Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio), a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, has appointed Gustavo Pesquin as the company’s next Chief Executive Officer. Pesquin joins the company from Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he served as Chief Commercial Officer.
 
Sheila Mikhail, Co-Founder and the company’s first CEO, will transition to a part-time role as Adviser/Co-Founder, and will remain a member of AskBio’s Board.
 
Under Mikhail’s leadership as CEO since 2017, AskBio has grown to over 800 employees operating in five countries and has advanced six therapeutics through IND, including 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 her leadership, AskBio built two contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) businesses, Viralgen Vector Core SL and TAAV Biomanufacturing Solutions SL. In her new role, Mikhail will continue to support the strategic direction and growth of AskBio. She will also continue to support Columbus Children’s Foundation (CCF) in its development of gene therapies for ultra-rare diseases.  
 
“Sheila’s extraordinary leadership moved AskBio from an idea to a strongly positioned global biotech that is advancing multiple products into clinical studies, with direct paths to pivotal trials, marketing approval and manufacturing,” stated Stefan Oelrich, Member of the Board of Management, Bayer, and President of Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division. “We are grateful for her contributions and pleased she will continue to work closely with us as an Adviser and Board member. Under Gustavo’s leadership as the new CEO, I am confident that AskBio will continue to advance its world-class therapeutics and manufacturing operations, further its work as a cornerstone of the Bayer CGT Platform and set itself apart from its peers. We are excited about the future and look forward to working with Gustavo.”
 
In addition to his experience as Chief Commercial Officer at Amneal, Pesquin brings more than 10 years of experience at Sanofi, where he served in leadership roles of increasing responsibility, including North America Head for General Medicines as well as Global Head of the Diabetes and Cardiovascular Franchise. Prior to Sanofi, he held Regional Head, General Manager, Sales Head and Strategy Head roles at Abbott and Pfizer; Brand Management roles at Procter & Gamble; and consultant roles with Boston Consulting Group.