December 2025 • PharmaTimes Magazine • 36-37
// YOUR MOVES //
Your Moves
Movers of the Month
SERB Pharmaceuticals has appointed Dr Vignesh Rajah as its new Chief Medical Officer, bringing over 20 years of global experience in medical and clinical leadership across US and European pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.
Vanessa Wolfeler, CEO of SERB, said: “Vignesh’s unique expertise as both a physician and an experienced CMO reinforces our unwavering commitment to advancing patient care and improving health outcomes. His deep clinical insight and passion for evidence-based innovation will help us realise the full potential of our therapies.”
Vignesh, who was most recently CMO at US biotech Y-mAbs Therapeutics Inc, has held senior medical roles at Sanofi, Wyeth and GSK. His therapeutic experience spans rare diseases, oncology, immunology, respiratory and vaccines. Before entering industry, he practised as a paediatric critical care specialist in leading London hospitals.
Vignesh said: “I’m thrilled to join SERB at such a pivotal moment in its growth. The company’s focus on rare disease and emergency medicines and its commitment to addressing urgent medical needs strongly align with my own values as a physician and medical leader. I look forward to working with our teams and our partners in the medical community to bring meaningful innovation to patients around the world.”
The appointment marks a key milestone in SERB’s strategy to expand its scientific and medical capabilities, support new product launches and deepen engagement with the global medical community.
Ardena has appointed Dipesh Patel as Chief Quality Officer and Peter Rose as Chief Information Officer, reinforcing its commitment to quality, compliance and digital integration across its global network.
Jeremie Trochu, Ardena’s Chief Executive Officer, said: "These appointments mark an important step in strengthening Ardena’s foundation as we accelerate our global growth journey and expand the capabilities that enable next-generation precision medicines."
He added: “With Dipesh and Peter joining our leadership team, we continue to build on our culture of operational excellence and integrated solutions for our customers, aligned with our mission to enable the development of next-generation treatments get into the clinic and to patients faster."
Dipesh brings over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector, including senior roles at Accord Healthcare and Catalent. He will lead Ardena’s Quality and Regulatory organisation, focusing on global process enhancement and compliance.
Peter, formerly global head of IT infrastructure and security at Diversey, also spent a decade at Catalent overseeing global IT systems. At Ardena, he will advance enterprise-wide digital integration, automation and cybersecurity to support collaboration and resilience.
The appointments reflect Ardena’s strategic focus on scaling operations and enabling complex therapies through robust quality systems and digital transformation.
ViCentra has appointed Karen Baxter as Senior Vice President of Sales, Europe, and Jay Little as Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, strengthening its executive team as it scales the Kaleido insulin patch pump across Europe and into new markets.
Tom Arnold, Chief Executive Officer of ViCentra, said: “These are transformative additions to our leadership team. Karen brings an exceptional track record of scaling category-defining diabetes businesses across Europe through both direct sales as well as distributors. Jay adds deep strategic expertise in partnerships, reimbursement and commercial execution.”
Karen, who spent nine years at Dexcom, commented: “I am thrilled to join ViCentra at such a pivotal stage in its growth. Kaleido’s user-centred design and lifestyle-first approach truly sets it apart, offering people with diabetes greater freedom, comfort and discretion in their insulin therapy.”
Jay, formerly of Medtronic Diabetes, said: “ViCentra distinguishes itself through a compelling fusion of design, precision and purpose. The momentum behind Kaleido is both strong and growing, underscoring its potential to reshape diabetes care. Throughout my career, I have been committed to expanding access to diabetes technology that truly improves lives.”
The appointments follow ViCentra’s recent $85 million Series D financing and reflect its strategic focus on talent, infrastructure and commercial readiness.
Draig Therapeutics has announced the appointment of Ivana Magovčević-Liebisch as President and Chief Executive Officer. She succeeds Ruth McKernan, who continues as a Director on the Board.
Douglas E Williams, Chairman of the Board, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ivana as Draig’s new President and CEO. She is a fantastic addition to the team given her strong track record in growing companies and advancing innovative product candidates for patients in need, particularly in the neuroscience space.”
Ivana joins Draig following her tenure as President and CEO of Vigil Neuroscience, which she founded and led through IPO and clinical development before its acquisition by Sanofi.
She has held senior roles at Ipsen and Teva and currently serves on the boards of Acrivon Therapeutics and Quanterix Corporation.
Ivana said: “I am thrilled to be joining Draig as this exciting stage of its development. In just a short period of time, Draig has established a strong foundation, assembled a team with exceptional talent, and developed a clear path to advance its pipeline of ground-breaking therapies for people with neuropsychiatric disorders.”
Ruth said: “I am extremely proud of the work we have done building Draig, raising $140M at Series A and starting our first phase 2 trial with DT-101. I enthusiastically welcome Ivana, whose exemplary skills will develop the company to deliver transformative medicines for people with neuropsychiatric disorders.”
Ona Therapeutics has appointed Dr Antoine Yver as Chair of its Board of Directors, marking a key milestone as the company prepares to advance its lead antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), ONA-255, into clinical trials for breast cancer in early 2026.
Valerie Vanhooren, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Antoine’s unparalleled experience in advancing first-in-class oncology drugs at lightning speed from translational research through global approval will be critical as we advance our lead candidate, ONA-255, into clinical development in breast cancer.”
Antoine has held senior roles at Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Merck, and played a key role in securing approvals for 13 cancer therapies including Enhertu, Tagrisso and Lynparza.
He currently serves on the boards of several oncology-focused companies and contributes to the scientific advisory committee at Gustave Roussy Cancer Institute.
Antoine said: “Breast cancer remains the most prevalent cancer among women worldwide. Having witnessed firsthand the transformative impact ADCs can have for the treatment paradigm of breast cancer and the direct clinical benefit for patients, I recognise the compelling potential of Ona’s approach in identifying novel tumour targets.”
He added: “I’m thrilled to join the company at this pivotal stage to help ensure clinical readiness and support the team in advancing its pipeline.”
Ona’s proprietary discovery platform identifies novel biological targets not addressed by current ADCs, positioning the company to develop therapies for difficult-to-treat solid tumours.
Astraveus has announced the appointments of Didier Masson as Chief Operating Officer and Ken Kotz as Chief Technology Officer, strengthening its leadership as it advances the Lakhesys Benchtop Cell Factory.
Jérémie Laurent, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Didier and Ken both bring exceptional and varied qualities and experience to our leadership team and they will have a pivotal role as we progress the development of our Lakhesys Benchtop Cell Factory.
“Attracting this level of talent is testament to our ambition, as we endeavour to make these groundbreaking treatments available to everyone in need, thereby enabling a healthier tomorrow.”
Didier, formerly COO at Quantoom Biosciences, brings over 20 years of experience in operations across pharma, biotech and medtech. He said: “I see a tremendous opportunity to contribute to the growth of Astraveus by optimising operations, building scalable systems, and promoting collaboration across teams. The company’s mission and its highly innovative approach truly resonate with me.”
Ken, previously Director Process Development at bluebird bio, added: “Astraveus’ closed, automated and truly end-to-end approach to cell therapy manufacturing has the potential to transform the autologous cell and gene therapy landscape. I am deeply passionate about helping to expand access to these transformative medicines for patients in need.”
The appointments follow earlier additions to the leadership team, including Jean-Paul Mangeolle as Chairman, David Newble as Independent Board Member and Laurence Riot Lamotte as Chief Financial Officer. Astraveus is positioning itself to revolutionise cell therapy manufacturing with its Lakhesys platform.
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