Less than two years after founding a COVID-19 monoclonal antibody company, Tillman Gerngross said Friday he would resign from his role as chief executive of Adagio Therapeutics.
Gerngross informed the chair of the company’s board of directors that he “agreed in principle” to leave the firm, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing did not mention whether Gerngross would remain on the company’s board.
The Waltham biotech’s chief operating officer, David Hering, will assume the role of interim CEO. Hering, an executive who previously worked on Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, said in a statement that Adagio will provide “further detail around this succession, as well as business updates, in the near term.”
Adagio had touted its potential to play a meaningful role in the fight against the pandemic, but quickly fell out of favor. The company’s stock plunged by nearly 80 percent in December after it issued a press release that said its lead experimental antibody treatment didn’t work against Omicron, two weeks after the company said it did.
Two independent studies later found Adagio’s treatment to be one of a few that remained effective against Omicron in lab studies.
Adagio spun out of Lebanon, N.H.-based Adimab, another Gerngross antibody company, in July 2020. In its August 2021 initial public offering, Adagio raised more than $300 million from investors.
Anissa Gardizy can be reached at anissa.gardizy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @anissagardizy8 and on Instagram @anissagardizy.journalism.