- After less than four years in the position
- Praise and thanks for Coles
- Ron Renaud taking over
- Coles will remain as chairperson at Cerevel
- Coles said 125 words
(exechange) — Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 3, 2023 — Tony Coles, chief executive of Cerevel, leaves his position. As announced by Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, N.Anthony (Tony) Coles leaves his post as chief executive officer at the neuroscience drugmaker, after less than four years in the role, effective June 12, 2023.
Tony Coles’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Ronald (Ron) Renaud, a former chief executive officer at Translate Bio, Inc.
The fact that Tony Coles’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.
“Now is the right time”
The management change is explained as follows. Coles stated: “With strong business fundamentals in place and a robust pipeline of important programs advancing in the clinic, now is the right time for me to transition back to the role of chairperson.”
Coles will remain as chairperson at Cerevel
Cerevel stated: “Mr. Renaud will succeed Tony Coles, M.D., the current CEO and chairperson of the board of directors, who will continue in his role as chairperson.”
“Transition”
Cerevel said: “N.Anthony Coles will transition from his role as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of the Company, effective as of June 12, 2023.”
Share price increase since May 2021
The announcement follows an increase in Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings Inc.’s share price of 108% since May 2021.
In the position of CEO since 2019
Tony Coles became CEO of the Company in 2019.
Tony Coles joined Cerevel as chairperson in 2018, and in 2019 he took on the additional role of CEO.
Before joining Cerevel, Coles was a founding investor, CEO and chairperson of the board of Yumanity Therapeutics, and had served as CEO, president, and chairperson of the board of Onyx Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Amgen in 2013.
Before joining Onyx, he was president, CEO, and a board member of NPS Pharmaceuticals, and had previously been senior vice president of commercial operations at Vertex Pharmaceuticals after holding executive positions earlier in his career at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck.
Coles currently serves on the board of directors of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Johns Hopkins University.
Among his other interests, he is a Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, member of the Council for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations.
In 2022, Coles was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Coles earned his bachelor’s degree at Johns Hopkins University, his medical degree from Duke University, and his master’s degree in public health from Harvard University.
He completed his cardiology and internal medicine training at Massachusetts General Hospital and was a research fellow at Harvard Medical School.
125 words by Tony Coles
In the news release announcing his departure as CEO of Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings Inc., Tony Coles received praise and thanks.
In announcing his departure, Tony Coles said 125 words.
“I look forward to partnering with Ron”
Tony Coles stated: “I am delighted to welcome Ron to Cerevel as our next CEO, as I know that his leadership, experience, and expertise are ideally suited for this next phase of our journey to transform what is possible in neuroscience. In the four years since our founding, we have delivered positive data readouts that support Cerevel’s scientific thesis, built a world-class team, debuted as a public company, and raised more than $1.5 billion in capital through a series of innovative transactions. With strong business fundamentals in place and a robust pipeline of important programs advancing in the clinic, now is the right time for me to transition back to the role of chairperson, and I look forward to partnering with Ron as we write Cerevel’s next chapter.”
41% of CEOs are forced out or fired
When CEO departures are announced, exechange determines the Push-out Score on a scale of 0 to 10 to assess how likely it is that the chief executive was pushed out or felt pressure to leave the position, with 0 being most likely a voluntary move and 10 being most likely a forced exit. Anything over a 5 indicates that there are valid reasons to believe an executive may have been pushed out.
Of the 314 CEO departures in the Russell 3000 Index evaluated over the past 12 months (May 3, 2022, to May 2, 2023), the average Push-out Score was 6.2, according to exechange data. References to conduct issues, disagreements and irregularities lead to the highest Push-out Scores. When performance issues, pursuit of other opportunities or time with family were cited as departure reasons, the average Push-out Scores were also significantly elevated.
Around 41% of the CEO departure events from the past 12 months received Push-out Scores of 8 or higher.
In other words, in the past 12 months, two in five departing CEOs were forced out or fired.
Push-out Score for Tony Coles’s move determined
The Push-out Score regarding Tony Coles’s move is explained point by point in the exechange report.
exechange reached out to Cerevel and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 19.2023 ($).