Welcome to this week's roundup of hirings and firings throughout the industry. Please send the good word (or the bad) from your shop to Michael Gibney (email | Twitter) or Emily Mullin (email | Twitter) and we will feature it here each Friday.
Endo Health Solutions picks up CEO Rajiv De Silva
Endo Health Solutions ($ENDP) appointed Rajiv De Silva as the company's new CEO, while rumors of a buyout still circulate. De Silva comes from the president position at Valeant Pharmaceuticals ($VRX), which is among the potential buyers on a list that also includes Warner Chilcott ($WCRX) and AstraZeneca ($AZN). "Rajiv is a strong leader with the deep industry experience, outcome-oriented approach and proven ability to drive results the board was seeking in our next CEO," Endo Chairman Roger Kimmel said. "His track record in generating growth and profitability, managing complex integrations and delivering for shareholders will serve us well." Article
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Biotech
> Optimer Pharmaceuticals ($OPTR) appointed Henry McKinnell as its CEO. McKinnell, who was Pfizer's ($PFE) CEO and Chairman from 2001 to 2006, replaces Pedro Lichtinger, who stepped down during a pending investigation concerning compliance, record keeping and conflict-of-interest issues. Release
> Gliknik appointed Incyte CEO Paul A. Friedman to Gliknik's board of directors. Friedman has held positions at Merck ($MRK) and DuPont. Release
> William B. White stepped down from his spot on the board of directors at Helix Biopharma ($HBP). Release
> TB Alliance appointed Population Services International CEO Karl Hofmann as the president of TB Alliance's board of directors. Release
> AMRI promoted Takeshi Yura to serve as the company's vice president of discovery and development services in Asia. Release
> The DaVita Clinical Research Phase I center in Minneapolis appointed Jolene K. Berg as its medical director. Release
> Christel Bories joined Ipsen as the company's deputy CEO. Release
> BioSurplus brought on Pari Kazeminy as its business development manager. Kazeminy has held similar positions at Harlan Laboratories, B. Braun and Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ). Release
> Onyx Scientific hired Adam Moorhouse to help commercialize the U.K.-based company in the U.S. as its director of business development. Release
> The Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute of Florida appointed attorney Robert L. Lord to the company's board of directors. Lord is senior vice president of legal services and the chief legal officer at Martin Health System. Release
> Richard Ogden took the position of chief scientific officer at Cannabis Science. Ogden comes from Pfizer, where he was the director of scientific affairs for HIV. Release
> Elan ($ELN) has appointed John Given as general counsel, effective March 1. Given, who joins Elan from A&L Goodbody, will also join the executive management team as well as serve as advisor to the chairman and the full board. Release
> MIT professor Robert Langer, winner of the Lemelson-MIT Innovation Prize, has joined the Scientific Advisory Board of nanotechnology company Nanobiosym. Langer was recently awarded the National Medal of Innovation and Technology by President Barack Obama and has served as chairman of the FDA's highest advisory board. Release
> Kim Brazzell has joined Kala Pharmaceuticals, where she will be responsible for leading the company's global clinical development strategy and clinical operations. Previously, Brazzell held several positions at Inspire Pharmaceuticals, including executive vice president of medical and science affairs. Release
> The American Association for Clinical Chemistry has appointed Janet B. Kreizman chief executive officer. Kreizman joins AACC from The Endocrine Society, where she served as deputy executive director and chief policy officer since 2009. Release
> Holger Liepmann will replace Michael Zak on Verenium's board of directors, effective March 31. Liepmann joins Verenium after retiring from Abbott Laboratories ($ABT), where he spent 25 years in various positions, two years ago. Release
Pharma
> Sucampo Pharmaceuticals appointed Barbara A. Munder, senior adviser to Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, and Maureen E. O'Connell, executive vice president, chief administrative officer and chief financial officer of Scholastic, to its board of directors. Release
> Chimerix has appointed pharma veteran and former CEO of Glaxo Holdings Ernest Mario as the company's new chairman. Item
Drug Delivery
> Terry Robinson joined the Catalent Applied Drug Delivery Institute as the organization's executive director. Robinson has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Article
CROs
> Garth Tierney has joined INC Research as executive vice president of the company's Asia/Pacific clinical research operations. Tierney, who is replacing Kelvin Logan, previously served as the company's regional general manager of Australia and Southeast Asia and co-founded Australian CRO Trident Clinical Research. Release