with the hiring of new Chief Scientific Officer Robert Abraham, Ph.D. Abraham was most recently executive vice president and head of cancer biology at Odyssey Therapeutics and before that served as CSO of Vividion Therapeutics (acquired by Bayer). He spent more than 14 years at Pfizer, including a stint as leader of the oncology R&D group. Release
> Industry vet Matthew Frankel, M.D., whose experience runs the gamut of therapeutic areas at several companies, is chronic-cough-focused Nocion Therapeutics’ newest chief medical officer. Release
> HERVolution Therapeutics tapped clinical oncologist and former Genmab leader Tine Gaziel, M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer as its lead program prepares to enter the clinic. Release
> Insulin patch maker Insulet will be headed up by Johnson & Johnson’s former medtech head Ashley McEvoy, who is taking over as CEO from Jim Hollingshead after Hollingshead and the board mutually agreed to part ways. Story
> Spero Therapeutics gave its interim CEO Esther Rajavelu a permanent title, which she will bear along with the dual role of chief financial officer and treasurer as a replacement for previous CEO Sath Shukla, who is stepping down in mutual agreement with the company after a period of voluntary paid leave amid a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation. Release
> Narrowing its strategic focus, Kane Biotech’s CEO Marc Edwards is “no longer with” the company, prompting executive chair Robert Huizinga, Ph.D., to step up in an interim CEO position. Release
> Lutris Pharma scooped up experienced industry leader Sumant Ramachandra, M.D., Ph.D., as its CEO, while co-founder and former chief Noa Shelach, Ph.D., will pivot to the newly created chief operating officer role. Release
> Flagship Pioneering is bringing on Rahul Kakkar, M.D., as CEO-partner and CEO of somatic genomics biotech Quotient Therapeutics. Previously, he helmed Tome Biosciences, a gene editing company that shuttered last year. Release
> Belgium biotech Augustine Therapeutics is welcoming Andy Hu, who previously served as an advisor to the company, as chief business officer. Release
> Katharine Knobil, M.D., is joining Altesa BioSciences as chief medical officer. Back in 2017, Knobil held the same role at GSK, and has served in various leadership roles across the industry since then. Release
> Cancer biotech Akari Therapeutics has appointed Mark Kubik as head of business development for oncology. Most recently, Kubik served as senior vice president of U.S. and EU business development for I-Mab Biopharma. Release
> T-cell engager company Enara Bio has hired Stacey Davis for the dual roles of chief business officer and chief financial officer. Release
> Bulgarian CRO Comac Medical has found a new leader in former Icon Biotech President Chris Smyth, Ph.D. Story
> Bioanalytics firm Aliri has announced Steve Lundy as CEO and Kevin Jones as chief operating officer. Release
> Cidara Therapeutics has promoted Nicole Davarpanah, M.D., to chief medical officer and Corrina Pavetto to senior vice president of clinical development as the company plans for a phase 3 trial for its influenza antiviral candidate. Release
> Brain-computer interface company Precision Neuroscience is following up a recent FDA clearance with the appointment of John Woock as chief business officer. Release