Harmony Biosciences names Anastasiou CEO as Dayno retires
Harmony Biosciences has announced a planned chief executive transition, with Peter Anastasiou, the company's current Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, set to become President, CEO and a member of the Board of Directors from 1 January 2027. He replaces Jeffrey Dayno, who retires after nine years at the Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania-based company, the last period of which was spent as President and CEO. Dayno will remain as a non-executive adviser throughout 2027 to support the handover.
The announcement was framed by the board as a succession planned from a position of strength. Harmony reiterated its full-year 2026 net revenue guidance for WAKIX (pitolisant) of between $1.0 billion and $1.04 billion, and confirmed it remains on track to report data from the multiple ascending dose study of pipeline candidate BP-205 in the fourth quarter of this year.
The incoming CEO
Anastasiou brings substantial CNS-sector experience to the role. Before joining Harmony, he served as CEO of Capsida Biotherapeutics for nearly four years, raising more than $165 million and securing partnerships with AbbVie and Eli Lilly. Prior to that he was Executive Vice President and President of North America at Lundbeck, where he oversaw annual revenues exceeding $1.5 billion and led launches across both broad and rare CNS therapies. Earlier roles included positions at Neuronetics, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Lilly.
Jeffrey Aronin, founder and Chairman of Harmony's board, described Anastasiou as "the right leader for Harmony's next phase of growth," citing his three decades of biopharmaceutical experience and his direct involvement in the company's strategy and business development as a former board member.
Anastasiou, for his part, pointed to what he described as Harmony's unusual combination of commercial infrastructure, pipeline diversity and a balance sheet strong enough to be self-funded as the foundation for the next stage.
Market context and pipeline watch
Pitolisant, sold as WAKIX in the United States, holds orphan-drug designations for narcolepsy with and without cataplexy and is the centrepiece of Harmony's commercial franchise. The narcolepsy market has grown considerably in recent years as awareness of sleep disorders has increased and diagnostic rates have improved, but it remains competitive: Jazz Pharmaceuticals markets oxybate formulations and its lower-sodium alternative Lumryz, while Avadel Pharmaceuticals entered the space with its own extended-release sodium oxybate. Pitolisant's histamine H3 receptor antagonist mechanism differentiates it from the oxybate class, offering a non-scheduled option for prescribers.
Beyond WAKIX lifecycle management, investor attention will turn to BP-205, Harmony's orexin receptor agonist programme, which the company positions as a potential best-in-class candidate. Orexin agonism has attracted significant industry interest following the broader therapeutic validation of the orexin pathway; several large-cap pharmaceutical companies are running competing programmes. The MAD study data expected in Q4 2026 will be an early but closely watched marker of BP-205's tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile.
Leadership transitions at commercial-stage biotechs can introduce short-term uncertainty, but Harmony has structured this one carefully: a four-month lead time, a formal advisory arrangement for the outgoing CEO, and a successor who has served on the board and in the executive team. Whether Anastasiou opts to accelerate business development activity, as his Capsida background might suggest, or consolidates around the existing portfolio will be the strategic question investors ask in the first half of 2027.