Dr. Helen Thackray, the chief research and development officer of Durham-based BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, will leave her role Sept. 1 after being passed over to become the company’s next CEO, according to an SEC filing last week. Thackary was on the company’s board from 2019 to 2021 and became an employee in March 2021.
BioCryst announced in July that Charlie Gayer, who joined the company in 2015 and had been its chief commercial officer since January 2020, would succeed Jon Stonehouse as CEO when he retires at the end of the year. Stonehouse joined BioCryst in January 2007 in the top spot and is among the state’s longest-serving CEOs of a public company.
Thackray participated in a CEO accelerator program and has decided to pursue new opportunities after not getting the top job, according to the filing. She has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Stanford University and an M.D. from George Washington University. BioCryst paid Thackray more than $3.5 million last year.
Thackray’s separation agreement calls for her to receive one year of continued base salary, which was $599,423 last year, payment of two annual incentive bonuses, 12 months of company-paid group health plan coverage, six months of outplacement services and an accelerated vesting of her outstanding equity awards scheduled to vest in 2026.
Thackray will remain as a consultant for the company through Dec. 31, earning a monthly consulting fee of $12,500, continued vesting of outstanding equity awards and continued exercisability of her vested options until six months following the termination of the consulting agreement
BioCryst has seen commercial success for its main drug, Orladeyo, an oral therapy for people with hereditary angioedema. In 2024, it produced net revenue of $438 million, and the company expects annual revenue to peak at $1 billion. In the second quarter, revenue for Orladeyo increased 45% to $157 million.
In June, BioCryst agreed to sell its European Orladeyo business to Neopharmed Gentili for as much $264 million.