CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cadent Therapeutics, a company focused on the development of therapies to improve the lives of patients with movement and cognitive disorders, today announced the appointment of seasoned executive, John McBride, as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. McBride brings to Cadent more than 30 years of executive leadership, business development and financial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, most recently serving as Chief Financial Officer of Syntimmune through its acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Cadent today also announced the expansion of its senior leadership team with key additions to its R&D, finance, business development and strategic operations functions.
"John brings to Cadent a wealth of experience in corporate finance coupled with deep expertise in biopharmaceutical operations and strategy," said Jodie Morrison, Chief Executive Officer of Cadent. "John’s appointment, together with recent additions to key positions at the company, strengthen and broaden the collective expertise of our senior leadership team, positioning us to deliver on the tremendous promise of our pipeline. I am very pleased to welcome them to Cadent and look forward to their contributions as we work together to advance important potential new therapies for patients.”
In his new role, Mr. McBride will be responsible for the company’s finance and corporate administration functions. Prior to joining Cadent, Mr. McBride was Chief Financial Officer at Syntimmune where he was part of the senior team instrumental in the sale of the company to Alexion. Prior to that, he served as both Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer during his tenure at Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc. In addition, he founded and served as president of Alliance Life Science Advisors, Inc., a consulting firm focused on assisting life science companies with strategic planning, business development and financing projects. Previously, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was responsible for the company’s business development, finance, administrative and manufacturing functions through the sale of the company to Celgene. Earlier in his career, he served as Global Head of Oncology Licensing at Pharmacia Corporation; Executive Vice President, Business Operations and Chief Financial Officer at CytoTherapeutics, Inc.; and Vice President, Business Development and Treasurer at Phytera, Inc. Mr. McBride holds a B.S. in biochemistry and an M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Cadent also announced today the appointment of several recent senior hires to the company’s leadership team including Minnie Mildwoff, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance; Robert Gaffey, Vice President, Finance and Administration; Nicole Luosey, Vice President, Strategic and Program Operations; and Noah Goodman, Executive Director, Business Development.
Robert Gaffey, Vice President, Finance and Administration
Mr. Gaffey was most recently Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to joining Merrimack, he served as Vice President of Finance at Dimension Therapeutics where he played a lead role in the company’s initial public offering and was responsible for the integration and transition of finance after the company’s acquisition by Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. Mr. Gaffey received his M.S. in Accounting and MBA from Northeastern University and his B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Minnie Mildwoff, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance
Ms. Mildwoff has 20 years of regulatory affairs experience across a broad range of therapeutic areas, most recently serving as Director, Early Development Regulatory affairs at Novartis after an earlier tenure in regulatory affairs at Biogen Inc. Minnie earned her J.D. with a biomedical concentration from Suffolk University Law School, her M.S. in regulatory affairs and health policy from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and her B.S. in biology with a neuroscience emphasis from UCLA.
Nicole Luosey, Vice President, Strategic and Program Operations
Ms. Luosey most recently was Vice President, Program Management at Syntimmune where she led investor activities and diligence and integration efforts through its acquisition by Alexion. Previously, she was Vice President, Program Management at Dimension Therapeutics where she built the program and alliance management function. Ms. Luosey is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and received her B.F.A. from the University of Hartford and M.S. in Program Management from Boston University.
Noah Goodman, Executive Director, Business Development
Mr. Goodman was most recently Director and Head of Business Development for Seres Therapeutics, Inc. where he was responsible for leading collaborations and licensing transactions across a number of therapeutic areas including the company’s oncology research collaboration with AstraZeneca. Previously, Mr. Goodman was a management consultant with Easton Associates (now part of Navigant Consulting), a boutique life sciences consultancy, where he advised clients on corporate strategy and business development. Mr. Goodman holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Neuroscience from the University of Michigan.
About Cadent Therapeutics
Cadent Therapeutics is creating therapies for the treatment of movement disorders and cognitive impairment. The company combines target specificity, patient selection, drug design and optimization, and novel quantitative endpoints to create first-in-class molecules to treat movement and cognitive disorders. Cadent Therapeutics is rapidly advancing its pipeline of positive allosteric modulators to treat spinocerebellar ataxia, essential tremor and schizophrenia. The company has an exclusive license and collaboration agreement with Novartis to develop a negative allosteric modulator, now in Phase 2 for the treatment of treatment resistant depression. Investors include Atlas Venture, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Qiming Venture Partners, Access Industries, Clal Biotechnology Industries, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research and Slater Technology Fund. For more information, please visit cadenttx.com.