Originally published on Hunt Scanlon Media.
January 4, 2021 – Over the past few months, numerous healthcare organizations have turned to executive search firms to find new chief medical officers. In the era of COVID-19 this is likely to be another burgeoning area for executive search firms. The Bowdoin Group recently placed Diego Cadavid as the new chief medical officer of X4 Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Cadavid will be responsible for the strategy, direction and execution of the company’s clinical development programs.
“We’re thrilled for Paula and the team at X4,” said Dave Melville, founder and CEO of The Bowdoin Group. “Diego will be a critical team member as they advance their pipeline of innovative medicines for rare diseases. His experience treating patients in the clinic combined with his extensive drug development background brings a patient-focused perspective that’s critical to the X4 mission.”
“We are very pleased to welcome Diego to our team,” said Paula Ragan, president and CEO of X4 Pharmaceuticals. “We believe his strong clinical development expertise, in particular with the advancement of small molecules and biologics for the treatment of rare and immunological diseases, will be invaluable as we continue to advance our ongoing clinical programs, including our Phase 3 trial of mavorixafor in WHIM syndrome and our Phase 1b studies in Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia and severe congenital neutropenia, as well as our preclinical pipeline.”
Dr. Cadavid brings more than 22 years of experience in drug development and academic research to X4, having led multiple programs through all phases of clinical development, including small molecules and biologics for the treatment of rare and immunological diseases. Most recently, he served as senior vice president and head of clinical development at Fulcrum Therapeutics where he led the development of multiple small molecules for the treatment of genetically defined rare diseases, including sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia as well as muscular dystrophies.
Prior to that, Dr. Cadavid held several leadership positions at Biogen, including senior medical director of the multiple sclerosis clinical development group. While at Biogen, he also worked as a consultant at the center for immunology and inflammatory diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Cadavid holds an MD in medicine and surgery from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia and is board-certified and a U.S. licensed clinical neurologist. He completed post-doctoral training in microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas and a clinical neurology residency at Georgetown University, and completed a fellowship in neuropathology at Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.
“I am very excited to be joining X4 at this time,” said Dr. Cadavid. “I believe the clinical profile demonstrated by mavorixafor to date to be compelling and that this promising small molecule drug candidate has great potential to treat a range of rare genetic immune diseases and cancers. I look forward to leveraging my clinical and scientific expertise to support the continued advancement of mavorixafor through the clinic, while progressing our preclinical programs into the clinic as well.”
X4 Pharmaceuticals is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company and a leader in the discovery and development of novel therapies for the treatment of diseases resulting from dysfunction of the CXCR4 pathway, with a focus on rare diseases and those with limited treatment options. X4 is continuing to leverage its insights into CXCR4 biology at its corporate headquarters in Cambridge, MA, and at its research facility in Vienna, Austria, and is discovering and developing additional product candidates.
Veteran Search Firm
Founded in 1994, The Bowdoin Group specializes in leadership and strategic roles for a wide range of companies, from small firms building out their executive team to large firms sourcing talent for rapid market expansion as well as venture- and private equity-backed firms. With deep expertise in biopharma, digital health, fintech and financial services, and software, the firm specializes in the Greater Boston area with the ability to source talent and service companies globally.
With over 30 years of search experience, Mr. Melville leads Bowdoin’s strategic planning initiatives and is involved as a key resource for the firm’s growing client base. His passion for bio-pharma and healthcare stems from his work and personal experiences. Mr. Melville’s expertise includes executive and strategic searches within the clinical/scientific, medical affairs, commercial roles, and finance and GA fields, in addition to large-scale commercial team expansions and build-outs for pre-clinical trial bio-pharma companies.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media