Caliber Associates Recruits Chief Development Officer for Coherus BioSciences
December 23, 2021 – San Diego, CA- based Caliber Associates recently placed Theresa LaVallee as the chief development officer at Coherus BioSciences in Redwood City, CA. Dr. LaVallee will serve as a member of the company’s executive leadership team and oversee all regulatory matters and product development functions, reporting to Denny Lanfear, president and CEO of Coherus.
“Theresa is a terrific addition to Coherus at a time when we are increasingly focused on our immuno-oncology pipeline, particularly combinations with toripalimab, our PD-1 inhibitor,” said Mr. Lanfear. “She is a seasoned executive with a proven track record of success in the end-to-end discovery and development of drugs and diagnostics for cancer. With her scientific and regulatory expertise, she will play a critical role in the growth of our immuno-oncology development capabilities.”
Dr. LaVallee brings more than 25 years of drug discovery and development experience. Most recently, she was vice president, translational medicine and regulatory affairs at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy where she provided scientific leadership for clinical strategy for development of novel immuno-oncology therapies and helped establish the institute’s clinical, translational and regulatory organization. Previously, she held executive roles at Kolltan Pharma and Celldex Therapeutics. From 2008 to 2013, she was a member of the immuno-oncology team at AstraZeneca (MedImmune) developing checkpoint inhibitors and related diagnostics. Dr. LaVallee earned her doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles and her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“Coherus’ lead immuno-oncology asset, toripalimab, is establishing a compelling clinical profile in late-stage trials,” said Dr. LaVallee. “PD-1 inhibitors such as toripalimab are expected to play a long-term foundational role in immuno-oncology drug development as the backbone of novel combination treatments. I look forward to working with the team at Coherus and with the company’s world-class scientific advisory board to help Coherus become a leader in immuno-oncology and to advance novel treatments for cancer patients.”
Related: Caliber Associates Recruits CHRO for INOVIO Pharmaceuticals
Coherus is a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company with the mission to increase access to cost-effective medicines that can have a major impact on patients’ lives and to deliver significant savings to the health care system. Coherus’ strategy is to build a leading immuno-oncology franchise in the United States and Canada funded with cash generated by its commercial biosimilar business.
Life Sciences Recruiters
Caliber Associates, founded in 1988, is focused exclusively on the life sciences sector. The firm’s leaders are highly experienced search professionals and biopharmaceutical executives who bring more than 70 years of industry experience. Caliber Associates has partnered with over 150 leading companies and has completed upwards of 700 searches, placing strategic leaders with broad therapeutic and functional reach. The firm has offices in San Diego, metro New York and Boston/Cambridge, MA.
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Among the roles that the firm has recently filled include chief scientific officer for GentiBio, vice president of project management at Locanabio and CEO for Caraway Therapeutics.
Steven Hochberg, the search firm’s founder and CEO, focuses on recruiting CEOs, board members, C-level and strategic teams for emerging life science companies and global biopharmaceutical companies. He has assembled a small team of highly experienced, results driven search professionals. Prior to his search career, he held strategic human resources roles with Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, FMC Corp. and Shell Oil Co.
Recently, the firm placed Robert Crotty as the new executive vice president and general counsel of INOVIO Pharmaceuticals. “Rob brings significant industry experience leading the legal function of several successful biotech companies,” said Mr. Hochberg. Mr. Crotty joined INOVIO from Nabriva Therapeutics, where he served as general counsel and secretary.
Related: Caliber Associates Fills Senior Post for Sutro Biopharma
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
