- Push-out Score determined
- After about five years in the position
- Praise, thanks and good wishes for Pauls
- John Johnson taking over
- Search for a successor
(exechange) — Dublin, Ireland and Trevose, Pennsylvania, November 5, 2019 — Matt Pauls, chief executive of Strongbridge, leaves — as “mutually agreed.” As announced by Strongbridge Biopharma Plc in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Tuesday, November 5, 2019, Matthew (Matt) Pauls has left his post as chief executive officer at the commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company after about five years in the role, effective November 1, 2019.
Among the 3,000 largest publicly held companies incorporated in the U.S. based on market capitalization, the average tenure of the CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months was 7.5 years, according to data compiled by exechange.
Strongbridge will undertake a search for a successor.
Matt Pauls’s duties as CEO will be taken over by John H. Johnson, most recently chairman of Strongbridge Biopharma plc, as executive chairman.
“Now is the right time”
Matt Pauls’s departure from the CEO post is explained as follows. Strongbridge said: “The Board of Directors (Board) and Mr. Pauls have mutually agreed that now is the right time to transition leadership of the Company.”
Precise information regarding Matt Pauls’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Stepping down/resignation”
Strongbridge said: “Matthew Pauls is stepping down as president, chief executive officer (CEO) and director, effective immediately.”
Strongbridge further said: “On November 1, 2019, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of the Company and Matthew Pauls, Chief Executive Officer of the Company (“CEO”), mutually agreed on a CEO transition plan resulting in his resignation from his positions as CEO and member of the Board, effective immediately.”
“Not the result of any dispute”
“His resignation was not the result of any dispute or disagreement with the Company or any matter related to the Company’s operations, policies or practices,” Strongbridge said.
Share price decline
The announcement follows a decline in Strongbridge Biopharma plc’s share price of 68% since April 2018.
In the position of CEO since 2014
Matt Pauls became CEO of the Company in August 2014.
Matthew Pauls has served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer since August 2014 and as a member of the Company’s board of directors since September 2015.
Pauls has served as a member of the board of directors of Savara Inc. (formerly as Mast Therapeutics, Inc.), since October 2015 and Egalet Corporation since January 2019.
Prior to joining Strongbridge, Pauls was Chief Commercial Officer of Insmed, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, from April 2013 to August 2014.
Prior to Insmed, Pauls worked at Shire Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded specialty biopharmaceutical company, beginning in 2007 until March 2013, most recently as Senior Vice President, Head of Global Commercial Operations.
Pauls also held positions at Bristol‑Myers Squibb, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, in Brand Management and Payor Marketing, and at Johnson & Johnson, a publicly traded medical devices, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods manufacturer, in various U.S. and global commercial roles.
He is a volunteer board member of the Pennington School in Pennington, New Jersey, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia.
Pauls holds B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from Central Michigan University and a J.D. from Michigan State University College of Law.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding the management change on a scale of 0 to 10.
Read the full story in the exechange report 45.2019 ($).