Cambridge, MA-based Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MACK]]) has named Yasir Al-Wakeel its new chief financial officer and head of corporate development. Al-Wakeel, a former director of Credit Suisse’s healthcare investment banking team, replaces former CFO William Sullivan, who will serve as Merrimack’s head of finance and accounting going forward. He’s become the latest of a number of healthcare bankers have jumped to c-suite biotech roles in the past few years, among them Lorence Kim (Moderna Therapeutics) and Steve Harr (Juno Therapeutics). Merrimack, meanwhile, is prepping to launch its first drug, a pancreatic cancer treatment known as MM-398. The FDA will decide by Oct. 24 whether to approve the drug.
Author: Ben Fidler
Ben is former Xconomy Deputy Editor, Biotechnology. He is a seasoned business journalist that comes to Xconomy after a nine-year stint at The Deal, where he covered corporate transactions in industries ranging from biotech to auto parts and gaming. Most recently, Ben was The Deal’s senior healthcare writer, focusing on acquisitions, venture financings, IPOs, partnerships and industry trends in the pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostics and med tech spaces. Ben wrote features on creative biotech financing models, analyses of middle market and large cap buyouts, spin-offs and restructurings, and enterprise pieces on legal issues such as pay-for-delay agreements and the Affordable Care Act. Before switching to the healthcare beat, Ben was The Deal's senior bankruptcy reporter, covering the restructurings of the Texas Rangers, Phoenix Coyotes, GM, Delphi, Trump Entertainment Resorts and Blockbuster, among others. Ben has a bachelor’s degree in English from Binghamton University.
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