Appointments: Bayer, Biogen, BTG, Shire, Immodulon Therapeutics, Neurocrine Biosciences
Executive Summary
The week's round-up includes new CFOs at Shire and BTG and Neurocrine Biosciences, a new CEO at Gamida Cell, a new general counsel at Scynexis, and a new head for Bayer's consumer health division.
Shire CFO-Designate Thomas Dittrich
Shire PLC
Shire PLC has named Thomas Dittrich CFO and a member of the rare disease specialist's executive committee. Dittrich will assume his roles at Shire in early 2018 after a transition period from his current employer, global industrial engineering and manufacturing company Sulzer Ltd, where he is CFO. Dittrich joined Sulzer in August 2014, serving as interim CEO between August and December 2015. There, he helped design Sulzer's transformation program, driving key upgrades to finance and IT functions, as well as to its capital structure and resource allocation initiatives.
Biogen Inc. appointed Jeffrey D. Capello CFO effective Dec. 11 where he will lead the group’s business planning, tax, treasury, internal audit, accounting, and investor relations functions and report to Biogen CEO Michel Vounatsos. Capello brings 26 years of experience in finance and will be based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most recently, he was executive vice president and CFO at Beacon Health Options Inc. Before that he founded and ran his own company, Monomy Advisors, and served as CFO of Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Boston Scientific Corp. and PerkinElmer Inc. Earlier in his career, he was also a partner in the Boston and Amsterdam offices of PwC.
BTG PLC said Duncan Kennedy will succeed Rolf Soderstrom as CFO Jan. 1, 2018. Soderstrom will remain with BTG until the handover is finished, probably by end of March 2018. Duncan currently leads BTG’s Interventional oncology business, a role he has held since May 2015. He joined BTG in December 2005 as group financial controller and became a member of its executive leadership team in April 2012 when he was appointed group director of finance, managing the global finance function and supporting the CFO. Prior to joining BTG, Duncan spent six years in the group finance function of Wembley PLC.
Bayer AG's supervisory board appointed Heiko Schipper head of the German conglomerate's consumer health division, replacing Erica Mann who decided not to extend her contract which was scheduled to run until end of December 2018. Mann has now asked to be able to hand over leadership of the consumer health business and leave the company from end of March 2018. Currently, Schipper is deputy executive vice president of Nestle SA and a member of its executive board, based in Vevey, Switzerland and leads Nestlé Nutrition. He has held global responsibility for Nestlé’s infant nutrition division since 2013 and was appointed to the Nestlé group executive board in October 2014.
Dr. Julian Adams, Gamida Cell CEO-Designate Gamida Cell
Gamida Cell named Julian Adams chairman and chief executive officer of the cellular and immune therapeutics group. Adams was previously president and chief scientific officer at Clal Biotechnology Industries (CBI) where he oversaw the Boston office, evaluating investment opportunities and supporting portfolio companies, including Gamida Cell. Before joining CBI, he headed Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s R&D efforts. Adams also served as senior vice president of drug discovery and development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals Ltd. playing a key role in the discovery of cancer drug Velcade (bortezomib). Earlier, he was credited with discovering Viramune (nevirapine) for HIV at Boehringer Ingelheim GMBH. Adams succeeds Dr. Yael Margolin, who will remain president of Gamida Cell, continuing to lead the team in Jerusalem.
Realm Therapeutics plc appointed Sanford Zweifach a non-executive director effective Dec. 1, bringing to the AIM-listed clinical-stage biopharma an extensive background in corporate partnering, business development, operations, private and public investing, and capital raising. Zweifach is founder and CEO of Nuvelution Pharma Inc. Prior to Nuvelution, Zweifach held executive roles in the biopharmaceutical industry and life sciences investment banking, including as CEO of Ascendancy Healthcare, Inc.; as MD of the boutique investment bank Reed and Capital Partners; and as CEO of biomarker development company Pathway Diagnostics Corp. In addition to serving on the board of Nuvelution, Zweifach currently serves as chairman of IMIDomics and as chairman of Lyric Pharmaceuticals Inc.
NASDAQ-listed anti-infective specialist Scynexis Inc appointed Scott Sukenick general counsel, effective Nov 15. Sukenick will lead the company's corporate strategic and tactical legal initiatives, including intellectual property and compliance, reporting to Scynexis CEO Marco Taglietti, Sukenick joins Scynexis with more than a decade's experience addressing legal challenges faced by innovative life sciences companies at all stages of development. Most recently, Sukenick worked at Cooley LLP, where he focused on life sciences litigation and strategic intellectual property management.
NASDAQ-listed Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. appointed Matt Abernethy CFO, joining Neurocrine from Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. where Abernethy has held various positions over the past nine years. He holds bachelor's degrees in accounting and business administration from Grace College and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He began his career with KPMG LLP and is a certified public accountant. In December 2016, Neurocrine announced plans for Timothy P. Coughlin to step down as its CFO in 2017. Coughlin has remained with Neurocrine through this transition period and will continue with the company into 2018 to ensure a smooth transition.
Immodulon Therapeutics tapped Andy Clarke, former ASDA CEO, as non-executive chairman of the biopharma. Clarke is joined there by Jerome Zeldis and Graham Burton, both formerly of Celgene Corp. who are appointed executive vice chairman and chief operating officer, respectively. At Celgene, Zeldis held the position of chief medical officer and CEO of Celgene Global Health. Burton joins Immodulon from Celgene where he held a variety of roles, including senior vice president of regulatory, pharmacovigilance, and clinical quality from 2003 to 2013.