Biopharma and life sciences companies strengthen their leadership teams and boards with these Movers & Shakers.
ProQR – Naveen Shams was named chief scientific officer of Netherlands-based ProQR Therapeutics. Shams will assume responsibility for research programs and the translational medicine platform from David Rodman, who is departing ProQR. Shams most recently served as Senior Corporate Officer, Head of Global Research and Development and CSO at Santen, a global ophthalmology company. Shams also played a role in establishing the ophthalmology department at Genentech.
BioMarin – MacArthur Fellowship winner Kevin Eggan was tapped as head of Research and Early Development at BioMarin Pharmaceutical. Eggan will be responsible for the execution of BioMarin’s discovery research programs and will play a critical role in shaping the vision of the company’s future research pipeline. He will head BioMarin’s Research organization and provide scientific leadership throughout the drug discovery process. Eggan served as a tenured professor in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and was director of Stem Cell Biology for the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute. He served on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Ipierian, Roche, and Angelini Pharma among others. He has co-founded three biotechs, Q-State Bioscience, Quralis, and Enclear Therapies.
Allena Pharmaceuticals – Ann Miller was named to the board of directors of Allena Pharmaceuticals. Miller most recently spent six years at Sanofi, ultimately serving as Vice President, Marketing, where she was selected to lead a corporate-wide initiative on Marketing Excellence. Prior to Sanofi, Miller spent two years at Eisai, where she led the Pharmaceutical Services and Primary Care and Specialty Business units. Miller also spent time at Amgen and Merck. Miller currently serves on the board of Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Puma Biotechnology.
TriSalus – Steven Katz was named chief medical officer at TriSalus Life Sciences. Katz has served as the company’s chief medical advisor and as chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board since 2018. Katz has served as the principal investigator for five solid tumor CAR-T trials, including four for liver metastases and one for peritoneal carcinomatosis.
ImmunoPhotonics – Jonathan Knowles was appointed to the board of directors of Immunophotonics, Inc. Knowles most recently served as chairman of the board for Immunocore Ltd. and Adaptimmune Ltd.
Supernus Pharma – James Kelly was named chief financial officer of Supernus Pharmaceuticals. He will succeed Greg Patrick, who is set to retire from that role. Most recently, Kelly was the CFO of Vanda Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Vanda, Kelly was Vice President, Controller at Medimmune. Kelly also spent time at Biogen, serving in research & development finance roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as the Director of Planning and Operations.
Renovacare – Chief Executive Officer Alan L. Rubino has been named chairman of the board of directors of the company. Rubino replaces Harmel S. Rayat as chairman. Rayat resigned from the board. Rubino has served as CEO since November 2019.
eTheRNA – Belgium-based eTheRNA Immunotherapies NV named Michael Mulqueen as head of Business Development. Mulqueen is an industry veteran who spent time with companies like Hoffman-LaRoche, Synosia and Silence Therapeutics.
ALX Oncology – ALX formed its scientific advisory board. Members include Keith Flaherty, Director of Clinical Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. Flaherty served on the board of directors of Loxo Oncology until it was acquired by Eli Lilly. He currently serves on the boards of Clovis Oncology and Checkmate Pharmaceuticals; Charles M. Baum, president and CEO of Mirati Therapeutics, who Baum currently serves on the board of directors of Immunomedics and BCTG Acquisition Corp.; and Kipp Weiskopf. Cofounder of ALX Oncology and a Whitehead Fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.
Federation Bio – 23andMe veteran Emily Drabant Conley was named CEO of Federation Bio. She takes over from founding CEO Racquel Bracken. Conley most recently served as vice president of Business Development at 23andMe. Additionally, Conley and John Stuelpnagel were named to the board of directors. Stuelpnagel is co-founder, first CEO and former COO of Illumina, chairman of 10X Genomics and a director at Encoded Therapeutics.
General Atlantic – Brett Zbar joined General Atlantic as a managing director and Global Head of Life Sciences. Zbar joins General Atlantic from Foresite Capital, where he served as Managing Director.
Q-State – Paul Medeiros was named president and CEO of Q-State Biosciences. He will lead the company’s efforts to bring its first therapeutic candidates into the clinic. Medeiros joins Q-State from Imbrium Therapeutics, where he served as president and founding executive, directing the company’s business operations and R&D portfolio in the areas of pain and CNS therapeutics. He concurrently served as president of the accelerator firm Greenfield BioVentures. Medeiros held roles at Mundipharma International, AVI BioPharma and Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals.
Maze Therapeutics – Sarah Noonberg has been named CMO of Maze Therapeutics. Noonberg joins Maze from prior roles as CMO of Nohla Therapeutics and Prothena Biosciences, and earlier, head of global clinical development at BioMarin. Prior to BioMarin, she was senior vice president at Medivation. Noonberg currently serves on the board of directors of Protagonist Therapeutics and Neoleukin Therapeutics.
Silo Pharma -- Kevin Muñoz was named to the board of directors of Silo Pharma. Muñoz currently serves as Director of Operations at Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
PolyNeuron –Aled Williams was named chief business officer of Switzerland-based Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals AG. Williams most recently held chief commercial officer positions at VectivBio and Therachon. Prior to these roles, he was at Shire Pharmaceuticals for more than seven years. Williams has also worked in global leadership roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis and Roche.
Inositec – Michael H. Davidon, CEO of New Amsterdam Pharma, was added to the board of directors of Inositec. Davidson was previously the founding CEO and CSO of Corvidia Therapeutics, which was recently acquired by Novo-Nordisk. He also co-founded Omthera Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Astra Zeneca.
Radius Health – Peter A. Schwartzman is joining Radius Health as vice president of the newly formed Capital, Strategy and Transactions (CST) Group. The CST group is responsible for the analysis and due diligence required for all business development activities and acts as the company’s point of contact for capital providers, investment banks and analysts. Schwartzman joins Radius from Piney Lake Capital Management, and before that was a Managing Director in the Leveraged Finance Group at BlackRock, Inc.
Relief Therapeutics – Jack Weinstein was named CFO and Treasurer of Relief Therapeutics. Before joining Relief, he served as Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at Avalon Group, Ltd. Prior to that, he was CFO, treasurer and head of Business Development at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals.
Lumen Bioscience – Mark Litton, chief operating officer of Athira Pharma, was added to the Lumen Board of Directors. Litton was cofounder and chief business officer of Alder BioPharmaceuticals. Prior to Alder, Litton held executive leadership roles at Celltech Group, Chiroscience Group plc, and Ribozyme.
Shasqi – Wayne Saville was named CMO and Juan Jaen, president and cofounder of Arcus Biosciences was named a member of the board of directors at Shasqi. Prior to joining Shasqi, Saville was Vice President, Oncology Clinical Development at Xencor, Inc. Before that, he served as head of Clinical Development at Tocagen, Inc. He has also worked in clinical development and medical affairs for Amgen, Biogen-IDEC and Genoptix/Novartis. Prior to Arcus, Jaen was founder and head of research at Flexus Biosciences.
Ashvattha Therapeutics – George G. Montgomery was named to the board of directors of Ashvattha. Montgomery currently serves as a Managing Director at WestRiver Group and before that, Montgomery was a partner at Gurnet Point Capital. He was a cofounder and CFO at Coherus Biosciences and has held leadership roles in banking with JPMorgan H&Q, Cowen and CSFB.
