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.
Protara gears up for next steps with commercial pro
Protara Therapeutics
Protara Therapeutics, hoping to ultimately transition to a commercial-stage company, snagged a chief commercial officer in Bill Conkling, who brings to the table two decades of industry experience. Before his most recent position as Rafael Holdings’ CEO, Conkling spent more than 10 years at Novartis including as commercial lead for the launch of the first approved CAR-T therapy, Kymriah, in 2017. He also had his hands in Gilead Sciences' Trodelvy as VP of marketing, market access and commercial operations at Gilead-acquired Immuomedics.
At Protara, Conkling will help out with the company’s TARA-001, a non-muscle invasive bladder cancer cell therapy prospect that made waves last year after proving a 72% response rate in an ongoing phase 2 trial that evaluated 18 patients. Release
Instil installs Big Pharma vet as CMO
Instil Bio
Texas-based cancer biotech Instil has lassoed experienced clinical leader Jamie Freedman, M.D., Ph.D., to spearhead development of the company’s phase 1 PD-L1xVEGF bispecific as chief medical officer. Freedman served in the CMO role at Instil on an interim basis in 2024. He previously held several leadership positions at Big Pharmas, including as SVP and head of medical affairs at Genentech, general manager of AstraZeneca’s Canada division and vice president of oncology at GSK. He got his start at Merck & Co., where he spent five years as a director of drug development. Freedman also works in health equity as co-founder and CSO of BAMCO Africa, a company working to expand access to therapeutics in sub-Saharan Africa. Release
Orca hauls in Carvykti commercial leader
Orca Bio
Orca Bio is preparing to make a splash in the cell therapy market with the hiring of Steve Gavel, a leader with cell therapy expertise accrued at Legend Biotech and Celgene, as chief commercial officer. The California-based biotech reported phase 3 data on its allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy in leukemia patients in March and said it was readying for commercialization by adding employees in manufacturing, regulatory, medical and commercial. Gavel helped Celgene develop the launch plan for Abecma before joining its BCMA CAR-T rival Legend Biotech, where he scaled the commercial group to support the launch of Carvykti in multiple myeloma. Story
> Wendy Bartie is getting a promotion at Bristol Myers Squibb, where she will move from her current role of SVP of oncology commercialization to head up corporate affairs as executive vice president. LinkedIn
> Atropos Health is expanding the team with the addition of Cory Wiegert as chief operating officer, strengthening the breadth of expertise at the real-world evidence centered company. Release
> Catalyst Pharmaceuticals' Gary Ingenito, M.D., is hanging up his gloves after a 10-year stint at the company, leaving his spot open for William Andrews, M.D., to fill in as newly appointed chief medical officer. Release
> Experienced R&D leader Michael Cooke, Ph.D., is making the chief scientific officer role at Status Therapeutics his next step after leaving Vertex in March, where he led cell and gene research. Release
> After years of serving as a special advisor to private equity fund Jeito Capital, former Atara Biotherapeutics CEO Pascal Touchon is joining the ranks officially at Jeito as operating partner. Release
> Louise Peacock is swooping in at food-allergy-focused Aravax to take on the role of chief regulatory and quality officer and help guide the continued development of the company’s lead peanut allergy prospect. Release
> iOnctura is building up its leadership team after moving its lead asset into phase 2 studies, bringing Novartis vet Michelle Tsai on board as chief operating officer. Release
> Johnson & Johnson’s Katie Abouzahr, M.D., is taking on a wider role as global head of late development in immunology after three years as the company’s VP of its autoantibody portfolio and maternal fetal disease area leader. LinkedIn
> VectorY Therapeutics is vaulting its corporate strategy forward with the hiring of Jessica Atkinson in the newly created chief business officer role. Release
> Repertoire Immune Medicines is bringing Robert Andtbacka, M.D., on board as chief medical officer to steer its lead T-cell receptor bispecific toward the clinic. Release
> Raj Pruthi, M.D., is stepping down as chief medical officer of enGene effective June 16. Release
> Merck KgaA is promoting Jean-Charles Wirth to be CEO of life sciences, replacing Matthias Heinzel, while Danny Bar-Zohar will be CEO of healthcare, taking over from the retiring Peter Guenter. Release