Pfizer veteran Suneet Varma has found his next role. Months after leaving the Big Pharma, Varma has taken the CEO position at the newly created inflammation and immunology startup Intent Biologics.
Varma joined Pfizer as part of the drugmaker’s takeover of Wyeth. Having worked at Wyeth for 16 years, Varma spent another 15 years at Pfizer before retiring from the company earlier this year. Varma rose to the position of commercial president of Pfizer’s oncology unit before calling time on his long association with the company.
Rion, a Mayo Clinic spinout, hired Varma as a senior advisor in May and tasked him with spearheading its move into regenerative medicine. Now, Rion has founded Intent, put Varma at the helm and given the startup an exclusive, perpetual worldwide license to its platform in inflammation and immunology.
The launchpad provided by Rion makes Intent an unusually advanced startup. Intent is aiming to start a phase 3 diabetic foot ulcer trial this year. Phase 3 studies in pressure ulcers, surgical wounds and venous leg ulcers, plus a phase 2/3 trial in atopic dermatitis, are all scheduled to get underway next year. By 2028, Intent is aiming to file for approval in diabetic foot ulcers and start a clutch of other phase 3 trials.
The broad R&D plan is built on PEP Biologic, a first-in-class exosome therapeutic candidate based on a Mayo Clinic discovery and developed on Rion’s biomanufacturing platform. The topical drug candidate delivers billions of platelet-derived exosomes to targeted tissue sites to promote regeneration, regulate inflammation and stimulate cell proliferation.
Rion and Intent named diabetic foot ulcers as the lead indication after seeing data from a phase 2 trial. After 12 weeks of treatment, researchers found the drug candidate significantly enhanced healing, achieving a 54% response compared to 25% for the standard of care. Physicians have also seen successes in compassionate-use patients who were previously unresponsive to treatment.
Varma is leading a team built on the foundations provided by Rion. Atta Behfar, M.D., Ph.D., the Mayo Clinic professor who co-founded Rion, has taken the chief medical officer post at Intent. Others who hold leadership roles at Rion are handling the same activities at Intent.