Vir Biotechnology conducted a worldwide search to find the perfect CEO. In the end, the board picked Bayer’s Marianne De Backer, Ph.D., because of her three decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and her “deep and thorough understanding of the evolving healthcare landscape.”
Details of De Backer’s hiring were laid out in Vir’s April 19 proxy statement, as well as her executive compensation, which totaled $40 million for 2023 altogether. That package is likely to shrink significantly after De Backer’s initial year, which included stock awards of $13 million, option awards of $21.6 million and a $2.5 million sign-on bonus.
Founding CEO George Scangos, Ph.D., announced his retirement at the beginning of 2023, setting off the search for a new leader. De Backer then arrived at Vir during a transitional time.
The company saw a significant decrease in revenues from COVID antibody treatment sotrovimab, which was developed with GSK and used under emergency authorization. But that has since been revoked as the virus mutated and the SARS-CoV-2 omicron BA.2 sub-variant became dominant. GSK walked away from the collaboration.
Then in July 2023, Vir’s phase 2 PENINSULA trial of VIR-2482 in influenza A failed. This occurred “all while responding to the general strong headwinds facing the biotechnology sector,” according to the proxy statement.
“The search focused on identifying experienced candidates who could manage rapidly growing global biotherapeutic operations, drive innovation, and deliver value during a period of key business initiatives and events,” the document said.
After considering many candidates, De Backer was chosen.
“Dr. De Backer brings over three decades of executive management experience and is recognized for her leadership and contributions to the biopharma industry,” the statement said. “Through her tenure at Bayer and Johnson & Johnson, she has a demonstrated track record of accelerating the growth and impact of companies to bring new and important therapeutics to patients around the world.”
She came to Vir from Bayer, where she was executive vice president and head of pharmaceuticals strategy, business development and licensing/open innovation. Prior to that, she served at J&J from 1991 to 2019.
Her appointment was effective April 3, 2023. Her new hire package included a $900,000 base salary, target annual bonus of 80% of base salary, a sign-on equity award of 576,452 restricted stock units (RSUs) and an option to purchase 1,152,904 shares of common stock. De Backer was also paid a $5 million sign-on bonus, with $2.5 million paid out at sign-on and another $2.5 million due on her one-year anniversary.
“Following her appointment, Dr. De Backer immediately focused her efforts on building on the strength of our core capabilities and strong balance sheet to position Vir for continued success, including rolling out a new corporate strategy to drive future growth,” the proxy statement said.
This included releasing data for two key hepatitis trials of tobevibart and elebsiran. In the phase 2 SOLSTICE trial, five out of six patients with chronic hepatitis delta achieved undetectable HDV RNA, while all had HDV RNA less than the lower limit of quantification.
In the MARCH trial, patients with chronic hepatitis B had a three-fold higher response rate when tobevibart was added to elebsiran after 24 weeks of treatment.
Vir also submitted an investigational new drug application and advanced three early research programs.
All this was done while achieving the biotech’s financial objectives of reducing cash spend and “implementing financial rigor,” too. Vir secured $75 million in funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
But tough decisions also had to be made, with 12% of roles eliminated, or 75 positions. Most of this was done through the discontinuation of Vir’s small-molecule group, which began in the third quarter of the year.
For 2024, De Backer will receive a base salary of $925,000 with the same bonus plan and an equity award of 175,000 RSUs and 350,000 stock options.
Besides De Backer, Vir also had five other executive changes, including former CEO Scangos, who retained a role as director of the board. The company’s chief financial officer Howard Horn, chief administrative officer Steven Rice, chief medical officer Phillip Pang, M.D., Ph.D., and chief operating officer Johanna Friedl-Naderer also left.
“Over the course of the year, Dr. De Backer assembled her executive management team composed of executives with significant immunology, infectious disease, and commercialization experience, including a proven track record of progressing product candidates from early-stage research through clinical development, and through worldwide regulatory approval,” the statement said.
Sung Lee is now CFO and Jeffrey Calcagno became chief business officer. Vir is still looking for a replacement for Pang.