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.
Gilead’s accounting chief hits the exit
Gilead Sciences
Sandra Patterson
Sandra Patterson (LinkedIn)
Gilead Sciences' Sandra Patterson has “decided to leave the company” after two years in the roles of senior vice president, corporate controller and chief accounting officer, according to a company filing. Patterson was also Gilead’s principal accounting officer. In her place, the company’s board tapped Diane Wilfong in an interim position amid the search for a permanent successor. Wilfong is familiar with the role, having held the same job from 2016 to Patterson’s appointment in 2023. The exec now heads up finance strategic projects as a VP. Patterson, meanwhile, had been with Gilead for 13 years across several different positions. She first joined in 2011 as a director of technical accounting and climbed the ranks to global business controller before taking on the corporate controller position. Filing (PDF)
Geron chief says goodbye
Geron Corporation
After 14 years at the helm of blood cancer biotech Geron Corporation, John “Chip” Scarlett, M.D., is stepping down as president, CEO and board chair effective March 31. Dawn Carter Bir will step in as interim president and CEO while a permanent replacement is sought, and Elizabeth O’Farrell will be the new chair of the board. Under Scarlett’s leadership, Geron secured its first FDA approval, for the lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes drug Rytelo (imetelstat). Scarlett joined Geron after serving as president and CEO of Proteolix for a year, following a seven-year stint at the top spot of Tercica, which he also cofounded. Release
ITM preps for launch with leadership shake-up
ITM Isotope Technologies
Longtime medical isotope manufacturer ITM is preparing for the anticipated launch of its first pharmaceutical by shaking up its commercial leadership. Chief Business Officer Sebastian Marx will step down July 20 after three years in the role, with a pair of internal candidates stepping up to lead the radiopharmaceutical and medical isotope businesses. Roger Estafanos, currently U.S. general manager, will become executive vice president and global head of radiopharmaceuticals, while current SVP of Commercial Strategy and Services Alexander Pironi will be EVP and global head of medical isotopes. The transition is meant to position ITM for the commercial launch of oncology radioisotope ITM-11, which recently had a phase 3 win in patients with neuroendocrine tumors. Release
> Eli Lilly-partnered HAYA Therapeutics tapped Richard Law, Ph.D., to drive continued growth in the chief business officer seat. Release
> Merck vet Wanmei Ou, Ph.D., is taking her artificial intelligence expertise to GSK as VP of data science and analytics. LinkedIn
> Amid a pipeline prioritization and 50% layoffs, oncology firm Sutro Biopharma is swapping out CEO Bill Newell for president and COO Jane Chung, who will take over the top spot. Release
> T-Therapeutics’ founder Allan Bradley, Ph.D., is passing the CEO reins to experienced CEO Theodora Harold in favor of the chief scientific officer role. Release
> Recent president of Novartis Europe Haseeb Ahmad is pivoting to kidney-disease-driven Purespring Therapeutics, where he will succeed Julian Hanak as CEO.Release
> CRO Crown Bioscience anointed its chief operating officer and interim CEO John Gu as the company’s permanent CEO, a title he will hold along with the COO role. Release
> Nature’s Toolbox added Joan Haab, Ph.D., to its executive arsenal as chief operations officer, where she will guide operational functions as the company ramps up commercialization efforts for its platform. Release
> Pericles Calias, Ph.D., is joining Sernova Biotherapeutics as chief development officer and head of R&D as the company works to advance its cell pouch bio-hybrid organ as a functional cure for Type 1 diabetes.Release
> Blood-based biotech Sunbird Bio is bringing Vijay Parthasarathy, Ph.D., on board as chief product and strategy officer as it looks to tackle neurological diseases. Release
> Carol Kearney is the new chief commercial officer of Tenpoint Therapeutics, where she’ll oversee the potential U.S. launch of vision-loss eyedrop Brimochol PF. Release
> Arbor Biotechnologies is on the hunt for a new chief scientific officer, with current CSO John Murphy, Ph.D., set to retire after a more than 20-year biotech career. LinkedIn
Chutes and Ladders Gilead Sciences Geron ITM GSK Sutro Biopharma Purespring Therapeutics Crown Bioscience Sernova Arbor Biotechnologies Biotech