Building the Next Generation of RNA Medicines – With Exceptional Talent
Arcturus Therapeutics, an RNA medicines company engaged in the development of therapeutics for rare diseases and vaccines – including one in clinical trials for COVID-19 – is growing quickly and adding key executives in clinical development and drug safety. To find this elite group of clinicians, the company relies on The Chase Group and its network of carefully curated candidates, expert screening skills, and comprehensive project management that leaves nothing to chance.
Dr. Steve Hughes has over 20 years of experience building and leading clinical development and medical affairs teams at leading biopharma companies.
He has been involved in more than 50 clinical trials with 25+ drugs in the U.S. and globally across multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, neurology, oncology, and rare diseases.
As Chief Medical Officer at Arcturus Therapeutics, Dr. Hughes clearly knows the medical science requirements. He also knows it takes the right team of people, and when it comes to finding clinical executives for his team, he works with The Chase Group.
Dr. Hughes has a unique perspective on his work with The Chase Group. He is not only a current client, engaged in various ongoing searches for his team, but he has also worked with Chase as a candidate.
“I work with The Chase Group on our searches at Arcturus because I know from my own experience that they treat people well on both sides of an executive search,” Dr. Hughes said.
“Communications are clear and timely, candidate preparation is top-notch, and we get consistently better candidates.”
Finding New Catalysts for the Next Generation of RNA Medicines
Dr. Hughes first worked with Chase when he was a Vice President of Clinical Development candidate at another biopharmaceutical company. The placement was a success and Dr. Hughes advanced to be the Chief Development Officer. Dr. Hughes continued to work with The Chase Group on specific searches to build his team.
His personal experience, along with Chase’s consistent performance on highly specialized retained searches, has made Dr. Hughes an enthusiastic repeat client.
“Our mRNA focus can make our prospective candidate pool on the clinical side quite small sometimes,” Dr. Hughes said. “Chase has the ability to work quickly and diligently to find great candidates in our space and get
them interested and excited in what we are doing. They know us and tell our story well.”
Dr. Hughes said the intake and preparation by The Chase Group is what makes all the difference.
“Chase doesn’t just take down basic requirements. They look at leadership and culture and make sure they understand the career path and potential for the candidate. They are very good at communicating a vision to candidates that gets them engaged and interested.”
“Chase doesn’t just take down basic requirements,” Dr. Hughes said. “They look at leadership and culture and make sure they understand the career path and potential for the candidate. They are very good at communicating a vision to candidates that gets them engaged and interested.”
The Chase team has been instrumental in finding several key clinical and drug safety executives for Arcturus. Dr. Hughes said the results have been impressive.
- Arcturus is a clinical-stage mRNA vaccines and medicines company
- Publicly Traded (Nasdaq: ARCT)
- Founded: 2013
- Headquarters: San Diego, CA
- Arcturus Therapeutics develops RNA-based therapeutics for rare diseases and vaccines, including cystic fibrosis, OTC deficiency, flu, and COVID-19.
- Arcturus Therapeutics’ Chief Medical Officer, Steve Hughes, is building a world-class clinical team to keep up with a growing pipeline and has worked with The Chase Group for over ten years on several key executive hires in clinical development and drug safety.
- Dr. Hughes said The Chase Group is his preferred partner for his most sensitive and difficult searches for three main reasons: unparalleled project management, exceptional candidate screening, and reliably better executive performance.
“Chase always sends us exceptionally good candidates who not only have higher hit rates on the CV requirements, but also tend to be better fits, both culturally and personally,” Dr. Hughes said.
Growth in product pipeline, recent clinical trial approvals, and potential commercialization efforts already have Dr. Hughes thinking about future hiring needs and projects with The Chase Group.
“We are planning for growth across all portfolios which means we will need new senior leaders for clinical development, drug safety, and potential commercialization,” Dr. Hughes said. “And we will be working with Chase to fill those roles because we trust them, we like them, and they deliver for us every time.”
