Former Bristol Myers Squibb compatriots are reuniting at Flagship Pioneering. Natural killer cell biotech Acepodia has enlisted AbbVie oncology exec Thorsten Graef as its chief medical officer. And Centessa has called upon a former AstraZeneca heavyweight as its new CMO.
Apr 13, 2021 11:05am Kyverna is working on T-cell therapies for autoimmune diseases that could be safer and last longer than current options. (Paul Bright / Unsplash)
James Chung (Kyverna Therapeutics)
James Chung, a longtime Amgen executive who led global clinical development for autoimmune drug Enbrel, has a new gig. He joins Kyverna Therapeutics as chief medical officer as the company sets its sights on the clinic.
Chung, who holds an M.D. and a Ph.D., arrives after more than 16 years at Amgen. He was most recently head of inflammation and neuroscience in Amgen’s global medical organization and global development leader for Enbrel, a drug approved for several autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, plaque psoriasis and ankylosing spondylitis.
(Lia Shaked)
Welcome to this week s Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news or the bad from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
UnitedHealthcare
(Skyflow)
Fawad Butt, the former chief data officer for UnitedHealthcare, joined data sharing startup Skyflow s healthcare business. Butt, who is also formerly a chief data governance officer of Kaiser Permanente, will serve as a strategic advisor for the healthcare business, officials said.
He will be focused on delivering privacy-first COVID-19 solutions as part of their recently announced Skyflow for Healthcare, they said in a release.
(Lia Shaked)
Welcome to this week s Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news or the bad from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Hinge Health
Jim Pursley was named president of
Hinge Health as part of a slew of new executive leadership changes announced by the company this week. Pursley has been a longtime adviser to Hinge, a digital musculoskeletal clinic.
Lex Annison (Hinge)
Pursley most recently served as chief commercial officer for Livongo Health. He was part of the founding executive team that grew the consumer-focused chronic condition management company to help take it public in 2019, which culminated in an $18.5 billion acquisition by Teladoc Health in 2020.
Humana Military, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Humana Inc.
Mesiwala will serve as a member of the Humana Military leadership team and report to Brent Densford, who is president of Humana Government Business, Inc.–Humana Military. Humana Military is a convener of care for the TRICARE East region.
Mesiwala previously served as a senior medical director for value-based care and innovation for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health Plan where she led the clinical design and implementation of primary care and specialty-focused alternative payment models officials said.
She also previously served as a senior policy advisor in healthcare to former President Barack Obama and as the healthcare lead for the White House National Economic Council. She was credited with launching a multi-stakeholder public-private partnership to further kidney care and organ transplantation and also launched a national provider-focused collaborative to collectively address workforce chal