Summit Therapeutics Inc. announced that Dr. Maky Zangenah, DDS, has been named co-Chief Executive Officer, and Paul Sekhri has risen to the title of CEO at vTv Therapeutics.
With the new fiscal quarter comes large-scale decisions from many pharma and biotech companies looking for a fresh start. Summit Therapeutics and vTv Therapeutics are among them, as both announced new CEO appointments.
Summit Therapeutics
Summit Therapeutics Inc. announced that Dr. Maky Zanganeh, DDS, has moved from her role as Chief Operating Officer to co-Chief Executive Officer.
Zanganeh has been with Summit since 2020, while also serving as a member of leadership at several other companies, including Pulse Biosciences. Past experiences have propelled Zanganeh up the chain of command, including at her own company, Zanganeh and Associates, which was founded in 2015.
Zanganeh commented on the exciting new role.
“I am truly honored to be elevated to the Co-CEO role at Summit,” she said. “The trust shown in Bob and me by many of our former executives at past adventures to join us at Summit, combined with our new talented leaders working with us for the first time, speaks volumes as to the impact we can accomplish for patients. Our mission-driven culture to always consider how we can help patients in every decision that we make will ultimately guide us to making a meaningful difference in resolving high unmet needs in oncology and infectious diseases. I am humbled by the opportunity to co-lead our impressive group of accomplished executives and teammates as we seek to expand our pipeline and achieve this goal.”
Zanganeh was previously featured as one of 2021’s “Top 10 Most Influential COOs” in an article by Industry Era.
vTv Therapeutics
Paul Sekhri has risen to the title of CEO at vTv Therapeutics, according to a press release issued Wednesday. Sekhri will also serve as a member of the Board of Directors.
The new title is on par with his previous high-ranking roles. Sekhri previously held the title of Chief Executive Officer at eGenesis, Inc. after serving as Chief Executive Officer at Lycera Corp. He is currently a board member at Axcella.
Rich Nelson, who filled in as interim CEO during the search for a permanent placement, commented on Sekhri’s appointment.
“We are thrilled to have Paul join vTv at this very exciting time in the company’s lifecycle as we actively engage in activities in preparation of the initiation of our Phase 3 trials and continue to have positive discussions with institutions in the biotech community about further investment in vTv. Paul brings extensive experience as CEO of several prominent healthcare companies and has strong ties to the biotech investment community. We are very excited to have Paul on board and I look forward to continuing to support vTv in my new role and to support Paul in his.”
New leadership at vTv comes at a pivotal time for the company. In June, a $25 million investment was received from G42 Investment AI Holding RSC Ltd. to fund phase III trials for TTP399. The candidate aims to treat type 1 diabetes and has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
