FogPharma gains ex-J&J exec
FogPharma – a biopharma company pioneering the discovery and development of Helicon therapeutics (small proteins capable of efficient cell-entry and modulating protein-protein interactions) has appointed Mathai Mammen, M.D., Ph.D. as chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Dr. Mammen will serve as an advisor to FogPharma beginning immediately and will assume his position as chairman, president and chief executive officer in June 2023.
Dr. Mammen was most recently on the Executive Committee at Johnson & Johnson, responsible for the pharmaceutical R&D organization, and spearheaded a significant evolution of Janssen’s R&D, one of the largest R&D organizations in the world. He was a key leader that shaped and drove Johnson & Johnson’s bold foray into COVID vaccines and helped drive Janssen's substantial growth to become one of the top pharmaceutical companies globally. He led his team to global approvals of eight new medicines including Tremfya, Darzalex Faspro, Balversa, Carvykti, Rybrevant, Ponvory, Spravato and Tecvayli, with many additional global approvals for expanded indications of marketed products.
Under his leadership, Janssen R&D executed 40+ acquisitions and licenses and 350+ strategic partnerships and collaborations.
Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, he served as senior vice president at Merck, responsible for multiple research areas including cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases, immunology, oncology and immuno-oncology. Before Merck, Dr. Mammen led R&D at Theravance, Inc., a company he co-founded out of graduate school based on his work at Harvard University with Dr. George Whitesides. Under his leadership, Theravance advanced a robust pipeline of multiple development-stage compounds resulting in five approved pharmaceutical products, and separated into two companies: Theravance Biopharma, Inc. and Innoviva, Inc. Dr. Mammen also currently serves on the board of directors of 10x Genomics, Inc.
Dr. Mammen has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed journal publications, posters and patents. He received his M.D. from the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology HST program and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University.
FogPharma founder Gregory Verdine, Ph.D., will transition from his current role as chairman and chief executive officer to vice chairman on the company’s board of directors.
