January/February 2024 • PharmaTimes Magazine • 36-37
// YOUR MOVES //
Your Moves
Mover of the Month
Camena Bioscience – a synthetic biology company providing genes to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries – has appointed Dr Nicola Thompson as Chair of its Board of Directors.
Following its $10 million Series A financing earlier in the year, the appointment forms part of the company’s growth plans to expand commercialisation of its pioneering DNA synthesis platform, gSynth.
Nicola is an industry leader, with experience developing and commercialising innovative technologies and therapeutic modalities.
She was the founding CEO of Amphista Therapeutics, successfully steering the company through a $7.5 million Series A, a $53 million Series B and established partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies with a combined deal value of more than $2 billion.
Prior to Amphista, she was Chair of the Board at Nanna Therapeutics, playing a key role in corporate development and its successful acquisition by Astellas. Nicola also held senior leadership roles at Roche, where she built and led pRED’s external drug discovery organisation, and in business development at GSK.
Dr Nicola Thompson, Chair of the Board, Camena Bioscience, added: “I am delighted to join the Company as its Chair at this pivotal stage of growth. The leadership team are recognised pioneers in the field and the existing Board has an impressive array of investment and entrepreneurial experience, which will collectively support Camena on their scale-up journey.”
Broken String Biosciences – a genomics company – has announced the appointment of Gavin Burns as Vice President of Quality and Operations.
Gavin will be responsible for building and optimising Broken String’s teams, processes and systems. His appointment will enable the Company to develop and scale its next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based DNA break-mapping platform, INDUCE-seq.
Gavin brings over 20 years’ experience in research, operations and quality assurance from across the genomics sector to Broken String, including as Associate Director of Quality at Illumina, where he provided pivotal support on the set up and operations for the accredited Illumina Laboratory Services in the UK.
Prior to joining Broken String, Gavin held senior quality and operational roles at several UK-based startups, most recently serving as Director of Quality and Operations at Biocrucible.
In this position, Gavin led expansion of staff, facilities and processes, including rapid implementation of an ISO 13485 quality management system.
Sphere Fluidics has appointed Dr Graeme Daniels as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
In this role, Graeme will lead the international sales and marketing strategy, building on the rapid growth gained from the company’s rebrand and expansion.
With over 20 years of experience in the life sciences and biotechnology industries, Graeme brings broad knowledge and past success to Sphere Fluidics.
His strategic vision and leadership skills will play a pivotal role in advancing the Company's mission to empower researchers and scientists with cutting-edge technologies for single-cell analysis.
Graeme joins from Revvity, a global life sciences and diagnostics company, where he developed sales strategies internationally.
"We’re very excited to welcome Graeme to the Sphere Fluidics’ team. His extensive experience and leadership in the life sciences industry will be instrumental in driving our international sales and marketing initiatives," said Dr Frank Craig, CEO at Sphere Fluidics.
Astraveus SAS has appointed Michel Spagnol as its new Chairman of the Board.
Michel brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Astraveus. With over 30 years of international experience in the healthcare industry, Michel's career has demonstrated his ability to successfully lead the transformation of multiple advanced technologies into both industrial and commercial successes.
As the former CEO and Chairman of Novasep, an international CDMO group based in France (now part of the Axplora group), he successfully led the restructuring of the Novasep group, increasing its value significantly to €1.5 billion.
During his tenure, he grew its gene therapy franchise into a world-renowned CDMO, leading to its divestment to Thermo Fisher Scientific group in 2021, giving him in-depth knowledge of Astraveus’ target market. Prior to this, he held leadership roles at Rhodia Pharma Solutions and Shasun.
Michel currently serves as Deputy Chairman at Axplora group, and as a Board member and Chairman of the SAB at MVG Group. Additionally, he is the Founder and President of Mifani-Invest, a venture focused on healthcare and digital transformation investments.
Kling Bio has announced the appointment of Dr Stefano Gullà as Chief Scientific Officer.
Stefano has over 15 years of experience in biotherapeutics discovery and development.
Prior to joining Kling, he held senior positions at Pfizer, Agenus, Flagship and RVAC where he led the discovery and development of its first-in-class therapeutics with applications in immuno-oncology and autoimmunity.
Stefano enthused: “Kling’s technology is a powerful discovery engine that enables simultaneous and unbiased identification of new targets and therapeutic antibodies.”
He added: “I am excited about the potential to scale this clinically proven platform, focusing on cancer and emerging infectious diseases, and look forward to working with Kling’s exceptionally talented leadership team to continue building value for patients by advancing life-changing medicines into the clinic.”
M+F Health has announced the appointment of Sarah Jones as a Director.
Sarah joins the company with a wealth of expertise spanning more than 17 years in healthcare policy, public affairs and communications.
Her previous roles included agency-side for Four, ICG and Bell Pottinger Public Affairs where she provided counsel to both UK and global life sciences, med-tech companies and patient groups.
Sarah reflected: "I am delighted to be joining M+F at such an exciting time of growth for the agency. Having worked with them over the last year as a consultant, I've seen what a fantastic and committed team they have; consistently delivering industry-leading campaigns. I am looking forward to playing my part in the agency's continued success."
Decisive Consulting has appointed Chris Grimes-Crompton to lead its global commercial strategy efforts and become a member of its senior leadership team.
Chris has over 25 years of life sciences experience with executive roles in the pharmaceutical, biotech, medtech and health-tech industries. He has also led organisations at global, regional and country level and brings therapeutic experience from mass market medicines to orphan diseases.
Chris enthused: “I am thrilled to announce my new role with the Decisive team, joining at a time full of potential and growth. Witnessing Decisive's rapid evolution and success has been inspiring, and I am excited to contribute significantly to the company's ongoing expansion.”
Versameb has announced the appointment of Dr Alexandre LeBeaut as Chairman of the Board.
Alexandre has over two decades of global R&D leadership experiences, bringing multiple medicines to market in immunology, oncology, gastroenterology, cardiometabolic and infectious diseases.
He said: “I am honoured to take this responsibility as Chair of Versameb’s board at such a pivotal time in company’s growth trajectory. Through the development of its unique and proprietary VERSagile platform the company can target the biology of diseases with unmet medical needs and to have the potential to transform patients’ lives.
“This is particularly relevant for VMB-100, which is set to enter Phase 2a open label study for treatment of SUI in 2024.”
AviadoBio has announced the appointment of John Isaac as Chief Scientific Officer.
John joined AviadoBio in July 2023 as SVP, Research and Discovery. An internationally recognised neuroscientist, he brings over 30 years of experience in academia, non-profit and industry to the company.
Prior to his time at AviadoBio, John served as the Europe, the Middle East and Africa Head of Neuroscience, External Innovation at Johnson & Johnson Innovation.
In this role he oversaw neuroscience partnerships and assets in EMEA spanning discovery through phase 2 development, as well as related business development activities, including the spin-out of AviadoBio.
Prior to that, he held several roles in various organisations, including leading the neuroscience strategy and funding at the Wellcome Trust and Eli Lilly.
AC Immune has announced the appointment of Dr Madiha Derouazi as Chief Scientific Officer.
Madiha Derouazi, an experienced immunologist, joins from Speransa Therapeutics where she had been CEO since inception in 2021, leading development of a novel platform of prophylactic vaccines.
Previously, she founded AMAL Therapeutics in 2012, an immuno-oncology company developing a new generation of therapeutic cancer vaccines, and served as CEO and CSO of the company until 2022.
Arecor has announced the appointment of Dr Helen Parris as Senior Vice President, Commercial and General Manager of the Group’s subsidiary company, Tetris Pharma.
Helen has over 20 years of scientific, commercial and government affairs experience across several international biopharmaceutical companies and has been responsible for launching transformational products and shaping markets across large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Prior to joining Tetris Pharma, she served as General Manager Northern Markets (UK, Netherlands and Nordics) at Albireo.
Previously, Helen held multiple positions at Gilead. It was here that she led the launch of several transformational drugs, developed critical launch strategies and expanded commercial opportunities.
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