Alector Announces New CMO
The clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering immuno-neurology announced the appointment of Gary Romano, MD, PhD, as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Romano will lead the company’s global clinical development strategy and is trusted to oversee the clinical development, clinical operations, biometrics and digital science, and medical affairs functions.
“Alector’s deep scientific expertise in microglial biology and ongoing rigorous clinical interrogation of compelling genetically validated neuro-immune targets for neurodegenerative diseases are trailblazing a novel and promising approach to treatment that provides new hope for those with diseases such as frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, and Parkinson’s disease,” stated Dr. Romano. “My passion is to make a meaningful impact in the lives of patients and families suffering from neurodegenerative diseases through the development of transformative treatments.”
Dr. Romano will draw upon more than 25 years of experience in neurodegenerative disease, including his leadership roles at Merck, the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, and Passage Bio.
Inozyme Pharma Strengthens Executive Team
The clinical-stage rare disease biopharma focusing on the treatment of abnormal mineralization appointed Soojin Kim, PhD, as Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Operations Officer (CTOO). An award-winning scientist, researcher, and executive in biotech, Dr. Kim brings 25 years of pharmaceutical R&D experience. As a known leader in developing expert technology groups and project teams, Dr. Kim is trusted to lead the strategic expansion of the company’s manufacturing and technical operations in support of ongoing and planned clinical trials of INZ-701.
“Soojin’s extensive experience in developing manufacturing solutions for drug candidates in all stages of clinical development, will be invaluable as we continue to advance INZ-701 in patients with ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency,” states Axel Bolte, MSc, MBA, Inozyme’s Co-Founder, President, and CEO. Prior to joining Inozyme, Dr. Kim served as SVP and Site Head of the bio plant complex at Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co.
Aravive, Inc.
Industry veteran, Scott Dove, PhD, joins the clinical-stage oncology company as Chief Operating Officer. With more than 20 years of experience in drug development, Dr. Dove will be pivotal in executing a steady stream of anticipated clinical milestones for Aravive with strategic direction and oversight.
Bioventus Inc.
The global leader in innovations for active healing appointed Mark Singleton as its Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Principal Accounting Officer. Singleton has two decades of experience in operational finance and mergers and acquisitions at large and multinational organizations, most recently serving as Vice President of Finance, Americas for Teleflex Incorporated.
Certara
Stephen Duffull, PhD joins Certara as Senior Scientific Advisor within the Integrated Drug Development team while Mark Sale, MD accepts a new role as Vice President in the same department. Dr. Duffull boasts expertise in biostatistics and 25 years of experience within quantitative pharmacology with Certara. His knowledge and input will provide direction to technically complex projects, shape the company’s pharmacometric scientific strategy, and optimize the company’s quantitative capabilities. Dr. Sale brings 30 years of experience in modeling and simulation to Certara. His work developing novel machine learning methods in drug development and conducting advanced pharmacometrics analyses across diverse therapeutic areas offers essential expertise to the IDD team. Certara is confident that Dr. Sale’s knowledge and experience will strengthen Certara’s clients’ drug development programs through collaborative partnerships.
Eikon Therapeutics
The drug discovery and development company with Nobel Prize-winning technology that uses precise microscopy to track the individual movements of proteins, appointed former Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier to its Board of Directors. One of multiple previous Merck employees to join Eikon, Frazier will offer the company a deep knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, matters of business, law, and the needs of society.
EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals
Stefan Petursson has been appointed Chief Financial Officer at EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals. Petursson’s 20+ years of experience working as Chief Financial Officer for the banks of Landsvirkjun and Arion, and his successful completion of an IPO in both Sweden and Iceland, prepare him well for his new role. EpiEndo is confident that Petursson’s expertise and experience will contribute to the successful growth and development of the company.
Everly Health
Physician entrepreneur Liz Kwo, MD, joins Everly as its Chief Medical Officer. An expert in data science, automation, and artificial intelligence in digital health, Dr. Kwo joins the company to lead its clinical strategy as it focuses on utilizing technology to expand access to care into people’s homes, especially with new partnerships to make its at-home cancer testing kits more accessible.
Fishawack Health
Global commercial partner Fishawack Health hired Marcia Goddard as its new Chief Creative Officer. The former President of McCann Health in New Jersey and San Francisco, will now lead the creative for Fishawack Health’s U.S. Marketing group.
NeuraLace
Keith Warner was brought on as the new Chief Executive Officer to guide the clinical rollout of NeuraLace’s recently approved Axon Therapy system. He will also be trusted to lead the startup through fundraising efforts and plans to expand into other technologies. Warner joins from his role as CEO of Attune Medical, developer of a silicone device that controls a patient’s core temperature from the esophagus.
Organon
The global women’s health company appointed Meghan Rivera as U.S. Managing Director. With her 20 years of experience in bio-pharmaceutical organizations and digital therapeutics, Rivera will be responsible for leading Organon’s U.S. commercial operations team, maximizing growth potential across the company’s portfolio of women’s health, biosimilars, and established brands’ treatment areas. She previously headed AMAG Pharmaceuticals’ women’s health business unit.
Radius Health
The global biopharma leader brought on Mark Conley as Chief Financial Officer. Conley is a financial guru with experience in all aspects of finance including business unit accounting, regulatory, corporate books and records, budget processes, and internal and external audit and control. Conley joins from Kaleido Biosciences where he was most recently the VP of Finance.
Truepill
The digital health platform connecting telehealth, diagnostics, and pharmacy infrastructure appointed Sid Viswanathan as the new CEO. Viswanathan co-founded the company in 2016 and has served as President since then and will continue to lead the company through its transformative growth. Viswanathan’s career included leadership roles with Johnson & Johnson and LinkedIn and also founded a business card scanning app acquired by LinkedIn called CardMunch.
