Skyhawk Therapeutics has named Aaron Deves as chief commercial officer, securing the expertise of an executive who oversaw products including Austedo while at Teva. The company shared the news the same day Santhera Pharmaceuticals revealed it has hired a new chief commercial officer, too.
Boston-based Skyhawk has suggested it could win accelerated approval for Huntington’s disease drug candidate SKY-0515 in Australia within 12 months. With launches in other markets in Skyhawk’s plan for 2027, the biotech is starting commercial preparations and has hired Deves to lead the charge.
Deves was previously chief operating officer and head of marketing for Teva’s U.S. specialty business. In that role, the executive led a commercial team of about 800 people across marketing, sales, market access and medical affairs. The team sold multiple products, including Austedo for chorea associated with Huntington’s.
Before joining Teva, Deves got his start at Pfizer, where he spent the better part of two decades rising through the ranks in its commercial teams. He then led commercial strategy for Otsuka’s neuroscience unit and helped develop the pharma’s Alzheimer’s disease portfolio.
Skyhawk CEO Bill Haney said in Tuesday’s announcement that Deves’ experience in building commercial teams and launching drugs for challenging neurological conditions will help the company prepare to get SKY-0515 to patients as quickly as possible.
Santhera, meanwhile, has appointed Marc Clausse as its own chief commercial officer, effective June 1. Clausse will replace Geert Jan van Daal, M.D., Ph.D., who is retiring after 11 years at the Swiss biotech. Santhera said in a Tuesday announcement that van Daal will support the transition over the coming months.
Clausse previously worked as vice president of international strategy and operations and U.K. general manager at Mirum Pharmaceuticals. In that capacity, the executive helped establish regional commercial infrastructure, make decisions in market access negotiations and partner with distributors. Clausse worked at Tesaro earlier in his career and joined GSK when it bought the biotech, holding the title of oncology head for the U.K. and Ireland at the British Big Pharma.
At Santhera, Clausse inherits a commercial team focused on growing sales of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment Agamree. The company grew (PDF) product sales 76% to 11.6 million Swiss francs ($14.9 million) in the first half of 2025. Santhera has worked in recent years to secure reimbursement in more EU countries and won (PDF) approval in Switzerland in January.
The company has out-licensed the product in markets including the U.S., where Catalyst Pharmaceuticals handles commercialization. Catalyst recently reported full-year Agamree sales of $117.1 million in 2025, up more than 150% over 2024.