- Push-out Score determined
- After around eight years in the position
- Accolades, praise, thanks and good wishes for Gottesdiener
- Search for a successor
- Gottesdiener said 114 words
(exechange) — Boston, Massachusetts, January 6, 2020 — Keith Gottesdiener, chief executive of Rhythm, leaves. As announced by Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a news release on Monday, January 6, 2020, Keith M. Gottesdiener leaves his post as Chief Executive Officer at the biopharmaceutical company after around eight years in the role.
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.
Gottesdiener plans to serve in his current role until the completion of the Company’s submission of its New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Rhythm will undertake a search for a successor.
“As Rhythm prepares to enter its next chapter as a commercial company, now is an appropriate time to initiate this transition”
Keith Gottesdiener’s departure from the CEO post is explained as follows. David Meeker, M.D., Chairman of the Board, said: “As Rhythm prepares to enter its next chapter as a commercial company, now is an appropriate time to initiate this transition. We believe Rhythm has a strong management team, is well capitalized, and all of its major milestones are on track, including the planned submission of our first NDA to the FDA. We are confident this will be a smooth transition as we work to identify the next leader for Rhythm and continue to execute on our mission of transforming the standard of care for people with rare genetic disorders of obesity.”
Precise information regarding Keith Gottesdiener’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Step down”
Rhythm said: “Keith Gottesdiener, M.D., intends to step down as Chief Executive Officer, President and a member of the Company’s Board of Directors.”
Share price decline
The announcement follows a decline in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s share price of 23% since January 2019.
Chaired by David Meeker
Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Inc. is chaired by David Meeker.
Meeker has served as a member of the Company’s Board since November 2015 and became Chairman of the Board in April 2017.
In the position of CEO since 2011
Keith Gottesdiener became CEO of the Company in 2011.
Gottesdiener has been Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board since October 2011 and was chairman of the Board from that date until April 2017.
He has been President since August 2017.
He joined Rhythm after 16 years at Merck Research Laboratories, or Merck.
Gottesdiener joined Merck in 1995 and held positions of increasing responsibility, eventually leading Merck’s early clinical development across all therapeutic areas from 2001 through early 2006.
From 2006 to 2011, he was a leader of Merck’s late clinical development organization, first overseeing the development of Merck’s infectious diseases and vaccine products through pivotal trials, registration, and life cycle management, including Gardasil™ (HPV Vaccine), Rotateq™ (rotavirus vaccine), Zostavax™ (zoster vaccine) and Isentress™ (HIV integrase inhibitor), among others.
In 2008, Gottesdiener was appointed Late Stage Therapeutic Group Leader, and in that role led Merck’s late-stage clinical development efforts (from Phase 2 through patent expiry) across all therapeutic areas.
After Merck’s merger with Schering Plough in 2009, he continued as co-head of late development.
Gottesdiener received his B.A. from Harvard College and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
He completed his residency and fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital-Beth Israel Medical Center-Dana Farber Cancer Institute Children’s Hospital programs.
After his fellowship, Gottesdiener did postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Jack Strominger at Dana Farber Cancer Institute working on the molecular immunology of the T-cell receptor.
In 1986, he joined the faculty as an assistant professor at Columbia University, started an independent research laboratory with NIH RO-1 funding, focusing on gene transcription, and was Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the time he left to join Merck in 1995.
Gottesdiener was a director and the chief executive officer of Motus Therapeutics, Inc., with which the Company was previously affiliated (“Motus”) until December 2016.
Gottesdiener is currently a director of Intercept Pharmaceuticals and Rhythm Holding Company, LLC.
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.
exechange reached out to Rhythm and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 2.2020 ($).