Biopharma and life sciences companies strengthen their leadership teams and boards with these Movers & Shakers.
IGM Biosciences – California-based IGM Biosciences named George A. Gauthier to the newly created position of chief commercial officer. Gauthier joins IGM with 20 years of experience in global commercial strategy, marketing, sales and product development. Most recently, Gauthier was Vice President of Global Product Strategy for Breast and Gynecological Cancers at Genentech. Before that, Gauthier served in a variety of roles at F. Hoffman-La Roche in Switzerland, including International Business Leader for Tarceva.
CellGenix – Daniel Spatz joined Germany-based CellGenix as Vice President Sales, Marketing & Logistics. Spatz joined CellGenix in 2021 as Head of Marketing & Sales and Logistics. He is responsible for the entire global sales and marketing organization as well as the logistics and customer service organization for our headquarters in Germany.
Rome Therapeutics – Menachem Fromer was named Head of Data Science. He joins Rome from Verily Life Sciences where he served as the Data Science and R&D Lead for COVID-19 population health and mental health. Fromer is also Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
Diaceutics PLC -- Yvanka Gilliam was appointed Vice President of Operations, Asia Pacific (APAC) for New Jersey-based Diaceutics PLC. Prior to joining Diaceutics, she worked with Kantar Health as a Senior Client Partner, Real World Evidence, where she developed and implemented global business planning strategies and conducted high-quality research. Gilliam has also worked with IQVIA Asia Pacific in the Real-World Insights Division and as a Senior Medical Science Liaison at AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Corporation.
Unisys Corporation – Dwayne L. Allen was named chief technology officer and senior vice president, Solution Innovation and Architecture of Pennsylvania-based Unisys. Allen joins Unisys from Microsoft, where he was a global digital strategist. Before that, he was chief information officer at Masonite International, a global manufacturer of building products. Previously, he was divisional CIO of the Components business segment for Cummins.
Rain Therapeutics – Stefani Wolf was appointed to the board of directors of Rain Therapeutics and Simon N. Powell was appointed to the scientific advisory board. Wolff join Rain from Principia Biopharma, where she served as chief development officer and formerly senior vice president of strategy and operations. She also held senior roles at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Genentech and at Eli Lilly. Powell is the Enid A. Haupt professor and chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is also a member of the Molecular Biology Program of the Sloan-Kettering Institute, and Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
Atriva Therapeutics – Olaf Althaus was named chief financial officer and Stephan Stenglein was named chief medical officer of Atriva Therapeutics GmbH. Althaus was co-founder, CEO and CFO at CellMed AG for 12 years and Managing Director at AEterna Zentaris GmbH. Stenglein was previously Head of Late-Stage Development Respiratory at AstraZeneca from March 2018. Prior to that, he held roles at Novartis, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Shire.
Talking Medicines – Donna Lawson was tapped as Head of Data Quality for Scotland-based Talking Medicines. Lawson joins Talking Medicines from IQVIA Biotech where she was Director of Data Management and was previously Global Head of UK Data Management at ClinTec International.
Capitainer – Sweden’s Capitainer named Mikael Ström to the role of Business Development Manager. Prior to joining Capitainer, Ström managed the molecular diagnostics unit within Clinical Microbiology, at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.
AavantiBio – Paul Herzich was named CTO and Jared Simons was named Vice President of Manufacturing at AavantiBio. Herzich most recently served as Vice President of CMC at BridgeBio Gene Therapy. Previously, he was Senior Director of Manufacturing at LogicBio. Prior to LogicBio, Herzich served as director of Clinical Gene Therapy Manufacturing at Bamboo Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. Before that, he served as Head of Technical Development Manufacturing at Seqirus. Simons previously served as Senior Director at Amicus Therapeutics. Before that, he served as Deputy Director at Sanofi Pasteur. Earlier in his career, he held various positions of increased responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc.
Varcode – Chicago’s Varcode named Cyndi Metallo as director of customer success. Metallo previously served as vice president of product for New York-based Fulton Fish Market, director for MyWebGrocer, and held executive positions with multiple information services companies.
HotSpot Therapeutics, Inc. – Timothy Reilly was named chief development officer where he will lead early drug development strategies. Reilly joins HotSpot from Bristol Myers Squibb, where he held positions of increasing leadership responsibility during his 18-year tenure. Most recently he was Senior Vice President, Early Development Program Leadership.
Wugen Inc. – Daniel M. Kemp was named chief executive officer of Wugen Inc. Kemp is an accomplished researcher with over 30 publications and built his career at Novartis, Merck and Takeda. As CEO of Wugen, Kemp will initially focus on propelling the company’s allogeneic Memory NK and CAR-T cell therapy platforms through mid-stage clinical development. He served on the Boards of GammaDelta Therapeutics and Adaptate Biotherapeutics, both companies that he was instrumental in creating in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
Caption Health – Steve Cashman was named president and CEO of AI-focused Caption Health. Cashman joins Caption Health after serving as Chief Commercial Officer at InTouch Health, which was acquired by Teladoc last year. At InTouch, Cashman oversaw the company’s domestic and global sales, as well as product, marketing, customer service and clinical services.
ImCheck Therapeutics – France-based ImCheck Therapeutics named Loui Madakamutil to the role of chief scientific officer. Madakamutil brings over 20 years of experience in developing transformative therapies that harness the immune system, having served in senior research and development positions in multiple biopharmaceutical companies including Nektar Therapeutics, Janssen, Takeda and Celgene. He will be responsible for advancing ImCheck’s extensive portfolio of novel preclinical-stage antibodies. Prior to ImCheck, Madakamutil was CSO and co-founder of Invivoscribe Therapeutics. Before that, he was head of Discovery and Preclinical Development at Nektar Therapeutics. He also served in several senior leadership positions in R&D and preclinical development at Janssen Inc., Takeda and Celgene.
Evelo Biosciences – Luca Scavo was named CFO and Julie H. McHugh was appointed to the board of directors at Evelo. Scavo has more than 25 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. Scavo joins Evelo from Roche, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President and CFO of Roche Diagnostics North America. Previously, Scavo served as CFO at AstraZeneca Spain and, before that, worked in a series of finance roles at Roche’s offices in Graz, Austria, Nutley, New Jersey, and Basel, Switzerland. McHugh is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, and serves on the Boards of Xellia Pharmaceuticals, Aerie Pharmaceuticals, and Lantheus Medical Imaging. In addition, she is on the Strategic Advisory Board of HealthCare Royalty Partners and serves as Chair of the Board of Visitors for the Smeal College of Business at Pennsylvania State University. Prior to her retirement, McHugh was Chief Operating Officer of Endo Health Solutions and, before that, she served in executive positions, including Chief Executive Officer of Nora Therapeutics.
Ikena Oncology – Maria Koehler was appointed to the board of directors of Ikena. Koehler currently serves as the CMO at Repare Therapeutics. Koehler joined Repare from Bicycle Therapeutics where she held the CMO role. Before that, she was Vice President of Strategy, Innovation and Collaborations for the Oncology Business Unit at Pfizer. Prior to Pfizer, she served in leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline and at AstraZeneca.
