- Push-out Score determined
- After less than two and a half years in the position
- Praise, thanks and good wishes for Goldsmith
- Chip Cale taking over temporarily
- Search for a successor
- Goldsmith said 79 words
(exechange) — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 1, 2022 — Bruce Goldsmith, chief executive of Passage Bio, leaves — as “mutually agreed.” As announced by Passage Bio Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, Bruce A. Goldsmith has left his post as chief executive officer at the clinical-stage genetic medicines company, after less than two and a half years in the role, effective May 31, 2022.
Passage Bio will undertake a search for a successor.
Bruce Goldsmith’s duties as CEO will be taken over temporarily by Edgar B. (Chip) Cale, most recently general counsel and corporate secretary at Passage Bio Inc., as interim Chief Executive Officer.
No reason given
In the announcement, Passage Bio did not explicitly explain the reason for the move.
Precise information regarding Bruce Goldsmith’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Step down/ceased his role”
Passage Bio said: “[T]he board of directors and Bruce Goldsmith, Ph.D. have mutually agreed that Dr. Goldsmith will step down as president and chief executive officer and a member of the board, effective immediately.”
Passage Bio further said: “On May 27, 2022, Passage Bio, Inc. (the “Company”) and Bruce Goldsmith, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, entered into a Transition and Separation Agreement (the “Transition Agreement”) in connection with the Company’s transition plan to commence a search for Dr. Goldsmith’s successor. Pursuant to the Transition Agreement, Dr. Goldsmith ceased his role as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, effective May 31, 2022 (the “Transition Date”), and resigned as a director of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) to the Board, effective as of the Transition Date.”
“Mutual agreement”
“This resulted from a mutual agreement between the Board and Dr. Goldsmith. This mutual agreement was not the result of any inappropriate action by CEO, any violation of company policy, any accounting irregularity or due to disagreement on any matter relating to the Company’s strategy, operations, policies or practices,” Passage Bio said.
Share price decline since June 2020
The announcement follows a decline in Passage Bio Inc.’s share price of 92% since June 2020.
In the position of CEO since 2020
Bruce Goldsmith became CEO of the Company in 2020.
Bruce A. Goldsmith, Ph.D., has served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and President and as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors since January 2020.
Goldsmith served as an Advisor and Venture Partner at Deerfield Ventures from January 2019 to January 2020.
From April 2019 to January 2020, Goldsmith also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer of Civetta Therapeutics.
Prior to that, Goldsmith served initially as Chief Business Officer and then as Chief Operating Officer at Lycera, Corp. from April 2013 to January 2019.
From 2008 to 2012, Goldsmith served as Vice President and then Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Allos Therapeutics.
Prior to Allos, Goldsmith served in various leadership roles at GPC Biotech in 2007 and Tibotec Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, from 2005 to 2007.
Goldsmith also previously held various positions at Johnson & Johnson in oncology global strategic marketing, business development and licensing and acquisition finance.
Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Goldsmith was a research fellow at Novartis Pharma, K.K., where he conducted scientific research in a neurodegeneration drug discovery group.
Goldsmith received a B.A. in Biology from Colgate University, a Ph.D. in Biology with a research thesis in neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding Bruce Goldsmith’s move on a scale of 0 to 10.
exechange reached out to Passage Bio and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 23.2022 ($).