A month after stepping down as president of Takeda’s global vaccine business, Rajeev Venkayya has been named CEO of Aerium Therapeutics, an antibody specialist that emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday. The Boston- and Lausanne-based biopharma’s pipeline includes two monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 aimed at “vulnerable populations for which vaccines do not provide adequate protection,” according to a press release.
Leaving Takeda after a decade, Venkayya told Reuters that with…
Pfizer has named William Pao to succeed Rod MacKenzie as its chief development officer, the multinational announced Tuesday. Pao joins from Roche, where he's overseen research and development since 2018.
MacKenzie is retiring after 35 years at Pfizer, per the company's press release.
GSK Chief Scientific Officer Hal Barron will depart in August to head San Francisco-based startup Altos Labs, the multinational announced Wednesday. He will be succeeded by Senior VP of Medicinal Science and Technology Tony Wood, a longtime Pfizer veteran.
The press release said Barron will remain on GSK’s board as he transitions to the $3 billion-funded biotech focused on cellular rejuvenation and reversing disease.
Barron’s move comes after less than five years on the job and…
Paul Stoffels, J&J’s chief scientific officer, will retire at the end of this year, the company announced Tuesday.
J&J’s press release credited Stoffels with launching Johnson & Johnson Global Public Health and spearheading the development of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine. A Wall Street Journal article on Tuesday said he pushed the company to pursue medicines for LMICs, “including one for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and vaccines against Ebola and Covid-19.”
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Johnson & Johnson announced last week that current vice chairman Joaquin Duato will take over from CEO Alex Gorsky on January 3, 2022.
The press release said Gorsky is stepping down for “family health reasons” after 10 years at the helm; however, he will continue on as executive chairman.
Duato wins the top job after more than 30 years at J&J.
Abbott announced today that Miles White will hand over the helm to current chief operating officer Robert Ford on March 31, 2020 after 21 years as CEO of the company. Ford is himself a 23-year company veteran and only the 13th person to lead Abbott in its 131-year history, all CEOs having been appointed from within the company. White—who led Abbott’s spinouts of Hospira in 2004 and AbbVie in 2013—will remain board chairman.
Pfizer announced last week that its CEO Albert Bourla will replace his predecessor Ian Read as Pfizer’s chairman when Read retires on December 31 after 41 years at the company. Bourla will retain his role as CEO, a company press release said.
Becton Dickinson (BD) announced last week that Thomas Polen will succeed Vincent Forlenza as CEO after Forlenza retires in January 2020 after a nearly 40-year career with the company. Polen joined BD in 1999 and currently serves as the company’s president and chief operating officer.