Enzyvant and Adaptimmune Snag Experienced Chief Commercial Officers

After guiding the commercial rollout of embattled Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm for Biogen, Johanna Rossell has departed the company for a leadership role at Enzyvant.

Rossell, who served as Global Commercial Lead for Alzheimer’s at Biogen for three years, has taken on the role of chief commercial officer for the Cambridge, Mass.-based company. She joins Enzyvant as the company undertakes its rollout of Rethymic (allogeneic processed thymus tissue-agdc) for children with congenital athymia. Rethymic was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October. It is one of three Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designated products to be approved by the FDA since the program was implemented.

Enzyvant Chief Executive Officer Rachelle Jacques touted Rossell’s experience and said she would be a vital asset to the company. 

“Johanna brings in-depth experience and an intimate understanding of tissue-based regenerative therapies to Enzyvant that will not only help us advance our first FDA-approved therapy but also pursue and execute our bold vision for growth into new markets, indications, and assets,” Jacques said in a statement. 

Rossell’s departure from Biogen comes when the company is rumored to be planning a massive layoff of approximately 1,000 employees. Her departure also follows Alfred Sandrock, the former head of R&D at Biogen, who departed the company at the end of 2021. 

Speaking about her new role at Enzyvant, Rossell said she was excited for this new chapter of her career as the company advances its new regenerative technology. 

 “While the growth potential of this company is attractive, I am most excited by the opportunity to bring truly transformative therapies to patients in need and make a meaningful difference in their lives,” Rosell said in a statement. 

In addition to her role at Biogen, Rossell has also held leadership positions at multiple companies. This includes a 10-year stint at Novartis and two years each at Merck and Mallinckrodt.

Enzyvant isn’t the only company to tap a new chief commercial officer. Philadelphia-based Adaptimmune Ltd. announced that Cintia Piccina, the former head of Commercial at bluebird bio spinout 2Seventy Bio, will take on that role effective Jan. 31. 

“I am delighted to welcome Cintia to our leadership team. She brings extensive commercial experience, including in cell and gene therapy, that will be key as we prepare to submit our first BLA for afami-cel this year, and build our commercial capabilities to support the launch of this initial product and future next-gen cell therapies within our MAGE-A4 franchise. Her fresh perspective and leadership abilities will support our continued growth in our mission to design and develop cell therapies for people with cancer,” Adrian Rawcliffe, Adaptimmune’s CEO, said in a statement. 

Like Rossell, Piccina spent years at Novartis. From 1997 to 2020, she held multiple commercials, marketing and sales roles across several therapeutic areas, including oncology in Brazil and the United States. At 2seventy, in addition to her role as head of Commercial, Piccina also held the positions of Senior vice president of Commercial Oncology and U.S. General Manager.

There, she led the launch of bluebird’s Abcema, the first cell therapy product in multiple myeloma. At Novartis, she oversaw the launch of CAR-T drug Kymriah.