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.
Pfizer’s longtime reputation wrangler plans departure
Pfizer
Sally Susman, the communications chief who has shepherded Pfizer’s reputation and branding for more than 18 years, is departing the pharma giant at the end of the year amid its ongoing cost-cutting efforts. Susman’s corporate affairs office will be dissolved and its work spread among five executives at the company, according to a Bloomberg report. Susman first joined Pfizer in 2007 and helped lead the company’s comms efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her next endeavor will be joining the inaugural cohort of a new leadership program at the nonprofit Aspen Institute. Pfizer raised the bar for its sweeping cost-savings drive in April, ratcheting up the total target to $7.7 billion through 2027. LinkedIn & Bloomberg
AI unicorn lassos new president
Xaira Therapeutics
AI biotech unicorn Xaira Therapeutics is growing its executive team, bringing veteran leader Jeff Jonker on board to serve as president and chief operating officer. Jonker joins from Belharra Therapeutics, where he was president and CEO, and he will report to Xaira’s CEO Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Ph.D. Jonker started his biotech career with a six-year stint as business development director at Genentech, before later leading companies like NGM Biopharmaceuticals and Ambys Medicines. At Xaira, he will oversee all operations and lead the effort to scale up the organization. Release
Jazz switches tempo with female CEO
Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Jazz Pharmaceuticals has a new conductor in Renee Gala, who is stepping in to take the baton from co-founder and 16-year CEO Bruce Cozadd. Gala was selected as CEO after a succession search that weighed both internal and external candidates before plucking the next leader from the company’s existing C-suite. Her appointment will take effect August 11 and comes after five years of service to Jazz, first as chief financial officer and most recently as chief operating officer. Last year, Gala was the company’s second-highest-paid executive with a 2024 pay day of $6.6 million. Now, as she joins the ranks of a small group of female pharma CEOs, the Vanderbilt University alum will earn a base salary of $1.2 million. Story
> Two members of Roche’s enlarged corporate executive committee are out, with head of pharma R&D Hans Clevers and head of group communications Barbara Schädler both opting to retire from the company. Release
> After a 23-year tenure with Genmab, chief legal officer Birgitte Stephensen is passing the torch to a new hire in long-time AstraZeneca employee Greg Mueller. Release
> Dealmaker Andrew Aromando, who previously helped out with Ambrx Biopharma’s acquisition by J&J, is Oncolytics Biotech’s newest chief business officer. Release
> Oncology drugmaker Avacta tapped David Liebowitz, M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer, while Yulii Boatyrenko is set to join as a business development advisor. Release
> Former Novo Nordisk strategy advisor and current partner at shareholder Lundbeckfonden BioCapital, Jacob Falck Hansen, Ph.D., will lead Vesper Bio as CEO to replace outgoing Paul Little. Release
> Cardioendocrine disease-focused Marea Therapeutics named experienced CAR-T developer Shishir Gadam, Ph.D., as chief technical officer. Release
> BeOne (formally BeiGene) is bringing in Takeda vet Guohong “Sean” Shan to head up the Greater China, Central Asia and South Asia regions as general manager in an expanded role that replaces executive Eva Yin, the company told Fierce Biotech in an email.
> CRO Parexel is welcoming two new former FDA directors to its consulting team: Lola Fashoyin-Aje, M.D., and Tala Fakhouri, Ph.D. Lola will serve as SVP, head of regulatory oncology, cell, and gene therapy, while Tala will be VP of consulting for AI and digital policy, real-world research. Release
> Okura Therapeutics promoted its SVP of Operations, Laura Sandler, to the C-suite as chief operating officer. Release
> Outlook Therapeutics is adjusting its executive team with Robert Charles Jahr taking the CEO seat from chief financial officer Lawrence Kenyon, who was filling in on an interim basis. Filing
> Synedgen’s chief scientific officer, Laura Saward, Ph.D., is adding the CEO title to her plate while Kenton Gregory, M.D., is joining the company as chief medical officer. Release
> Richard Phillipson, M.D., is taking his drug development expertise to the chief medical officer position at Hansa Biopharma. Release
> Rachael Brake, Ph.D., will take the chief scientific officer wheel at Abdera Therapeutics to maximize the potential of the company’s advanced antibody engineering ROVEr platform. Release
> Crescent Biopharma is bolstering its antibody-drug conjugate capabilities with Jan Pinkas, Ph.D., joining its ranks as chief scientific officer. Release
> Diagonal Therapeutics has found a new clinical development leader in John Lee, M.D., Ph.D., who will lead efforts to develop antibodies for genetic diseases as chief medical officer. Release
> Immunotherapy firm Centauri Therapeutics has tapped Debra Barker, M.D., to guide its lead bacterial infection candidate into the clinic as chief medical officer. Release
> Cancer-focused Ascentage Pharma has new financial leaders in CFO Veet Misra, Ph.D., and Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Development and Finance Eric Huang. Release
> Vanessa Procter is the new communications leader for Indivior, taking on the role of executive vice president of corporate affairs. Release
> Protein degradation company Arvinas is hunting for a new CEO after John Houston, Ph.D., informed the board he intends to retire. Release
> Former Anokion leader Deborah Geraghty, Ph.D., is glowing after taking the president and CEO role at Radiant Biotherapeutics. Release
> Jason Campagna, M.D., Ph.D., has joined French MASH-focused biotech Inventiva in the dual roles of president of R&D and chief medical officer, replacing outgoing CSO Pierre Broqua, Ph.D., who will serve as a scientific advisor, and CMO Michael Cooreman, M.D. Meanwhile, Martine Zimmermann has joined the company as executive vice president of regulatory affairs and quality assurance. Release
> Neurodegeneration company Brenig Therapeutics is building up its C-suite, bringing in David Lucchino as president and CEO and Tien Dam, M.D., as CMO to lead a pipeline that now includes a newly acquired preclinical Parkinson’s asset. Release
> Century Therapeutics is saying goodbye to CFO Morgan Conn, Ph.D., and CDO Adrienne Farid, Ph.D., as the company looks to halve its staff by the end of the third quarter. Filing
> Renasant Bio launched on July 10 to tackle autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease with Emily Conley, Ph.D., at the helm as CEO. Release
> Cancer biotech Iovance Biotherapeutics has created the new position of senior vice president of regulatory strategy and filled it with FDA veteran Marc Theoret, M.D. Release
> On the brink of shuttering not too long ago, recently revived Vor Bio is tapping experienced fundraiser Sandy Mahatme as chief financial officer and chief business officer. Release