BioSpace Movers & Shakers: Feb. 7

Executive Jump

Portola Pharmaceuticals – South San Francisco-based Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. named Rajiv Patni as its new chief medical officer. Patni will be responsible for leading clinical development, clinical operations, medical affairs, regulatory affairs, biometrics, pharmacovigilance and data management. During his career, Patni has contributed to eight approvals, across multiple therapeutic areas, including cardiology and neurology, in both established and growing companies. Before joining Portola, Patni was CMO at Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to Adamas, Patni was chief development officer at Ocera Therapeutics. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles in clinical development and medical affairs in Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Roche and Pfizer. Jeff Myers, who has served as Portola’s interim chief medical officer since May 2019, will continue in his role as the company’s senior vice president of medical affairs.

Galecto, Inc. – Denmark’s Galecto, Inc. tapped Bertil Lindmark as its new CMO. Lindmark, who joins from eTheRNA immunotherapies NV, a privately held Belgian mRNA immunotherapy company. Before eTheRNA, he served as head of clinical development for the Respiratory and Inflammation franchises at AstraZeneca, where he led the development of Symbicort. Before that, he headed Global R&D at Almirall, involving 500 staff and the successful development and approval of several new drugs in the respiratory, gastrointestinal, neuroscience and dermatological fields. In 2015 he joined ASLAN Pharmaceuticals in Singapore with a focus on cancer and atopic skin and lung diseases.

PhoreMost – U.K.-based PhoreMost Limited strengthened its leadership team with two key appointments. Catherine Beech joined the company’s board of directors as a Non-Executive Director and Benedict Cross joins as Senior Director (Technology). Cross will direct the evolution and development of the company’s SITESEEKER screening platform. Beech has over 25 years of biotech and pharmaceutical industry experience, including leading drug development programs in hypertension, heart failure, Parkinson’s disease and HIV. She is a scientific founder and chief executive officer of Exonate. Cross, a geneticist and biotechnologist, joins PhoreMost from Horizon Discovery, where he established and led the company’s functional genomic screening platform over a period of six years.

Aerie Pharmaceuticals - Michelle Senchyna was named head of clinical development and medical affairs at N.C.-based Aerie Pharmaceuticals. Senchyna will lead and direct the clinical development and medical affairs strategy for the company. She most recently served as executive director of Ophthalmology at Allergan, where she oversaw the clinical development of pharmaceutical, consumer and device products for anterior and posterior segment diseases. Prior to Allergan, Senchyna held leadership positions in R&D and Medical Affairs at Alcon and Panoptica.

Terrace Global – Toronto-based Terrace Global, Inc. named Stephen Lermer as its president and chief operating officer. Lermer is joining Terrace Global to lead and manage the company’s international operations. Previous to joining Terrace Global Stephen was the COO of Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc. Before that, he held senior leadership and executive positions at Johnson & Johnson, Burroughs Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline), Rhone Poulenc (now Sanofi-Aventis), Orion Oyj, Akela Pharma and Argenta.

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Centene Corporation – Jennifer Gilligan was named head of investor relations at Centene Corporation. She replaces Edmund Kroll upon his retirement in April 2020. Prior to Centene, Gilligan served as director of Investor Relations for CVS Health.

Truvian Sciences – Shane Bowen joined San Diego-based Truvian as head of engineering. Bowen comes to Truvian from Illumina, Inc., the global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, where he most recently served as senior director of scientific research in the Department of Research and Technology Development.

CytomX – Alison L. Hannah has been named CMO of South San Francisco-based CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. Earlier in her career, Hannah held the role of Senior Medical Director at SUGEN, Inc. (acquired by Pharmacia & Upjohn, now Pfizer) where she had oversight of clinical development, clinical operations, and pharmacovigilance. Hannah began her career at Quintiles, a global contract research organization. Hannah currently serves on the board of NeoGenomics.

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals – Jeffrey Trigilio has been named the first chief financial officer for Amylyx. In this new role, he will lead the company’s financial strategy and business growth and development. Prior to joining Amylyx, Trigilio served as vice president of Finance at BlueRock Therapeutics, an engineered cell therapy company. Previously, he held roles of increasing responsibility at Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

Aerami Therapeutics – Timm Crowder was named COO of N.C.-based Aerami Therapeutics. Crowder will lead the development of Aerami’s platform which uses inhalation technology to deliver aerosol drug formulations into the small airway of the lungs. Prior to Aerami, Crowder served as COO at SPYRYX Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company developing inhaled therapeutics for severe respiratory diseases. Previously, he was the director of Advanced Manufacturing Technology at GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to GSK, Crowder was co-founder and chief technology officer of Oriel Therapeutics, an inhaler technology company launched to commercialize a dry powder inhaler he developed during his graduate research.

Abalos Therapeutics – Germany-based Abalos Therapeutics made two appointments to its leadership team. Klaus Binder was named chairman of the board of directors and Dethardt Muller was named chief technology officer. Binder was the founding CEO of CEVEC Pharmaceuticals and served on the board of several companies including Amaxa, Natrix Separations and Pfanstiehl Corporation. Binder started his career at Boehringer Ingelheim in 1990 where he gained in-depth experience in drug discovery and pre-clinical development. Müller joins Abalos from ViraTherapeutics where he was Head of CMC since 2016. Prior to that, he held different roles with increasing responsibility at Rentschler Biotechnologie GmbH.

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