Company continues to attract premier talent to advance internal
discovery efforts, oversee clinical development strategy, and expand
into other therapeutic modalities
BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cerevel
Therapeutics, a company dedicated to bringing leading-edge solutions
to people impacted by nervous system diseases, today announced the
continued expansion of its management team with the appointment of three
seasoned leaders to support critical functions, including John Renger,
Ph.D., as chief scientific officer; Kathy Yi as chief financial officer;
and Ken DiPietro as chief human resources officer.
“Cerevel Therapeutics was purpose-built to focus on the unique needs of
people impacted by devastating nervous system diseases—a model that is
attracting business leaders with diverse backgrounds from across the
industry,” said Tony Coles, M.D., executive chairman of Cerevel
Therapeutics. “This is an incredibly exciting time as we continue to
advance our pipeline and bring together a management team that shares
our vision and passion. John, Kathy, and Ken each have a proven track
record in their respective areas of expertise and will be instrumental
in accelerating our pursuit of leading-edge solutions that can
meaningfully impact patients’ lives.”
All three positions are newly created. While Dr. Renger’s and Mr.
DiPietro’s appointments are effective immediately, Ms. Yi will join in
June following a transition from her current employer.
John
Renger, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Renger
will lead the company’s research initiatives and oversee its early
clinical development strategy. He will also be responsible for helping
expand the company’s pipeline through internal discovery efforts and
external collaborations.
Dr. Renger joins Cerevel Therapeutics from Imbrium Therapeutics L.P.,
where he served as vice president of research and development and
regulatory affairs, leading the company’s overall scientific direction.
Previously, Dr. Renger held roles of increasing responsibility at Merck
& Co. over a 15-year tenure, most recently serving as associate vice
president, where he led therapeutic target acceleration and
translational capabilities for the company’s neuroscience programs.
Throughout his career, Dr. Renger led teams that advanced more than 40
compounds into clinical development, representing several modalities and
addressing a range of nervous system diseases. He oversaw clinical
development of gene knockdown technology to evaluate novel antisense
delivery approaches, worked on multiple teams that designed PET tracers
to image therapeutic targets in the brain, and initiated a translational
electroencephalogram sleep research lab that was instrumental in the
discovery, development, and regulatory approval of Belsomra®
(suvorexant), a first-in-class orexin receptor antagonist, in both the
United States and Japan. This achievement represented the discovery of a
new treatment approach and is the first and only medicine approved to
specifically target sleep-wake neural networks within the brain.
A neuroscientist by training, Dr. Renger was a postdoctoral fellow at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Learning and
Memory. He began his career at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in
Japan. Dr. Renger earned his Ph.D. in biological sciences and
neurogenetics at the University of Iowa where he also completed his B.S.
in biology. He has published more than 142 peer-reviewed articles, been
featured in the popular press, and serves on the board of directors or
scientific advisory boards of multiple companies.
Kathy
Yi, Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Yi will be
responsible for managing all aspects of Cerevel Therapeutics’ finances.
In this role, she will help shape the strategic direction of the company
and achieve key operational objectives, utilizing her previous
experience guiding effective resource allocation to drive the future
growth of the company’s portfolio.
Ms. Yi joined Cerevel Therapeutics from Sangamo Therapeutics where she
served as executive vice president, chief financial officer and
secretary. At Sangamo, she was responsible for leading the corporate
finance, accounting, information technology, and facility operations
functions. During her tenure, the company increased its market
capitalization from about $300 million to over $1 billion, and more than
doubled its headcount from nearly 120 employees to approximately 300
employees. She also oversaw and helped complete the closing of two
research and development collaborations with Pfizer and Gilead totaling
an upfront value of $220 million with potential for both near- and
longer-term milestone and royalty payments.
Prior experience includes positions of increasing responsibility at
Novartis, Life Technologies Corp., and Intel Corp. She began her career
as a process/project engineer at Bechtel Corp., a leading global
engineering, construction, and project management company.
Ms. Yi earned her B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of
California at Berkeley and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
Ken
DiPietro, Chief Human Resources Officer
Mr. DiPietro
will lead the work to grow, engage, and develop all aspects of Cerevel
Therapeutics’ people resources, as well as create and install systems to
establish a workplace of distinction. He has more than three decades of
experience in talent management strategy, including career development,
recruiting, global operations, and culture transformation.
Prior to joining Cerevel Therapeutics, Mr. DiPietro served as chief
talent officer for Oak Hill Capital Partners, as well as a senior
advisor to several Polaris Ventures portfolio companies. Previously, he
was a director at InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. after serving as
executive vice president of human resources at Biogen. Earlier in his
career, Mr. DiPietro held senior human resources roles with Lenovo Group
Limited, Microsoft Corporation, and Dell Technologies.
Mr. DiPietro began his career at PepsiCo, where during a 19-year tenure,
he served in a range of human resource and general management positions
encompassing different lines of business and across functions, regions,
and geographies.
Mr. DiPietro earned a B.S. in industrial and labor relations from
Cornell University. He sits on the Dean’s Advisory Board at Cornell, the
Peer Roundtable, the Boston Posse Advisory Board, and advises a small
number of technology startups focused on human resource management.
About Cerevel Therapeutics
Cerevel Therapeutics (www.cerevel.com)
is dedicated to bringing leading-edge solutions to people impacted by
nervous system diseases. The company has a diversified pipeline
comprising three clinical-stage investigational therapies and several
pre-clinical compounds with the potential to treat a range of nervous
system diseases, including epilepsy, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s,
schizophrenia, and addiction. Headquartered in the Greater Boston area,
Cerevel Therapeutics is fueled to advance its current research and
development programs while exploring new modalities through internal
research efforts, external collaborations, or acquisitions.
Editor’s note: Belsomra® (suvorexant) is a
registered trademark of Merck & Co.
Contacts
Rachel Eides
W2O pure
[email protected]
