Coulter Partners Assists NeoPhore with CEO Search

January 24, 2025 – Life sciences recruiting specialist Coulter Partners has assisted in the recruitment of Michael Shih as the new CEO of NeoPhore in London. Leading the assignment were Chris Palatucci, Clare Evans-Argent, Gabrielle Banzon, and Kay Wardle. The appointment follows the close of the company’s oversubscribed series B financing. The financing and new appointment of the CEO strengthen NeoPhore’s position to drive its growth strategy and maximize the potential of its pipeline. “Michael joins at an exciting stage in NeoPhore’s development having raised a significant series B financing round which was supported by Bristol Myers Squibb,” said Robert James, chairman of the board at NeoPhore. “As we move closer to being a clinical company, Michael’s experience as a corporate development leader in pharma and biotech will be instrumental in driving NeoPhore’s next phase of growth.”
Mr. Shih has nearly 20 years of experience in business development, licensing and mergers & acquisitions. He was most recently vice president of corporate development at Kite Pharma, where he led multiple business development opportunities for the company. Before this, Mr. Shih was senior vice president, head of business development at Biogen, leading the team responsible for sourcing, structuring and executing strategic collaborations and merger and acquisition opportunities. Prior to joining Biogen, he was vice president and head of global transactions at Sanofi, where he oversaw the structuring and negotiation of business development transactions across Sanofi’s business units. Mr. Shih has also held senior business development roles at Epizyme, Forest Laboratories and Eisai. An attorney by training, he previously practiced law at several New York firms and held senior legal positions in-house at Eisai Inc., specializing in licensing, corporate transactions, and litigation.
“NeoPhore’s differentiated approach to targeting the mismatch repair (MMR) pathway has huge potential to treat cancer,” said Mr. Shih. “I am looking forward to working with the highly experienced NeoPhore team, who are all clearly aligned to advance the company’s pipeline.”
NeoPhore is focused on the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapies to treat cancer through stimulation of the immune system. The company’s approach targets the DNA MMR pathway, which has been proven to promote neoantigen creation and subsequent immunity against numerous cancers. Using these insights, NeoPhore aims to generate next-generation immuno-oncology therapeutics to improve clinical outcomes for cancer patients.
Coulter Partners is a board- and senior-level global executive search specialist focused exclusively on life sciences. The firm works closely with those at the cutting edge of innovation in the industry to understand their challenges. With an extensive global network and expertise gained over 25 years in the sector, Coulter Partners is a trusted leadership adviser in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology, diagnostics, health-tech, CRO, and services sectors.
Building Leadership Teams
Coulter Partners also works closely with the global investor community, hiring for their own teams as well as building the boards and executive leadership teams of their portfolio companies. Coulter Partners’ team of 95 completes over 260 assignments a year working from 14 offices across the U.K., EMEA, the U.S., and APAC.
Bianca Coulter founded Coulter Partners in 2003 and has 25 years’ experience of board and C-level global search, building the leadership teams of early stage, mid-cap, and global multinationals in over 20 countries. Through appointing leadership, Ms. Coulter channels her judgment and expertise to impact patient benefit and assist those at the cutting edge of life science to achieve their goals.
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Dr. Palatucci, who is based in the firm’s Cambridge, MA office, focuses on board-level and senior roles across a broad range of functions, with emphasis on technical appointments – CTO, CSO, CMO, VP, R&D. Clients range from start-ups through major pharmaceutical companies. He joined Coulter Partners in 2014. Previously, he started and grew the life sciences practice for an established Boston boutique executive search firm before starting his own search practice. Before entering executive search Dr. Palatucci had a 15-year career in the life sciences industry, including senior management roles at Interleukin Genetics and the Athena Diagnostics division of Elan Pharmaceuticals.
Ms. Evans-Argent is a consultant based in London. She leads on board practice research assignments and has worked on a range of NED roles. Ms. Evans-Argent has over 25 years of international search experience, with an emphasis on board and senior leadership search across Europe and North America, with special focus on marketing and sales leadership, as well as general management assignments. She joined Coulter Partners in 2003.
Ms. Banzon is an associates based in Cambridge, MA. She research assignments, providing data analytics and overall market and business intelligence for international executive search across life sciences, health and technology. Ms. Banzon joined Coulter Partners in 2021, drawing on prior work experience in healthcare market research analysis and data analytics skills gained in academia.
Dr. Wardle has over 20 years of life science search experience and extensive R&D expertise. She has taken a lead on business development and delivery since joining Coulter Partners in 2013. Dr. Wardle has a strong focus on scientific and medical roles within R&D, spanning discovery, preclinical and clinical development, regulatory, product development, CMC and related disciplines. She has also placed C-suite, board and senior-level executives globally, working with both emerging and established organizations in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and contract research sectors.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media