→ Entrenched in a legal battle with their manufacturer that’s evidently blocking them from making their Covid-19 vaccine candidate, Inovio is making some leadership changes. Gene Kim will be president of Inovio Asia, while Mammen (Anza) Mammen jumps aboard the biotech as SVP, clinical development, and is slated oversee development of Inovio’s DNA vaccine candidate INO-4800.

An ex-CFO at VGX Pharmaceuticals, Kim had previously been the CFO of AfreecaTV and video game developer WeMade Entertainment, both South Korean companies. And Mammen, who retired from the US Army with the rank of colonel, spent more than 6 years at Vical, becoming their SVP, clinical development, and prior to that role, was an infectious disease consultant and founding chief of the DoD’s pandemic warning team at Fort Detrick, MD.

→ Jean-Michel Boers, who joined Boehringer Ingelheim in 1998, is stepping in as US president and CEO. He succeeds Wolfgang Baiker, who is retiring after 31 years with the company. After starting out at Boehringer Ingelheim 22 years ago in Belgium as head of business information and support, Boers has steadily worked his way up the ladder in more prominent leadership roles. He has led the US human pharma business at the German drugmaker since January 2017.

Freshman year was a transformative one for Aetna Wun Trombley.

Having enrolled at the University of California, San Diego thinking she would become a pediatrician some day, she got intrigued by the chemistry research projects she was introduced to in her first undergraduate chemistry course. She joined the lab of the lecturer, paving the way for her to drop pre-med and eventually complete a PhD at MIT.

→ David Meline didn’t stay retired for long. As reported yesterday, the former Amgen exec will replace Lorence Kim as CFO of Moderna as the Big Pharma has sprinted to the front of the Covid-19 vaccine pack, getting selected as one of the finalists for Operation Warp Speed. Meline, who gets started on Monday, announced his retirement as Amgen’s CFO in October 2019, remaining in the role until the end of the year. But he’s back in the saddle at a crucial time as Moderna prepares for Phase III studies of their SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Meline previously held leadership positions at 3M and General Motors.

→ Momelotinib-focused Sierra Oncology, which launched a Phase III trial in November for myelofibrosis patients, has made Stephen Dilly its president and CEO, effective June 1. Dilly was previously the CEO at Aimmune from 2014 until what was billed as his retirement in 2018, but now he’s back at the helm of another company and is also a member of Sierra’s board of directors. Additionally, the seasoned vet has held posts at Genentech, Chiron and GSK.

Ipsen has turned to another Paris-based biopharma company for its next CEO.

Sanofi Pasteur chief David Loew — who’s been leading one of the most advanced efforts to develop vaccines for Covid-19 — is making the journey to Ipsen, 5 months after David Meek jumped ship to run a startup in late-stage development.

Loew arrives as Ipsen works to get back on track with their rare bone disease drug palovarotene, picked up in the $1.3 billion Clementia buyout, which was slammed with a partial hold after researchers observed cases of “early growth plate closure” in patients under the age of 14. But they are pushing ahead with the over-14 crowd after writing down slightly more than half of its initial development.

→ CRISPR genome editing player Caribou Biosciences has appointed Cherry Thomas as SVP of clinical development, a newly-created position. Thomas jumps to Berkeley-based Caribou from Array Biopharma, where she was VP of clinical development of their oncology division. She’s also been the executive director of clinical development at BeiGene.

→ Not only has autoimmune disease-focused Artax Biopharma brought Joseph Lobacki to the helm as CEO, but the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company has also made some new additions to its management team. Lobacki takes over the reins from Damia Tormo, who remains on the company’s board of directors. Lobacki joins the team after a stint at Verastem as EVP and CCO and as COO of Finch Therapeutics. In addition, Lobacki has held posts at Medivation, Micromet and Genzyme.