Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of significant leadership hirings, firings and retirings across the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Darren Incorvaia or Gabrielle Masson and it will be featured here at the end of each week.
Stanford economist is Trump’s NIH pick
National Institutes of Health
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Stanford University’s Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., to serve as the director of the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician, professor and economic researcher known for co-authoring a controversial open letter in October 2020 that called for an end to pandemic lockdowns, underscoring the power of herd immunity. Since 2011, Bhattacharya has been the director of Stanford's Center on the Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. Story
Pfizer CEO passes IFPMA baton to Roche chief
International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations
The two-year term of Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Ph.D., as president of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) is coming to a close, leaving the spot open to the Roche Group’s CEO Thomas Schinecker, Ph.D. Schinecker, who ascended to the top leadership role at Roche in 2023, will take the reins at IFPMA come Jan. 1 after previously serving under Bourla as the group’s vice president. Schinecker’s VP replacement is Merck’s CEO Rob Davis, who will be joined by the current VP, Daiichi Sankyo’s chief executive Sunao Manabe, Ph.D. Together, the star-studded leadership team will guide the industry’s largest international trade group in engaging with global organizations such as the United Nations. Release
Genetic medicines CRO names chief exec
Franklin Biolabs
Franklin Biolabs, the genetic medicines contract research organization that gene therapy expert James Wilson, M.D., Ph.D., spun out of the University of Pennsylvania earlier this year, has named Vatsala Naageshwaran, Ph.D., as its new CEO. Naageshwaran spent 13 years at Absorption Systems, including a stint as chief business officer, before the company was acquired by Pharmaron in 2020; she then most recently served as Pharmaron’s vice president and head of business development for U.S. cell and gene therapy and lab services. Story
> Brendan Teehan is immediately stepping down as chief operating officer and head of commercial at Acadia Pharmaceuticals, leaving new CEO Catherine Owen Adams to take on his responsibilities until a successor is named. Filing
> CRO Metrion Biosciences is bringing in experienced executive Lee Patterson to take the CEO reins from Andrew Southan, Ph.D., who is hitting the exit after five years on the job. Release
> Deyaa Adib, M.D., will join CAR-T maker AffyImmune Therapeutics as chief medical officer after most recently filling the same position at FibroGen. Release
> Barinthus Biotherapeutics promoted the co-inventor of its SNAP-Tolerance immunotherapy platform Geoffrey Lynn, M.D., Ph.D., to the chief scientific officer role after Nadege Pelletier, Ph.D., stepped down to pursue other opportunities. Release
> After 12 years at Evotec, Chief Operating Officer Craig Johnstone, Ph.D., is splitting from the company, which will in turn distribute his responsibilities internally until a new organization structure is created. Release
> OSE Immunotherapeutics’ co-founder Dominique Costantini is set to retire from the company and her current post as director of development and strategy, leaving Sanofi vet Fiona Oliver to take over in the newly created role of chief corporate affairs and investor relations officer. Release
> Tonix Pharmaceuticals is supporting the launch of its fibromyalgia drug with two new vice presidents, Bradley Raudabaugh of marketing and Errol Gould, Ph.D., of medical affairs. Release
> Portuguese antibody firm FairJourney Biologics has tapped Marc van Dijk, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer of antibody discovery and engineering. Release
> CRISPR Therapeutics vet Chris Gemmiti, Ph.D., is the new senior vice president of therapeutics development at regenerative medicine company Cellino Biotech. Release
> U.S. Italfarmaco affiliate ITF Therapeutics has a new chief operating officer in Erica Monaco, who previously served the same role at Medicus Pharma. Release