Opus Genetics hires a gene therapy CSO as Estrella names a new CEO

Two clinical-stage cell and gene therapy companies made C-suite appointments last week. Opus Genetics named Andrew Murphy as chief scientific officer on 29 October, and Estrella Immunopharma appointed Cynthia Pussinen as chief executive officer and chair on 26 October.

Opus Genetics: an AAV specialist as CSO

Opus, based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and listed on Nasdaq, develops one-time gene therapies for inherited retinal diseases. It has seven AAV-based programmes. The lead programmes are OPGx-LCA5, for LCA5-related Leber congenital amaurosis, and OPGx-BEST1, for BEST1-related retinal degeneration, and OPGx-RDH12 has been cleared to enter the clinic.

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Murphy joins from Kriya Therapeutics, where he was senior vice president of research and early development, leading AAV vector design, research, genomics and data science. He has more than 18 years of biotechnology experience and has supported seven programmes through Phase 1 IND or CTA submissions, five of them at Kriya. Before that he founded Kitty Hawk Biosciences, a gene therapy consultancy focused on AAV vector characterisation and potency assays.

Opus also hired Jamie Lynne Hart as executive director, executive operations. She was chief of staff to the CEO at Apellis Pharmaceuticals, and earlier held corporate development, alliance management and medical affairs roles at Ocular Therapeutix.

"Andy brings deep expertise in gene therapy research, AAV vector development and translational science" George Magrath, M.D., chief executive officer, Opus Genetics

Estrella Immunopharma: a new CEO and chair

Estrella, based in Emeryville, California, develops CD19- and CD22-targeted ARTEMIS T-cell therapies licensed from its parent company, Eureka Therapeutics. Its lead candidate, EB103, is in the STARLIGHT-1 Phase I/II trial in relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and has moved into dose expansion. A second candidate, EB104, targets both CD19 and CD22.

Pussinen took up the role on 25 October. She was previously CEO and a board director of Sernova, chief technical officer at Spark Therapeutics (part of Roche), and president and CEO of Ipsen Bioscience and Biomeasure. She has also held senior roles at Pfizer, Honeywell International and Actinium Pharmaceuticals, and is a managing director for biotech investments at Sorbie Bornholm. Cheng Liu, the previous CEO, becomes chief scientific officer and remains president and a board member.

The pattern

Both hires bring in experience of the step each company faces next. At Opus, that is turning a broad AAV pipeline into more clinical programmes. At Estrella, it is technical operations and company-building as its lead T-cell therapy moves through a Phase I/II trial. Opus also chose to add an operations leader at the same time, which is worth noting in a company of its size.

What it means for hiring

Gene therapy companies with several programmes near the clinic are hiring scientific leaders who have taken AAV programmes through IND, not only discovery heads. In our experience, that track record is hard to find.
Founder-CEOs moving to a CSO role while an outside CEO comes in is a common pattern at this stage. In our view, it usually signals more hiring to follow in operations, finance and clinical leadership.
Chief-of-staff and executive operations roles are appearing in smaller biotechs than before. Candidates with medical affairs or corporate development backgrounds are a good fit for them.

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