People moves: Biopharma finance & accounting
George Eldridge was appointed chief financial officer of Abcuro, a clinical-stage biotech developing therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer through precise modulation of cytotoxic T cells.
Eldridge brings more than 30 years of executive leadership experience in finance and business operations, which will prove essential as the company prepares for a pivotal clinical data readout for its lead asset, ulviprubart.
He most recently served as CFO of Aerovate Therapeutics, notably guiding the company though its successful initial public offering (IPO) in 2021 and subsequent reverse merger with Jade Biosciences in 2025. He has also previously served as CFO at Proteon Therapeutics, Targanta Therapeutics, Therion Biologics, Curis (formerly Ontogeny), and Boston Life Sciences. Eldridge holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College.
Atalanta Therapeutics, a biotech developing treatments for intractable diseases of the central nervous system using RNA interference, has appointed Douglas Pagán as chief financial officer and chief operating officer.
Pagán has more than two decades of experience in finance, investor relations, and capital formation across both public and venture-backed biopharma companies. Most recently he was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Jnana Therapeutics, where he was instrumental in securing the company’s $107 million Series C financing heading into the clinic, and the subsequent ~$1 billion acquisition by Otsuka Pharmaceutical. He has also served in leadership roles with Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Acceleron and Biogen. Pagán holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BSE in chemical engineering from Princeton University.
TheRas, Inc. d/b/a BBOT, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on RAS-pathway malignancies, has appointed Uneek Mehra as chief financial officer.
Mehra brings more than 28 years of global financial and business leadership experience across biopharma, most recently as chief financial and business officer at 4D Molecular Therapeutics (4DMT) where he led a successful $325M financing as well as capital allocation efforts to ensure funding for two large Phase III programs. He has also served in leadership positions with Myovant Sciences Ltd., PACT Pharma, Proteus Digital Health as and Novartis. Mehra holds an MBA in Strategy and Leadership from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland, a Master of Management Studies (MMS) in Finance from the University of Mumbai, and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India.
Bayer appointed Priyal Patel as cluster chief financial oOfficer for North America, effective July 1. Patel oversees financial strategy and operations across Bayer’s North American businesses while continuing to serve as head of treasury for Bayer North America.
Patel joined Bayer in 2008, holding finance leadership roles including finance business partner for the Crop Science division, director of investor relations, and most recently, head of North America treasury. In this capacity, she led a strategic reorganization of the treasury team and developed innovative strategies to navigate volatile capital markets and support investment and insurance needs across the region.
Late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company Mind Medicine, which is developing novel product candidates to treat brain health disorders, announced the appointment of Brandi L. Roberts as its chief financial officer. As part of the executive leadership team, she oversees all aspects of financial strategy, capital planning, accounting, investor relations and information technology as MindMed advances its clinical development and commercial priorities for its lead product candidate MM120 orally disintegrating tablet (ODT) for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD).
Roberts has more than 25 years of financial leadership experience within the life sciences industry. Most recently, she served as CFO and executive vice president of Longboard Pharmaceuticals, where she helped lead the company through its IPO, multiple financings, and ultimately, its $2.6 billion acquisition by Lundbeck in 2024. She has an MBA from the University of San Diego and a BS degree in business administration in Accounting and Finance from the University of Arizona. Roberts is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California and currently serves on the board of advisors for Life Science Cares San Diego and the board for the Association of Bioscience Financial Officers Southwest chapter.
Seismic Therapeutic, a platform-based clinical-stage immunology biotech, has appointed Sophie Jones, MD, as the company’s chief financial officer, effective June 18. Jones leads Seismic’s finance organization and works with the executive team to advance the company’s business operations and strategy across its portfolio of immunology medicines.
Jones has more than a decade of investment banking and capital markets experience, most recently with J.P. Morgan where she served as a managing director in Healthcare Investment Banking. She completed her medical training in the Department of Surgery at Columbia University, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and served as Chief Fellow in Heart-Lung Transplant and in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Research Laboratory of the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Jones holds an MD with Honors from Boston University School of Medicine and a BA in History with Honors from Yale University.
Melissa Epperly has been named chief financial officer of Tenpoint Therapeutics Ltd., a global, clinical-stage biotech company developing treatments to rejuvenate vision in the aging eye global. In this role, Epperly oversees Tenpoint’s financial strategy, capital markets activities, and operational finance functions as the company prepares for the potential U.S. launch of BRIMOCHOL™ PF, its lead candidate for the treatment of presbyopia.
Epperly brings over two decades of financial leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, having served as CFO for both public and private companies. Most recently, she was CFO at Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, where she led the company through a successful IPO and subsequent financings, raising over $1.25 billion. Her prior roles include CFO positions at PsiOxus Therapeutics and R-Pharm US, as well as strategic and financial roles at Anchorage Capital, Goldman Sachs, Bain & Company, and Morgan Stanley. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Biochemistry and Economics from the University of Virginia.
Eric Hyllengren was appointed chief financial officer effective July 7 for Zura Bio Limited, a clinical-stage, multi-asset immunology company developing novel dual-pathway antibodies for a range of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Hyllengren brings over 20 years of financial leadership experience in the life sciences and biotechnology sectors. He most recently served as chief operating officer and CFO at Atara Biotherapeutics, where he played a key role in advancing capital strategy, driving cost transformation, and supporting organizational design. He previously spent 15 years at Amgen in roles spanning corporate finance, investor relations, business development, and alliance management, supporting global operations and long-range planning.
These announcements are from June through August, as posted on BusinessWire. If your company has an executive appointment announcement related to finance and accounting, please forward to Brandy Fidler at [email protected]
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