Biotech Firms Announce Multiple CFO Changes

Avenzo Therapeutics, a publicly traded, clinical-stage biotech company developing oncology therapies, announced the appointment of Scott Lipman as its CFO. Lipman will assume responsibility for the company’s finance and accounting functions, while continuing to lead business development as the company’s chief business officer. 

Scott Lipman

Lipman joined Avenzo in March 2023 as senior vice president, corporate development, and was promoted to chief business officer in November 2024. He started his career as a management consultant at ZS Associates, received his BS in chemical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Lipman succeeds Paolo Tombesi, whoretired from his position as the company’s CFO.

Publicly traded, clinical-stage oncology vaccine company IO Biotech announced that Amy Sullivan, the company’s CFO, has been designated as its principal accounting officer. This is due to the resignation of Brian Burkavage, senior vice president and chief accounting officer, to pursue another opportunity. 

Amy Sullivan

Sullivan has more than 25 years of experience raising capital and building and managing corporate biotech and life sciences brands. Most recently, she was CFO with TABA, BV. She also has served in other executive roles with Kiadis Pharma, playing a critical role in the company’s sale to Sanofi, as well as Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Idenix Biopharmaceuticals, and Genencor International.

She has an MBA from Bentley University and a BS in business from Salem State University.

Trevi Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing investigational therapy Haduvio™, announced David Hastings will assume the role of CFO effective January 6, 2026.

David Hastings

Hastings brings over 25 years of financial leadership in life sciences with accomplishments spanning capital raising, commercialization, business development, and investor relations management. Most recently, Hastings was CFO at Arbutus, and he was senior vice president and CFO of Unilife. Prior to that, he spent the majority of his career as CFO and executive vice president at Incyte, a role he held from 2003 to 2014.

XTL Biopharmaceuticals, a publicly traded, clinical-stage biotech in the unmet needs space, announced the appointment of Niv Segal its CFO. Segal has over 12 years of senior financial management experience, primarily in the high-tech sector. He comes to XTL most recently from Optivail Finance. 

Niv Segal

He has also served as CFO with G.S. Innplay Labs, where he led the company’s $300 million acquisition by Playtika, as well Beach Bum, managing its $700 million acquisition process. In his previous roles, Segal oversaw global finance operations, public company reporting, M&A processes, and SOX compliance. He began his career at PwC Israel, and holds an MBA in Accounting and a BA in Economics and Accounting, and is a certified public accountant in Israel. He replaces Itay Weinstein who resigned as XTL’s CFO, which was not due to any conflict or difference of opinion with the company or its leadership.

Publicly traded, late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Vistagen appointed Nick Tressler as chief financial officer. Tressler brings over 20 years of financial leadership experience in the life sciences industry and most recently served as CFO of DYNEX Technologies. 

Nick Tressler

He has also held senior and executive roles with American Gene Technologies, Senseonics Holdings, Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, and MedImmune LLC. Tressler holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School and a BS from the University of Maryland, College Park, Robert H. Smith School of Business.

These announcements are from November 17 through December 15, 2025, as posted on BusinessWire, PRNewswire, Yahoo Finance, SEC documents or company postings. If your company has an executive appointment announcement related to finance and accounting, please forward to Brandy Fidler at [email protected].