Staffing carousel marks a period of change for biopharmaStaffing carousel marks a period of change for biopharma

More staffing changes have struck the biopharmaceutical sector last week, with several companies appointing new executives and board members to influential positions within their respective companies. This follows a run of big moves from earlier this month with companies such as Roche, Sanofi, and Gilead all making recent leadership appointments. And before that, Resilience, AGC, and Sartorius all announced C-suite changes heading into the new year.

Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Rentschler Biopharma SE promoted Patrick Meyer to global head of business development. Meyer has worked for the company for over eight years, most recently as its global head BD sales and alliance management.

Benedikt von Braunmühl, CEO of Rentschler said, “Patrick’s in-depth understanding of our clients' needs, coupled with his comprehensive strategic knowledge of our operations and service portfolio, positions him perfectly to lead our global business development.”

Fellow CDMO Catalent has also shaken up its leadership in light of its recent acquisition by Novo Holdings. The company has appointed Susan Mahony, Marie-France Tschudin, and Tim Walbert to its board of directors

And finally, biotechnology giant Thermo Fisher Scientific also shook things up by electing Karen Lynch to its board of directors, bringing aboard the former president and CEO of CVS Health and adding a twelfth member to the board.

SME shakeups

Biopharma small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have announced major changes as they seek to make inroads and expand their market share. BluMaiden Biosciences, headquartered in Singapore, appointed new US-based leadership to aid in the company’s stateside expansion. The company has named Terence Kelly interim CEO and Damian O'Connell as chair of the company’s science advisory board.

"As BluMaiden enters the exciting phase of scaling operations in the US, advancing its first targets to pre-clinical models, and expanding commercial partnerships to accelerate the development of more effective therapeutics, we are pleased to welcome Terry and Damian in their new roles," said Michael Tillman, chairman of BluMaiden.

Ona Therapeutics has also bolstered its leadership team by appointing Aleix Prat as chair of its advisory board, Jutta Amersdorffer as Chief Medical Officer, and Stéphane Durant des Aulnois as Chief Financial Officer. These appointments coincide with the company’s development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) designed to target tumor-specfic markers for cancer treatment.