36-37 Your Moves

TECregen, a biotechnology company pioneering thymus rejuvenation, has announced the appointment of Dr Klaas Zuideveld as Chief Executive Officer.

Klaas will lead TECregen’s strategy and execution as the company advances its thymopoietic biologics designed to rejuvenate thymic epithelial cells (TECs), restore immune function and strengthen immune resilience.

He brings more than 20 years of experience across large pharmaceutical companies and biotech, with a strong track record spanning translational strategy, clinical development and global regulatory execution.

He has contributed to multiple IND clearances and global product approvals, and has led teams through partnering, financing and value creation milestones across several therapeutic areas.

"Klaas is a highly experienced leader with a proven ability to translate innovative science into rigorous clinical development programmes," said Dr Bo Rode Hansen, chairman of TECregen. "As TECregen advances its novel approach to restoring thymic function, his leadership will be instrumental in shaping the company’s development strategy and guiding its transition toward the clinic."

Nucleome Therapeutics, a company tackling the molecular causes of inflammatory diseases through a breakthrough approach to 3D human genetics, has announced the appointment of Dr Michelle Morrow as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).

Michelle joins Nucleome with two decades of experience in drug discovery and development and executing R&D strategy across biotech and large pharma.

Most recently she was CSO at Avacta Therapeutics, where she provided strategic leadership of discovery and preclinical research and led its oncology programme through candidate selection to IND approval.

Prior to this Michelle was SVP, Head of invoX Therapeutics Innovation, following its acquisition of F-star Therapeutics where she held positions of increasing responsibility and most recently she was SVP, Head of Research. She also held senior scientific roles at MedImmune (now AstraZeneca).

Dr Mark Bodmer, Chief Executive Officer at Nucleome Therapeutics, said: "We warmly welcome Michelle to Nucleome. She brings a wealth of experience in advancing drug discovery candidates through the clinical pathway. Her deep expertise in immunology and bispecific antibody therapeutics will be critical as Nucleome accelerates its ambition to tackle the molecular causes of inflammatory disease.”

Michelle Morrow added: "Nucleome’s ability to access previously untapped biology creates a powerful opportunity to deliver first-in-class immunomodulatory therapies and I am eager to work with the team to advance these programmes towards the clinic and ultimately bring meaningful impact to patients’ lives."

VectorY Therapeutics, a leader in vectorised antibody therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, has announced the appointment of Dr Kevin Pojasek to its board of directors.

Kevin brings more than two decades of expertise founding, scaling and leading innovative biopharma companies, with deep experience across corporate strategy, business development, and research and development.

Kevin is currently president and chief executive officer of Enara Bio, where he has led the company since 2018 and advanced its vision to develop T-cell engager therapies against novel solid tumour targets. He is also a Venture Partner at SV Health Investors and previously served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Atlas Venture.

Prior to Enara, Kevin was chief strategy and business officer at Immunocore, where he played a key role in shaping corporate and R&D strategy and led the company’s business development efforts.

Earlier in his career, he co-founded Quartet Medicine while at Atlas Venture, serving as president and chief executive officer. He has held multiple executive leadership positions spanning research and development, corporate strategy and development at venture-backed biotechnology companies.

"Kevin’s track record of building and guiding high-impact biotech companies makes him an exceptional addition to our board at VectorY," said Adam Rosenberg, chair of the board at VectorY. "His strategic insight and deep industry experience will be invaluable as we continue to advance patient care with new and novel approaches to address unmet treatment needs in neurodegenerative disease."

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc has announced that it has appointed Michael Miller to its board of directors.

Michael has more than four decades of experience in commercial and leadership roles in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

"Mike has a strong track record of commercial excellence, and we’re delighted to have him join our board," said Raul Rodriguez, Rigel’s president and CEO. "His extensive expertise in commercial execution and leadership will provide valuable insights as we execute on our transformational strategic plan, particularly our objectives of growing our current portfolio of medicines and evaluating potential in-licensing opportunities."

Michael currently serves on the board of directors at Puma Biotechnology and BioXcel Therapeutics.

He served as the Executive Vice President of US Commercial at Jazz Pharmaceuticals from April 2014 until his retirement in September 2020.

Before that, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Vivus.

Prior to that, he served as Vice President leading the HER Family Oncology franchise at Genentech.

Other roles included Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Connetics Corporation, a specialty pharmaceutical company acquired by Stiefel Laboratories (GSK); Vice President at ALZA Corporation, a pharmaceutical company acquired by Johnson & Johnson; and various sales and marketing positions at Syntex Corporation.

Quotient Therapeutics, a company pioneering somatic genomics to inform breakthrough medicines, has announced that it has appointed Susan Keefe as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Susan has a 30-year tenure in finance, accounting and operations in the life sciences, most recently serving as the company’s acting CFO through her role at the company’s founder, Flagship Pioneering.

"Susan brings a powerful combination of strategic insight, operational rigour and experience building and scaling public and private life sciences organisations," said Rahul Kakkar MD, president and chief executive officer of Quotient. "We are thrilled to have her join Quotient as we continue to leverage somatic genomics to build our internal and partnered portfolio."

Susan added: "Somatic genomics has the potential to uncover novel biological insights that inform breakthrough therapies across a broad range of diseases. I look forward to joining the Quotient team and building a solid financial and operational foundation to support the company’s long-term growth and value creation strategy."

Prior to Flagship, Susan served as the interim CFO of Benson Hill. Previously, she was CFO of GreenLight Biosciences, where she steered financial strategies for a pioneering company developing RNA-based solutions with applications in both agriculture and human health.

Before that, Susan held leadership roles in finance and administration at Danforth Advisors and Aushon Biosystems. Earlier in her career, she developed core financial acumen through roles at SeraCare Life Sciences, Procter & Gamble and PwC.

Sparrow Pharmaceuticals has announced the appointment of Carlo Incerti to its board of directors.

Carlo is a highly accomplished executive with a strong background in medicine and over 35 years of strategic experience in the biopharmaceutical industry.

"Carlo’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Sparrow as we are looking ahead to pivotal trials of clofutriben for type 2 diabetes and seeking to expand development into other cardiometabolic indications," said Robert Jacks, Sparrow President and Chief Executive Officer.

Carlo added: "Sparrow is pioneering a new mechanism of action to tackle a common driver of metabolic dysfunction that current standard-of-care therapies do not address. By lowering intracellular cortisol specifically in patients demonstrating evidence and consequences of having elevated cortisol, HSD-1 inhibition with clofutriben could allow treatment to progress from one-size-fits-all to targeting a specific pathogenic cause of disease progression."

He currently serves as an Operating Partner at Forbion and brings over three decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and most recently held the position of Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Medical Affairs at Sanofi Genzyme.

Prior to joining industry, he was an Associate Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Modena, with a main research focus on thyroid diseases and sex hormones.

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