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.
NIH leaders join health agency exodus
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health has lost two distinguished leaders as mass layoffs directed by the Trump administration hit federal health agencies. Deputy Director for Extramural Research Michael Lauer, M.D., left the agency at the end of last week, while Principal Deputy Director Larry Tabak, Ph.D., is retiring. Lauer and Tabak join other departing health agency leaders like ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn, Ph.D.; the FDA’s drug center chief Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D.; director of the AI-focused Digital Health Center of Excellence Troy Tazbaz; head of medical device safety Ross Segan, M.D.; and food safety chief Jim Jones. Story
Boehringer snatches up LEO exec for U.S. pharma team
Boehringer Ingelheim
Boehringer Ingelheim has a new president of U.S. human pharma in Brian Hilberdink, who joins from his previous role as executive vice president at LEO Pharma. At LEO, Hilberdink worked as head of the North American region and president of the U.S. affiliate, which drives much of the company’s growth. Boehringer previously had Timmo Anderson in the U.S. human pharma role, who departed in December after 15 years with the company.
Hilberdink spent three years at skin-disease-focused drugmaker LEO and will “always have a special place” for dermatology, he wrote in a LinkedIn post, although his new role spans “many therapy areas.” Release
Pharma vet flows into Ventus as CMO
Ventus Therapeutics
With two small molecules in midstage development, Ventus is tapping experienced clinical leader Mona Kotecha, M.D., to spearhead the programs as chief medical officer. Kotecha joins from Eli Lilly, where she was CMO of the ExploR&D division. Before Lilly, she accrued a decade of combined experience at Biogen and Gilead Sciences, where she led clinical development in neuropsychiatry and pain, and inflammation and respiratory disease, respectively. Kotecha trained as an anesthesiologist and acute pain specialist. Release
> After leaving his CEO post at Kala Bio, Mark Iwicki is taking the reins at Inhibikase Therapeutics from former CEO and founder Milton Werner, Ph.D. Release
> Nura Bio has found a chief medical officer in Amylyx vet Lahar Mehta, M.D., plus a chief business officer with former Aro Biotherapeutics exec Scott Greenberg. Release
> GI specialist Entero Therapeutics named securities lawyer Richard Paolone as its interim CEO following last summer’s debt-related termination of all nonessential employees and others, including CEO James Sapirstein. Release
> Experienced oncology executive David Dornan, Ph.D., is joining Aadi Bioscience as chief scientific officer, where he will oversee development of the company’s newly in-licensed antibody-drug conjugates profile. Release
> Breast-cancer-focused Olema Pharmaceuticals welcomed Shawnte Mitchell in the chief legal officer and corporate secretary spot. Release
> Nikhil Rao, Ph.D., stepped up to the chief commercial officer plate at Syncell after months of building up a commercial team in the senior vice president of commercial role. Release
> Barcelona-based Ona Therapeutics bolstered its leadership team with Jutta Amersdorffer, M.D., as chief medical officer and Stéphane Durant des Aulnois as chief financial officer. Release
> German CDMO Rentschler Biopharma promoted Patrick Meyer, Ph.D., who has been with the company for more than eight years, to the executive committee as global head of business development. Release
> VisionHealth is shaking things up as it prepares to launch its Kata smartphone app, with Chief Business Officer Peter Shadday moving into the CEO role and succeeding founder Sabine Häussermann, Ph.D., who is pivoting to the newly created role of chief scientific officer. Release
> Chinese firm Biosion has found a president for its U.S. division in Kedan Lin, Ph.D., who is also assuming the mantle of chief development officer. Release
> Pheast has found a CMO to advance its macrophage checkpoint inhibitor through clinical development in Raphaël Rousseau, M.D., Ph.D. Release
> NorthSea Therapeutics is boosting its C-suite with new combined Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer Melissa Bradford-Klug and Chief Medical Officer Sophie Jeannin, M.D. Release
> Plus Therapeutics, a biotech focused on CNS cancers, has named Michael Rosol, Ph.D., as chief development officer to lead clinical, preclinical and biomarker development. Release