Deemed to have “exhibited poor judgment,” Josh Smiley departed Eli Lilly last year and left about $24 million in cash and equity on the table. Now, he’s returning to the C-suite at Zai Lab as chief operating officer starting August 1.
Smiley exited his post as chief financial officer at Lilly after an external investigation found “inappropriate” behavior in personal communications with multiple employees.
Zai Lab declined to comment on the allegations and investigation at Lilly when reached Tuesday.
The biopharma, with operations in Shanghai and the U.S., announced Tuesday that Smiley will manage Zai Lab’s business, finance and global operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, as the company looks to be the “gateway to China.” The company has four commercial products and 28 drug candidates, according to its website.
“We are very pleased to welcome Josh at this exciting time when we have so many potential breakthrough therapies in our pipeline,” said Samantha Du, Ph.D., Zai Lab founder and CEO, in a statement.
Lilly’s investigation found Smiley had “consensual though inappropriate personal communications.” He took on the CFO job at the Indianapolis-based Big Pharma in 2018.
Zai Lab has inked multiple collaborations in recent quarters, including a $1.4 billion milestone payment deal with MacroGenics and a $338 million biobucks pact for oncology with Schrödinger.