The New Skills Required for CMOs in Biotech

Dr. Shefali Agarwal is Epizyme’s Chief Medical and Development Officer. Prior to joining the company in 2018, Dr Agarwal held leadership positions across medical research, clinical development, clinical operations and medical affairs. She most recently served as chief medical officer at SQZ Biotech, where she built and led the clinical development organization, which included clinical research operations and the regulatory function. Before SQZ Biotech, Dr Agarwal also held leadership positions at Curis and Tesaro. At Curis, she oversaw the Phase 2 study for its dual HDAC/PI3K inhibitor in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and the Phase 1 study in solid tumors for its oral checkpoint inhibitor. At Tesaro, she led the NDA and EMA submissions for ZEJULA® (niraparib) in ovarian cancer. Dr Agarwal has also held positions of increasing responsibility at Covidien, AVEO Oncology and Pfizer. In addition to receiving her medical degree, Dr Agarwal holds a master’s of public health and a master’s of science in business.

Dr Martin Childers leads the clinical department of AskBio, Inc charged with executing clinical trials for serious genetic diseases. As lead in the clinical research department, Dr Childers commands a broad background in medical physiology, with specific training and expertise in key research areas for this application. Dr Childers was a professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, and a co-director of the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington. He is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University (BA, music performance), Western University (DO, medicine, osteopathic), and the University of Missouri (PhD, physiology and pharmacology; residency, rehabilitation medicine). Dr Childer’s research focused on two areas of investigation: in preclinical studies, they addressed issues related to systemic gene replacement delivery for patients with rare neuromuscular diseases, such as X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy and, in other studies, they used a “disease in a dish” approach with induced pluripotent stem cells to study heart disease in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Previously, Dr Childers’ clinical medicine practice at the University of Washington Medical Center was dedicated to serve patients with neuromuscular diseases.Dr Childers studied music as an undergraduate at Seattle Pacific University. Dr Childers’ graduate studies were completed at Western University, College of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and at the University of Missouri, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Department of Physiology (PhD).

Dr Anna Frostegård is a globally educated, board-certified physician holding MD summa cum laude. She obtained her PhD in Experimental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Dr Frostegård served as Assistant Professor at the Unit of Immunology and Chronic Disease at Karolinska Institutet. She has an active career in both medical science and biotech. She is the co-founder and currently the Chief Scientific and Medical Officer in Annexin Pharmaceuticals AB (publ), a First North/Nasdaq listed biotech company. Dr Frostegård has over 15 years of “first-hand” leadership experience in discoveries of biologic drug candidates and transition of academic inventions into a drug development process, biotech startups, IPO, financing, pre-clinical and early clinical development of biologic drug candidates as well as in strategic work related to building asset and intellectual property portfolios, in- and out licensing. Therapeutic areas of expertise are inflammation & immunology, autoimmunity and cardiovascular disease. She is the co-inventor on several granted patents and patent applications related to therapeutic use of Annexin A5 in human disease. She has co-founded 5 companies within EU. She is a board member in 4 companies. She consults academic researchers and investors on effective interactions between academic inventors and biotechnology industry. She advises on early stage investments in biotechnology. Dr Frostegård holds several awards for scientific communication. She is a professional member of the American Heart Association.

Dr Cadmus Rich is CMO at Aura. Before joining Aura, Cadmus was most recently Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Inotek Pharmaceuticals. He previously held several senior positions at Alcon Laboratories, including overseeing the pipeline strategy and R&D projects for Alcon’s intraocular lens product line, and leading global pharmaceutical clinical trial management. Cadmus was board-certified in Ophthalmology in 2002 after completing his residency at the UNC School of Medicine. He obtained his MBA from Regis University, his Certified Physician Executive certification from the American Association for Physician Leadership and his BA in Psychology from Case Western Reserve University.Cadmus has extensive experience in R&D, having led or participated in nearly 75 development programs including the submission and approval of multiple devices and pharmaceutical products  in the U.S., EU, China, Japan and Brazil/Latin America. He has directly led or participated in over 150 clinical trials across multiple ophthalmology and systemic indications as an executive leader, medical director, medical monitor and principal investigator. Cadmus has served on the board of directors of the North Carolina Specialty Hospital and is currently a member of the board of directors of Prevent Blindness, the nation’s longest-acting volunteer eye health and safety organization.