​The Life Sciences division of Mantell Associates covers all appointments across Pharmaceutical, Biopharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Healthcare sectors, with a global footprint expanding Europe, USA and Asia.

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As a whole, the Life Sciences industry has seen an incredible amount of work in the last 15 months and the Life Sciences arm of Mantell Associates is equally busy with open positions across all areas. Here are a few key highlights that have taken place within this sector...

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Jens Holstein, Chief Financial Officer

Moved to:BioNTech

Moved from: MorphySys AG

Sector: Biotechnology

Jens has over 20 years experience in healthcare, having worked across Germany, Canada, Asia and the UK, and specialises in developing and manufacturing active immunotherapies and patient specific approaches to the treatment of disease. He previously served as CFO for MorphoSys AG and in various general management and finance management roles within the Fresenius SE Group. As of July 1, 2021, Jens will join the Management Board as Chief Financial Officer at BioNTechSE to help grow and expand the global, fully integrated immunotherapy organisation.

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Andrew Saik, Chief Financial Officer

Moved to:Intercept Pharmaceuticals

Moved from:VYNE Therapeutics

Sector: Biopharmaceutical

Andrew is an accomplished CFO and exceptional leader, and has over 20 years biopharma experience. Andrew recently moved across from VYNE Therapeutics to be named CFO of New York-based Intercept Pharmaceuticals. Throughout his career, he has also held CFO positions at PDS Biotechnology Inc., Vertice Pharma LLC, and Auxilium Pharmaceuticals. Andrew joins Intercept Pharmaceuticals as part of their leadership team at a pivotal time. As CFO, he will help the organisation build on its strong foundation and navigate through their next chapter of growth and development.

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Cokey Nguyen, Chief Scientific Officer

Moved to: Atara Biotherapeutics

Moved from: Fate Therapeutics

Sector: Biotechnology

Cokey is a leader in the fields of cell therapy and oncology. He was recently appointed Chief Scientific Officer at Atara Biotherapeutics, where he is focused on leading the development of next-generation allogeneic cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Prior to joining Atara, Cokey served as Vice President of Innovation, Research and Development at Fate Therapeutics, and earlier in his career was leader of the targeted immunotherapy group on the Oncology R&D team at Pfizer. With his passion for delivering transformative therapies to patients, Dr. Nguyen is sure to advance and expand Atara's programs.

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Marc Stapley, Chief Executive Officer

Moved to: Veracyte, Inc.

Moved from: Helix, Inc.

Sector: Biotechnology

Marc is an experienced executive with broad multi-national business experience and has joined Veracyte as CEO, moving over from his previous role as Chairman and CEO at Helix. Under his leadership, Helix built one of the largest COVID-19 testing labs in the US and has become a national leader in viral surveillance. Prior to Helix, Marc held various key leadership positions, including as Executive Vice President at Illumina and SVP Finance at Pfizer. Marc will work closely with Veracyte's Co-Founder and Chairman Bonnie Anderson to achieve their company vision and guide the organisation to achieve its full potential.

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Diana Escolar, Chief Medical Officer

Moved to: AVROBIO

Moved from: miRagen Therapeutics

Sector: Biotechnology

Diana is a board-certified neurologist and fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, and earlier this year was appointed Chief Medical Officer at AVROBIO. Diana previously served as Chief Medical Officer at both miRagen Therapeutics and Akashi Therapeutics, and brings strong expertise across rare diseases with a focus on lysosomal and neurogenic disorders. Not only is Diana an innovative medical executive with an entrepreneurial spirit, she is devoted to improving patient care and treatments, and will undoubtedly aid the work AVROBIO is doing to bring personalised gene therapy to the world.

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A NOTE FROM OUR CEO: Alessandro Mantell

It is with great pride and excitement that Mantell Associates have launched our first ever ‘Movers & Shakers’, which has been designed to highlight some of the biggest moves across the Life Science & Pharmaceutical Industry within the first six months of 2021.

Anyone who has followed the Mantell Associates journey so far will see the great extent of the effort and care that we have invested into making Mantell Associates not just ‘another recruitment business’ but a truly specialist, high-level headhunting organisation. We focus on Senior level appointments and consulting services, but we strive to share market intelligence and industry relevant content, and to provide exposure for individuals and businesses through the Mantell Associates Network podcast, which has already featured 21 industry leaders. In this ‘Movers & Shakers’ we look at the high level leadership moves between January and June this year, in particular across CDMO Large Molecule, CDMO Small Molecule, Life Sciences, Medical Devices & Consultancies, Market Access, HEOR. The incredible people and businesses that we highlight in this particular ‘Movers & Shakers’ are not only those who changed role but rather those who, during an incredibly difficult time, saw an opportunity to make an impact on the world and those around them.

Thank you from all of the Mantell Associates team – we hope you enjoy it!