Invivyd chairman becomes CEO ahead of COVID

Infectious disease biotech Invivyd has appointed its current board chairman, Marc Elia, to also serve as chief executive officer. The company announced the leadership change as it prepares for top-line data from its lead monoclonal antibody program, VYD2311, expected in the third quarter of this year.

Elia, who joined the Invivyd board in 2022, helped design the company's scientific and corporate strategy. He will now lead the firm through the upcoming clinical readout. In a company release, Elia stated he had "struggled with the effects of long COVID" and that Invivyd aims to protect patients beyond the limits of vaccines. "Invivyd and its antibody technologies have the potential to revolutionize COVID prevention, and infectious disease medicine more broadly," he said.

Phase 3 trial in progress

The company's candidate, VYD2311, is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. The upcoming data release will provide results on the therapy's efficacy in this setting.

Other industry leadership moves

The source report from Fierce Biotech also detailed several other executive appointments across the biotech and pharmaceutical sector.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced a leadership reshuffle following its acquisition of Crinetics. Chief Operating and Financial Officer Charles Wagner will take on an expanded COO role overseeing the integration of Crinetics. Jonathan Poole, currently senior vice president of finance, will assume the CFO responsibilities starting January 1. The company stated Wagner's expanded role will help establish rare endocrine diseases as a new growth area for Vertex.

French biotech Inventiva named Chris Benecchi as its new chief operating officer. Benecchi joins as the company awaits phase 3 data for lanifibranor, an oral therapy for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). "We believe lanifibranor is poised to meaningfully impact the current treatment paradigm in MASH," Benecchi said in a release.

Additional executive appointments

The report listed several other C-suite changes. Beam Therapeutics appointed Eric Build as chief commercial officer to lead strategy for its hematology and genetic disease products. Acrivon Therapeutics named Michaela Levin, Ph.D., as its new chief business officer. Polaryx Therapeutics, which focuses on rare pediatric lysosomal storage disorders, appointed Will Charlton, M.D., as chief medical officer.

Resalis Therapeutics appointed Novo Nordisk alum Diana Røpcke, M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer to advance its phase 1b weight loss drug. Foventa Therapeutics brought in Zaiba Malik, M.D., as chief medical officer and Julia Jones as chief financial officer to help secure series A funding for a phase 2b trial in diabetic retinopathy. Clinical services organization The Emmes Group promoted Rama Kondru, Ph.D., to CEO.

SonoThera welcomed Joshua Rychak, Ph.D., as vice president and head of research to advance its genetic medicine pipelines. ElevateBio ushered in Steve Falcone as its new chief operating officer as it prepares for its first commercial product and expands to a new site.