Slone Partners Finds Chief Medical Officer for X4 Pharmaceuticals
September 13, 2023 – Life sciences-focused search firm Slone Partners has placed Christophe Arbet-Engels as chief medical officer at X4 Pharmaceuticals Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company. The enterprise is developing novel small molecule therapeutics to benefit patients with diseases of the immune system.
Dr. Arbet-Engels previously served as CMO at several life science companies, including Neurogastrx, Millendo Therapeutics, and Poxel Pharmaceuticals, where he provided research and development leadership, advancing multiple candidates from pre-clinical through to late-stage clinical trials. Prior to these roles, he held a variety of senior medical and clinical positions at Biogen, Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Hoffmann-La Roche, Merck Research Laboratories, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, and Ligand Pharmaceuticals, where he led clinical development and registration, launch and lifecycle management efforts for several new medicines.
“Dr. Arbet-Engels is a highly respected and experienced global pharmaceutical executive with keen business acumen honed over more than 20 years serving in complex organizational settings,” said Leslie Loveless, Slone Partners CEO. “We are very pleased to have been able to place him at X4 where we believe his extraordinary drive, passion, and vision – and his proven track record of success – will make a wonderful addition to the company’s leadership team.”
“It was truly a pleasure collaborating with Slone Partners on the placement of Christophe as our new chief medical officer,” said Paula Ragan, president and chief executive officer of X4 Pharmaceuticals, “We very much value our relationship with the Slone team and consider them a valuable ongoing resource to X4 given their deep understanding of and high quality connections within the life science industry.”
Founded in 2014, X4 is leveraging its expertise in diseases of the immune system and CXCR4 biology, to bring innovative treatments to patients with chronic neutropenic disorders. Its lead product candidate, mavorixafor, is a first-in-class CXCR4 inhibitor being developed as a once-daily, oral therapy for people with chronic neutropenic disorders. The company is headquartered in Boston, with a research center of excellence in Vienna, Austria.
Life Sciences Recruiters
Slone Partners is a nationally recognized senior-level recruitment provider that specializes in delivering executive, management, and leadership talent for the diagnostic, biopharmaceutical, healthcare information technology, and laboratory testing industries. The firm has offices in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Recently, Slone Partners was included among Hunt Scanlon Media’s “Top 50 Healthcare & Life Sciences Search Firms.”
Related: Slone Partners Recruits Chief Business Officer for 1910 Genetics
In 2000, Adam Slone founded Slone Partners and acted as CEO from 2000 to 2016. He remains chairman today. His industry knowledge and extensive contacts have enabled Slone Partners to place thousands of executives and industry professionals. Today, Mr. Slone remains engaged with Slone Partners, with a specific focus in strategy, finance, M&A advisement, and business development in Boston and California.
Slone Partners Recruits CFO for Clear Labs
Slone Partners has placed Edward Fan as the new chief financial officer of Clear Labs, a provider of fully automated, next-generation sequencing for turnkey genomic surveillance and diagnostics. “Edward Fan is a highly respected and admired financial and operations leader with a wealth of experience across healthcare and the life sciences industry,” said Leslie Loveless, CEO of Slone Partners. “Ed is an accomplished business leader and brings a significant and unique blend of experience spanning the investment banking, clinical diagnostics, biotech and pharma industries,” said Sasan Amini, co-founder and CEO of Clear Labs.
Ms. Loveless has nearly 20 years of healthcare industry and executive search experience to Slone Partners. She joined the firm in 2007, became COO in 2014 and CEO in 2016. At Slone Partners, Ms. Loveless acts as the leader of the organization as well as the head of the executive search team. Her involvement with clients and candidates enables her to understand the key motivations of each. As CEO, Ms. Loveless’ focus extends to cultivating new business partnerships and expanding relationships with existing clients. Through her leadership, life sciences and biotechnology have emerged as the primary client base for Slone Partners.
A Previous Placement
Earlier this year, Slone Partners recruited Paul Scagnetti as CEO of biotechnology company ONI. He succeeded founding CEO Bo Jing, who remained with ONI as a key contributor in product development. “Paul Scagnetti is a tremendously experienced, driven, passionate business leader and visionary with both the strategic and tactical skill-sets needed to direct an important new chapter at ONI,” said Ms. Loveless. “He joins the company at a time when its breakthroughs in the development of microscopy in the life sciences are forming the foundation of its future growth, so he will make a tremendous addition to the ONI leadership team.”
Mr. Scagnetti is responsible for driving the ONI’s future growth and expanding its reach to new customers and markets. He is also charged with building on the company’s vision to enable better science by delivering accessible and innovative new technologies to scientists around the world.
ONI’s new leader brings more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences and technology markets and has a track record of success for both large and small companies. He previously served as vice president of corporate and business development at Illumina, where he led M&A, partnerships, and licensing. His prior experience spans international leadership roles where his responsibilities ranged from general management, new business development, and strategic planning at companies such as FEI and Intel.
Related: Slone Partners Places Chief Medical Officer at Goldfinch Bio
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
