Johnson & Johnson has lost its global head, cell therapy platform and discovery. Tamas Oravecz, Ph.D., took up the post at J&J’s Janssen earlier this year, only to leave to become chief scientific officer at the newly minted cancer biotech Parthenon Therapeutics.
Oravecz worked on HIV cell and gene therapies early in his career, spending two years at Novartis as it tried to make a success of the assets it acquired in the takeover of SyStemix. Later, Oravecz worked on other modalities, first during a 14-year stint at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals and later in a shorter spell at Celgene.
