Andrew Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., is set to leave Gilead six months after being appointed CMO. Cheng’s swift exit keeps the revolving door spinning at the top of Gilead, which is set to lose its CEO, CMO, CSO and executive chairman over a nine-month window.
Gilead named Cheng as CMO in March, 19 years after he joined the company. Cheng started out as the leader of Gilead’s development-stage HIV programs and went on to take on more responsibilities in 2009. Gilead promoted Cheng to an EVP post in 2015 before bumping him up to the CMO chair in March.
Now, Cheng is set to step down to take up an as-yet-unnamed opportunity. Cheng will stick around until September to help with the transition, after which he will leave and presumably later pop up at a new employer.
The imminent loss of Cheng adds to the upheaval in Gilead’s C-suite. John Martin, Ph.D., began the period of change by stepping down as executive chairman in March. The following month, Norbert Bischofberger, Ph.D., vacated the CSO chair. In July, John Milligan, Ph.D., furthered the turnover by revealing he will step down as CEO of Gilead at the end of the year after 28 years at the company.
Gilead broke news of Cheng’s departure in a statement that revealed appointments elsewhere in the organization. Diana Brainard, M.D., is stepping up to the role of SVP, HIV and emerging viral infections after eight years at the company. And Gregg Alton is taking on the chief patient officer job.
Alton’s appointment hands new responsibilities to a 20-year Gilead veteran who has been the one constant at the top of the company during a period of change. Of the people who held the top five positions in Gilead’s organizational chart at the start of 2018, only Alton looks likely to begin next year at the company.
By Nick Paul Taylor
Source: Fierce Biotech
Novo Nordisk has announced that the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has provided a positive opinion for the company’s Sogroya therapy. The once-weekly treatment – also known as somapacitan – is for the replacement of endogenous growth hormone (GH) in aged children three years and older.
Medtronic is set to acquire EOFlow, the South Korea-based maker of an insulin patch pump. In its announcement of the deal Thursday, Medtronic suggested that integrating the tubeless device with its own continuous glucose monitors and meal-detection algorithm could create a new closed-loop system for largely hands-off diabetes management.
Apnimed started the year by bagging nearly $80 million in extended series C funds and the momentum has kept up, with the sleep-apnea-focused biotech nailing its goals in a phase 2 study. “For those who cannot tolerate current treatments, AD109 has the potential to be a convenient, oral pill that could improve people’s quality of life both at night and during the day.”
