- Push-out Score determined
- After almost 13 years in the position
- Praise, thanks and good wishes for Fowler
- Damian deGoa taking over
(exechange) — Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, December 14, 2020 — Neal Fowler, chief executive of Liquidia, leaves. As announced by Liquidia Corp. in a news release on Monday, December 14, 2020, Neal F. Fowler leaves his post as chief executive officer of the late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company after almost 13 years in the role, effective immediately.
Neal Fowler’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Damian deGoa, most recently Chief Executive Officer of RareGen.
The fact that Neal Fowler’s successor is brought in from outside suggests that the board may seek to stimulate change with fresh ideas and new initiatives.
No reason given
In the announcement, Liquidia did not explicitly explain the reason for Neal Fowler’s move, leaving room for speculation.
Precise information regarding Neal Fowler’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Retired”
Liquidia said: “Damian deGoa has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a director of the Company, effective immediately. He succeeds Neal F. Fowler who has retired as CEO and a director of the Company.”
Share price decline since December 2019
The announcement follows a decline in Liquidia Corp.’s share price of 29% since December 2019.
Chaired by Stephen Bloch
Stephen Bloch serves as Liquidia Corp.’s Chairman.
Bloch is a General Partner at Canaan Partners. As an early investor and chairman, Bloch helped Advanced BioHealing (ABH), a leader in regenerative medicine, grow from a seed-stage company to a $750 million all-cash acquisition by Shire.
In the position of CEO since 2008
Neal Fowler became CEO of the Company in 2008.
Fowler has agreed to provide assistance to the Company for a short period of time to support a smooth transition.
Fowler joined Liquidia in 2008 after seven years in an executive leadership role at Johnson & Johnson (J&J).
While at J&J, he served as President of Centocor, Inc., a multi-billion-dollar subsidiary focused on the development and commercialization of industry-leading biomedicines used to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.
At Centocor, Fowler prepared the company for commercial product launches and continued the company’s legacy of double-digit growth for its flagship product REMICADE® (infliximab).
Prior to Centocor, Fowler served as President of Ortho-McNeil Neurologics Inc. and Vice President of the central nervous system franchise at Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals.
He also had a 13-year career at Eli Lilly and Company where he held a variety of sales, marketing and business development roles with increasing responsibilities in the pharmaceutical and medical device divisions.
Fowler received a B.S. in Pharmacy and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding the management change on a scale of 0 to 10.
exechange reached out to Liquidia and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 51.2020 ($).