DURHAM — Chimerix CEO and President Michelle Berrey has resigned,  effective immediately, according to a release Wednesday morning.

W. Garrett Nichols, Timothy W. Trost and Michael A. Alrutz have been appointed as members of a newly created position, the Office of the Chief Executive Officer, on an interim basis until a replacement is found.

Michelle Berrey

“We would like to express our sincere appreciation for Michelle’s more than six years of service to Chimerix, as both chief executive officer and formerly chief medical officer, said chairman Martha Demski in a statement. “Thanks to Michelle’s leadership, we have advanced the understanding of dangerous viral infections that impact patients after stem cell transplant and have significantly progressed our clinical development program for brincidofovir. We wish her well in her future endeavors.”

Chimerix, a Durham-based biopharmaceutical company, is developing novel antivirals to address life-threatening viral infections.

Berrey joined Chimerix as chief medical officer in 2012 and was named president and CEO in April 2014. Prior to joining Chimerix, she was chief marketing officer at Pharmasset Inc., a company that focused on the development of nucleotide analogs for the treatment of hepatitis C, from 2007 until its acquisition by Gilead Sciences Inc. in January 2012.

Berrey earned her M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia and a Master of Public Health from Emory University. She also completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Berrey received an end-of-year performance bonus from the company on Feb. 1, totaling $69,756 for her contributions in 2018, a 71 percent decrease from her $243,774 bonus from the beginning of the previous year.

“As Chimerix looks ahead, we are pleased to have such experienced and knowledgeable executives as Garrett, Tim and Michael to take on expanded leadership roles in shepherding the Company’s ongoing clinical trials,” added Demski.

Chimerix stock closed at $2.33, down 11 cents, on Tuesday.

Read the full announcement online.

This story is from the North Carolina Business News Wire, a service of UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism.