AskBio Taps Gustavo Pesquin as New CEO
By Alex Keown
March 15, 2023
Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio) Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sheila Mikhail is stepping down from the role she has held since 2017. Mikhail will transition to a part-time role as advisor and member of the company’s board of directors. Amneal Pharmaceuticals veteran Gustavo Pesquin will take the reins of the company.
Pesquin, who served as chief commercial officer of New Jersey-based Amneal, will assume the role of AskBio CEO on March 11. In a brief statement, Pesquin expressed excitement to continue the groundbreaking work conducted by AskBio under Mikhail’s leadership.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join a team that has been at the forefront of a scientific revolution. I think we have the opportunity to help patients in a way that was unthinkable not long ago. It’s very energizing to join an organization with such purpose,” Pesquin said.
In addition to his role at Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Pesquin served in leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Sanofi, including North America Head for General Medicines as well as Global Head of the Diabetes and Cardiovascular Franchise. Before the decade he spent at Sanofi, Pesquin held positions at Abbott and Pfizer, as well as Procter & Gamble.
AskBio, a division of Bayer AG, became a leading gene therapy company with its Pro10 AAV manufacturing process. AskBio’s platform has become a standard across the industry that is used by multiple companies, including Pfizer and Takeda. Novartis subsidiary Avexis used the AskBio platform to develop Zolgensma, its gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy. Germany-based Bayer snapped up AskBio in 2020 and has since made it a cornerstone of the company’s gene therapy platform.
Mikhail said she co-founded AskBio to develop AAV gene therapies for patients suffering from devastating diseases with no treatment options. Under the guidance of Mikhail, AskBio has advanced six therapeutics through the Investigational New Drug application stage. The assets the company moved forward include potential treatments for congestive heart failure, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple system atrophy, Pompe disease and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2I/R9.
Under Mikhail’s guidance, AskBio expanded its headcount to more than 800 people. The company now operates in multiple countries and established two contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) businesses, Viralgen Vector Core SL and TAAV Biomanufacturing Solutions SL. The company also acquired subsidiary company BrainVectis in 2020. The France-based subsidiary is developing a gene therapy for Huntington’s disease. Last year, BrainVectis initiated a Phase I/II trial evaluating BV-101, an AAV gene therapy for the progressive brain disorder.
“I’m tremendously proud of the contributions made by our team. They have made critical scientific discoveries and pioneered transformative clinical programs. My focus over the last several years has been to assemble the world’s leading experts in gene therapy to solve technological problems and create new clinical programs,” Mikhail said in a statement. “Today we are in the clinic with treatments for multiple diseases, and through our subsidiaries we are the leading manufacturer of synthetic DNA and AAV vectors at commercial scale.”
After stepping away from the CEO role, Mikhail will continue to support the strategic direction and growth of AskBio. She will also continue to support Columbus Children’s Foundation in its development of gene therapies for ultra-rare diseases.
In 2022, AskBio was named one of the best places to work in Research Triangle Park by the Triangle Business Journal. One of 50 companies honored, AskBio was selected for the award because of the employee-valued policies and work environments it created and supports.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Alex Keown is a freelance journalist who writes about a variety of subjects including the pharma, biotech, and life science industries. Prior to freelancing, Alex has served as a staff writer and editor for several publications.
