Nagesh Manhanthappa, the founding employee of Scholar Rock (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SRRK]]) and its president and CEO for the past eight years, has decided to step down, the company announced Tuesday. No reason was given. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech said Mahanthappa is also leaving the board of directors on Aug. 1 but will continue to serve as a scientific advisor to the company.
Scholar Rock has appointed Tony Kingsley as Mahanthappa’s successor. Kingsley was most recently the president and CEO of Taris Bio, which was acquired by Janssen Pharmaceuticals in late 2019. His experience also includes positions at The Medicines Company, Biogen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]), and Hologic (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HOLX]]). Scholar Rock is developing drugs that address diseases driven by proteins called growth factors. The company has two clinical-stage compounds: SRK-015 is in Phase 2 testing in patients with spinal muscular atrophy while SRK-181 is in Phase 1 testing as a potential treatment for solid tumors that have become resistant to cancer immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors. The company expects to report data for both programs later this year.
