- Push-out Score determined
- After about a year in the position
- Gilmore O’Neill taking over
- Mullen will remain as Executive Chairman at Editas
- Mullen said 92 words
(exechange) — Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 14, 2022 — Jim Mullen, chief executive of Editas, leaves his position. As announced by Editas Medicine Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Thursday, April 14, 2022, James C. (Jim) Mullen leaves his post as chief executive officer at the genome editing company, after about a year in the role, effective June 1, 2022.
Jim Mullen’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Gilmore O’Neill, most recently Executive Vice President of R&D and Chief Medical Officer at Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc.
The fact that Jim Mullen’s successor is brought in from outside suggests that the board may seek to stimulate change with fresh ideas and new initiatives.
In general, an outsider does not have the constraints of an insider when it comes to leading painful changes or making unpopular decisions.
No reason given
In the announcement, Editas did not explicitly explain the reason for the move.
Mullen will remain as Executive Chairman at Editas
“Editas Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: EDIT), a leading genome editing company, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Dr. Gilmore O’Neill, M.B., M.M.Sc., as President and Chief Executive Officer. James C. Mullen will serve as Executive Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors. These changes are effective June 1, 2022,” Editas said.
Share price decline since April 2021
The announcement follows a decline in Editas Medicine Inc.’s share price of 56% since April 2021.
In the position of CEO since 2021
Jim Mullen became CEO of the Company in 2021.
James C. Mullen has served as chair of the Company’s Board since March 2018, and as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer since February 2021.
Mullen previously served as Chief Executive Officer and a director of Patheon N.V., a pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization, from March 2011 until its acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (“Thermo Fisher”), a public biotechnology product development company, in August 2017.
Prior to joining Patheon, from June 2000 to June 2010, Mullen served as the president and Chief Executive Officer of Biogen.
Mullen held various operating positions at Biogen prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer, including Chief Operating Officer, Vice President, International, and Vice President, Operations.
Mullen has served on the board of directors of Thermo Fisher since November 2018. Mullen previously served on the board of directors of Insulet Corporation, a public medical device company (“Insulet”), from September 2017 until January 2019 and PerkinElmer, Inc., a public technology and service provider for diagnostics, research, environmental and industrial and laboratory services markets, from 2003 to April 2015.
He also previously served as Chairman of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.
Mullen received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A. from Villanova University.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding Jim Mullen’s move on a scale of 0 to 10.
exechange reached out to Editas and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 16.2022 ($).