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 Zoey Becker and it will be featured here at the end of each week.
Incyte’s longtime CEO passes the baton to veteran dealmaker
Incyte
Incyte’s Hervé Hoppenot is hanging up the gloves after spending more than a decade building the company up into the multibillion-dollar commercial drugmaker it is today. Since joining in 2014, Hoppenot has overseen Incyte’s growth beyond JAK inhibitor Jakafi to a diverse portfolio that includes fast-growing JAK cream Opzelura and other assets.
Taking his place at the helm is Bill Meury, effective immediately, with Hoppenot staying on as an advisor to the new CEO and a member of the board through the end of this year. Meury comes to Incyte with a career-long track record of dealmaking, having led Anthos Therapeutics until its recent buyout by Novartis. Before that, he headed up Karuna Therapeutics through its $14 billion merger with Bristol Myers Squibb. The exec previously ended up at Allergan through a series of acquisitions, serving as chief commercial officer until AbbVie’s 2020 Allergan deal. His appointment at Incyte could signal the potential of it becoming an M&A target in the future as revenue driver Jakafi inches toward a 2028 patent cliff. Story
4 leadership shake-ups reported at FDA over last week
FDA
After a tumultuous spring marked by widespread workforce cuts, the period of heavy turnover has continued at the FDA, with at least four leadership changes reported over the past week.
Last Friday, reports emerged that the agency put Nicole Verdun, M.D., director of the FDA’s cell and gene therapy office, and her deputy Rachael Anatol, Ph.D., on administrative leave. The two were escorted out and were relieved of their duties without explanation, according to Stat.
Then, Monday, the acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, M.D., wrote to colleagues that she'd be retiring in July. She’s been with the FDA for over eight years and assumed the acting director role earlier this year after CDER’s former leader, Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., stepped aside right before President Donald Trump started his second term.
Corrigan-Curay will be succeeded by Mike Davis, M.D., Ph.D., as first reported by Citeline journalist Derrick Gingery. Davis has experience working as a lead physician in the FDA’s psychiatry arm and most recently served as chief medical officer at the Usona Institute, a nonprofit looking to develop psychedelic drugs for depression and anxiety. Story
Sun Pharma sees bright future with new North American CEO
Sun Pharmaceutical
Sun Pharma has selected Richard Ascroft to lead as CEO of its North America operations, replacing Abhay Gandhi. Ascroft joins from Takeda, where he most recently served as SVP and business unit head of U.S. plasma-derived therapies. In his new role, Ascroft will oversee Sun Pharma’s products in both the U.S. and Canada, including upcoming expected market launches in alopecia areata and squamous cell carcinoma. Release
> Vor Bio has made a surprise comeback with a new licensing deal, a move that was accompanied by CEO Robert Ang resigning. In his place steps Jean-Paul Kress, M.D., who most recently steered MorphoSys to a $2.9 billion buyout by Novartis. Story
> Former Pfizer R&D head Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the board of genetic medicines-focused Arbor Biotechnologies. Release
> Storm Therapeutics has secured Eric Martin, Ph.D.—who has previously worked across Kinnate Biopharma, Pfizer Oncology and Arpeggio Biosciences, among others—to serve as chief development officer. Release
> Consumer health giant Haleon picked up a new chief R&D officer in Carl Haney, who comes from a lengthy career at Estée Lauder and will succeed Franck Riot in the role. Release
> Vistagen appointed Elissa Cote as chief corporate development officer, putting her in charge of evaluating strategic opportunities and potential partnerships centering on the company’s pipeline of intranasal pherine candidates. Release
> Experienced executive Dimitry S.A. Nuyten, M.D., Ph.D., is jumping to OnCusp Therapeutics as chief medical officer after recently holding the same role at Arcus Biosciences. Release
> MBX Biosciences named endocrinologist Andreas Moraitis, M.D., as SVP of clinical development to help advance its pipeline of novel precision peptide therapies. Release
> Anne Marie Cook is bringing her breadth of pharmaceutical legal experience to gastrointestinal-disease-focused Phathom Pharmaceuticals as its newly appointed chief legal officer and corporate secretary. Release
> Longeveron tapped Than Powell as chief business officer, entrusting him to head up the company’s business strategy, partnering efforts for its Alzheimer’s disease program and global strategy for its work in hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Release
> After years spent working in clinical operations at Biogen, Merck and, most recently, Precision Biosciences, Murray Abramson, M.D., is joining the ranks at Ascidian Therapeutics as chief development officer. Release
> With initial seed financing led by Zubi Capital, Abvance Therapeutics can stack its leadership team with co-founder David Maggs, M.D., as chief medical officer, Veena Rao, Ph.D., joining as chief operating and commercial officer and Michael Nguyen taking on the chief development officer role while Edward Raskin oversees the execs from the CEO seat. Release
> Q32 Bio’s Jason Campagna, M.D., Ph.D., is splitting from the company and his spot as chief medical officer, leaving the role to experienced industry leader Adrien Sipos, M.D., Ph.D., on an interim basis. Release