BioSpace Movers & Shakers, Aug. 6

Biopharma and life sciences companies strengthen their leadership teams with these Movers & Shakers.

Adaptive Phage Therapeutics – Robert Hopkins was named chief medical officer of Maryland-based Adaptive Phage. He previously served as the company’s vice president of Clinical Development. Hopkins joined the company in 2019, after serving as Senior Medical Advisor in the Division of Clinical Services (DCS) for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Prior to that, Hopkins held various roles including director of Clinical Research at Merck Research Laboratories, head of Product Development at Aeras, and senior director of Clinical Development at Emergent Biosolutions.

Windtree Therapeutics – Randall White was named vice president of Clinical Program Management at Windtree. White brings more than 20 years of pharmaceutical research and development experience to the Windtree team. Most recently, he was the Executive Director and Global Team Leader of Quizartinib at Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. He also served as Chief of Staff Global Oncology R&D for several years. Prior to that, White was the Head of Project Management for the Early Immuno-Oncology portfolio at Bristol-Myers Squibb. His earlier roles included Senior Project Manager at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals and Project Manager of Clinical Development at Protarga.

SVB Leerink – Mairin C. Rooney joined the company’s Biopharma investment banking franchise as Senior Managing Director to bolster its offerings in life sciences and healthcare. Rooney joins SVB Leerink from Goldman Sachs where she served as Managing Director in the Healthcare Investment Banking group. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Rooney was a biopharma investment banker with Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

LianBio – Shanghai-based LianBio appointed Pascal Qian to the position of China General Manager. Qian most recently served as the head of Lilly China’s Oncology Business Unit. Prior to Lilly, Qian held roles at Novartis from 2012 until 2018, including Executive Director, BU Head of Solid Tumor at Novartis Oncology. He also held roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, including Business Liaison Head, Global Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, and China Oncology Business Unit Head.

IrisVision – Naeem Kayani was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer. Kayani joins IrisVision from CoreLogic, where he served as the executive and general manager of multiple lines of businesses. Prior to CoreLogic, Kayani spent two years at Mr. Cooper.

ReForm Biologics – John Yee, Chief Medical Officer at Sobi North America, joined the board of directors at ReForm Biologics. Prior to joining Sobi, he served as Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at Flexion Therapeutics, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Medical Affairs at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Vice President of Medical Affairs, Safety and Operations at Intarcia Therapeutics. From 2011 to 2016, Yee was at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Vice President, US Head Medical Officer and Vice President and Head of Medical Affairs for the U.S. Diabetes franchise.

Q32 Bio – Kathy LaPorte was appointed to the board of directors at Q32. She will serve as the Chair of the Audit Committee of the Board. LaPorte previously served as Chief Business Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Nodality Inc. She was a Founding Partner of New Leaf Venture Partners. LaPorte was also a Co-Founder of Health Tech Capital. She currently serves on the Boards of Elysium Therapeutics, Precipio Diagnostics, D2G Oncology, and Bolt Biotherapeutics.

Ginkgo Bioworks – Reshma Kewalramani, president and CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, will join the board of directors of Ginkgo. Kewalramani joined Vertex in 2017 and was previously CMO and head of Global Medicines Development and Medical Affairs. Prior to Vertex, Kewalramani spent more than 12 years at Amgen where she held a variety of roles across Research and Development.

HeartFlow – John Farquhar was appointed chief operating officer of HeartFlow, Inc. Farquhar most recently served as Vice President and General Manager of Medtronic’s Aortic business. He also served in key leadership roles for Medtronic’s Cardiovascular and Diabetes Groups, including Vice President of the Americas region for the Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring business unit and Vice President for Asia Pacific.

T-Knife Therapeutics – Peggy Sotiropoulou was named chief scientific officer of T-Knife. Prior to joining T-knife, Sotiropoulou was Head of Research & Development at Celyad Oncology. Previously, Sotiropoulou was a tenured Research Associate Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where she led research on the response and sensitization of recalcitrant tumors to therapy.

Foundation Medicine – Sanket Agrawal was named Chief BioPharma Business Officer. Agrawal joins Foundation Medicine following numerous years at Amgen in R&D, commercial oncology, and as a general manager. He previously held leadership roles at Relsys (now Oracle Health Sciences), as well as at leading management consulting firms.

Meissa Vaccines – Robert Walker was named CMO of Meissa. Prior to joining Meissa, Walker was CMO and Director of the Division of Clinical Development at BARDA. In this role, he and his team provided critical clinical development and operations support to numerous programs, including Operation Warp Speed. Prior to BARDA, Walker directed tuberculosis vaccine clinical trials at Aeras, and at MedImmune/AstraZeneca. Early in his career, Walker was a clinical investigator at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Clene – Clene, Inc. named Valerie V. McLaughlin to its board of directors. McLaughlin is the Kim A. Eagle MD Endowed Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Associate Chief Clinical Officer for Cardiovascular Services of the University of Michigan Medical Group, Associate Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. McLaughlin has been the principal investigator of several major clinical trials in pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare disease, and is widely published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. She is past Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension and past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association.