- Push-out Score determined
- After almost seven years in the position
- Praise for Morrison
- Michael Metzger taking over
- Morrison will remain as President, Head of Research and Development (R&D) at Syndax
- Morrison said 125 words
(exechange) — Waltham, Massachusetts, February 3, 2022 — Briggs Morrison, chief executive of Syndax, leaves his position. As announced by Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Thursday, February 3, 2022, Briggs W. Morrison has left his post as chief executive officer at the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of cancer therapies, after almost seven years in the role, effective February 2, 2022.
Briggs Morrison’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Michael A. Metzger, most recently President and Chief Operating Officer at Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc.
“Better align our roles and priorities with our individual areas of expertise”
Syndax did not give an explicit reason for Briggs Morrison’s departure from the CEO post. Metzger said: “This transition will better align our roles and priorities with our individual areas of expertise.”
Morrison will remain as President, Head of Research and Development (R&D) at Syndax
“Briggs W. Morrison, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, will transition to the role of President, Head of Research and Development (R&D),” Syndax said.
“Transitioned”
Syndax said: “On February 2, 2022, Briggs W. Morrison, M.D., transitioned from his role as Chief Executive Officer and principal executive officer of Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Company”) to President, Head of Research and Development of the Company.”
Share price increase since February 2017
The announcement follows an increase in Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s share price of 97% since February 2017.
In the position of CEO since 2015
Briggs Morrison became CEO of the Company in 2015.
Metzger and Morrison will remain on the Company’s Board of Directors.
Both Metzger and Morrison joined Syndax together in 2015 with the goal of building a world-class oncology company.
Morrison is a Class III director who has served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer since June 2015 and as a member of the Company’s board of directors since July 2015.
Morrison currently serves as a managing director of MPM Capital, a healthcare-focused venture capital firm, since June 2015.
Prior to joining the Company, he served as Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development and Chief Medical Officer at AstraZeneca plc, a publicly traded company, from January 2012 to June 2015, leading the company’s global, late-stage development organization and serving as a member of the AstraZeneca senior executive team.
He previously held a number of positions at Pfizer Inc., a publicly traded company, from 2007 to January 2012 that culminated in his appointment as Head, Medical Affairs, Safety and Regulatory Affairs for Pfizer’s human health business, and also served in roles of increasing responsibility at Merck Research Laboratories, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., from 1995 to 2007, ascending to the role of Vice President, Clinical Sciences, Oncology, responsible for clinical development of all novel anti-cancer drugs.
Morrison was chairman of the board of TransCelerate BioPharma Inc., an industry-funded company charged with improving aspects of clinical trials, from 2014 to 2015, a member of the executive committee of the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) sponsored by FDA, and is on the board of Arvinas, Oncorus, and Repare Therapeutics, each of which is a publicly traded company, as well as the boards of several private companies.
Previously, he served on the board of Codiak Biosciences and NextCure Therapeutics.
Morrison received a B.S. in biology from Georgetown University and an M.D. from the University of Connecticut.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding Briggs Morrison’s move on a scale of 0 to 10.
exechange reached out to Syndax and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 6.2022 ($).