Comanche Biopharma Appoints Dr. Richard Colvin As Global Head Of R&D And Dr. John McHutchison As Chairman To Advance CBP-4888 For sFlt1-Mediated Preterm Preeclampsia

Comanche Biopharma has announced key additions to its leadership team with the appointments of Richard Colvin, MD, PhD, as Global Head of Research and Development, and John McHutchison, AO, MD, as Chairman and Director of Comanche Biopharma Australia. Dr. Colvin, an experienced medical executive, will lead the company’s global clinical program for CBP-4888, a novel siRNA therapeutic being developed as a potential treatment for pregnant patients with sFlt1-mediated preterm preeclampsia. 

Dr. McHutchison, a recognized biotech leader and physician-scientist, will support Comanche’s mission to make CBP-4888 a globally available therapy for this serious obstetric condition, which affects approximately 10 million pregnancies annually and results in an estimated 76,000 maternal deaths and 500,000 fetal and newborn deaths worldwide.

Scott Johnson, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Comanche, said that the appointments of Drs. Colvin and McHutchison bring deep industry expertise and leadership to the company, strengthening its capabilities as it advances the global development of CBP-4888 and works toward the first therapy targeting a root cause of preeclampsia.

Dr. Colvin joins Comanche from bluebird bio, where he spent nearly seven years, including the last four as Chief Medical Officer and Head of R&D. Earlier in his career, he spent nine years at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in progressively senior roles, most recently as Executive Director and Senior Translational Medicine Expert. He also practices as an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Colvin earned a BS in Genetics from Cornell University and an MD, PhD from Duke University. 

He completed a residency in internal medicine, a fellowship in infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a post-doctoral fellowship at MGH. He expressed enthusiasm for leading Comanche’s clinical development portfolio, emphasizing his commitment to advancing safe and ethical drug development for pregnant women and addressing long-standing unmet needs in obstetrics.

Dr. McHutchison currently serves as CEO and Chairman of Tune Therapeutics and has previously held leadership roles as CEO and President of Velia Therapeutics and Assembly Bio. He also served as Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D at Gilead Sciences and held multiple positions at Duke University Medical Center, including Associate Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute and Co-Director of the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Award. He received his medical and surgical degrees from the University of Melbourne and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Liver Diseases at the University of Southern California. 

Dr. McHutchison is a member of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2018 for his distinguished contributions to medical research and the biopharmaceutical industry. He expressed excitement about joining Comanche to help drive global development and access to CBP-4888, aiming to make preeclampsia a preventable obstetric complication.