Hung Out As Axovant Rebuilds Its Pipeline, Expands Focus Beyond Dementia

CEO Hung resigns after less than a year; he and several others leave behind a dementia-focused specialty pharma that will return to its entrepreneurial roots to build a broader neuroscience pipeline. Parent company Roivant turns to a less conventional choice, Parvan Cheruvu, to take the helm.

Business decline

David Hung took the helm at Axovant Sciences Ltd. with a lot of fanfare in 2017 following the sale of Medivation Inc. to Pfizer Inc. for $14bn in the prior year, but in 2018 the CEO isn't hanging around to see if Axovant can rebound and rebuild after the devastating failure of intepirdine in Alzheimer's disease.

The company announced on Feb. 12 that Hung is resigning to pursue other opportunities as is President and Chief Operating...

Scrip Podcast

Keep up with the top pharma business news of the week. On the go.

Scrip brings you a weekly bulletin of top picks.

More from Leadership

ProGen’s Dual Agonist Obesity Contender Gains Momentum With Rani Partnership

 
• By 

The CEO of South Korean biotech shares how his company was able to reach a partnership with Rani so quickly and why it is confident in its GLP-1/GLP-2 dual agonist for obesity and diabetes, despite recent disappointing clinical results for its sole rival.

Scrip-Leadership (Free-2): Titans Of Pharma: Lilly’s Ricks Tops Big Pharma Pay Chart

 
• By 

The big pharma CEO with the highest-valued compensation in 2024 was David Ricks of Eli Lilly, while Pfizer and J&J executives slipped into third and fourth place behind AbbVie's now retired chief Richard Gonzalez. European firms brought up the rear.

As More DLL3 Bispecifics Advance, Doctors Are Adjusting To CRS, ICANS

 
• By 

Amgen’s Imdelltra for small-cell lung cancer is one of two bispecific T-cell engagers approved for solid tumors, but data at the WCLC meeting show other DLL3-targeting BiTEs may be on the way.

Novo Nordisk’s Semaglutide Shows Promise In Hidradenitis Suppurativa

 

An academic study of GLP-1 agonist showed promise in patients with the painful skin condition but with no signs that the Danish drugmaker will pursue the indication, smaller players in the space may be interested.

More from Scrip

EHA: Lilly’s Jaypirca Posts First Phase III Triplet Win In CLL While BTK Degraders Advance - Clone

Lilly's first Phase III triplet win opens the door to a label expansion in BTK-pretreated CLL, with analysts suggesting Jaypica could attain blockbuster status. However, the window to capitalize may be brief as next-generation BTK degraders close in with head-to-head trials.

Top 10 Drugs Q1 2026: New Sheriff In Town As Mounjaro Unseats Keytruda

Mounjaro, Eliquis, and Darzalex buck the Q1 trend to make gains