Kate Cronin, who took the marketing reins at Moderna in 2021 as it was skyrocketing to global renown for its COVID-19 vaccine, is stepping down from her post.
Cronin joined Moderna in the summer of 2021 as the biotech’s first chief brand officer. She announced her departure on LinkedIn this week, writing that she’ll be “embarking on [her] next chapter,” without disclosing what, exactly, those next steps will entail.
“Leading Brand and Corp Affairs at Moderna during such a historic time has been the experience of a lifetime,” she wrote. “Being part of a company that helped lead the world out of a pandemic—powered by groundbreaking mRNA technology—has been both humbling and deeply rewarding.”
Cronin, who was honored as one of the Fiercest Women in Life Sciences in 2022, went on to describe how the nearly four-year stint marked “a personal milestone” after the previous three decades of her career had been spent in marketing agencies.
“Being in-house gave me a whole new perspective on the impact of brand and communications from within an organization. I gained a deeper appreciation for the complexity of bringing innovation to market, the power of cross-functional collaboration, and what it takes to build a brand in real time during a global crisis,” she wrote, adding, “The lessons I’ve learned will stay with me forever.”
Before joining Moderna, Cronin spent close to 20 years at Ogilvy, working within its global healthcare department in leadership roles of increasing responsibility until her appointment first as copresident of Ogilvy Health and then, in late 2020, its global CEO.
In response to Fierce Pharma Marketing’s request for comment, Moderna pointed only to Cronin’s LinkedIn post. A company spokesperson reportedly told PRWeek that the now-vacant chief brand officer position will not immediately be filled.
This is the latest in a series of changes for Moderna’s commercial organization. At the end of 2023, the company’s chief commercial officer, Arpa Garay, stepped down from the post, with CEO Stephane Bancel taking over her sales and marketing responsibilities and President Stephen Hoge, M.D., assuming responsibility for Moderna’s pipeline commercial strategy and medical affairs.
And, last month, the mRNA specialist announced that it had tapped Amy Mahery, an alum of Roivant Sciences and Merck KGaA’s EMD Serono, to serve as chief marketing officer.
Meanwhile, Moderna has been narrowing its commercial road map. In a letter to shareholders at the start of this year, Bancel laid out the “more selective and paced approach” for the company’s future rollouts, which now include a planned 10 approvals over the next three years, with all other programs being shelved until further notice.