Sanofi appoints Japan exec to lead U.S. pharma ops

Chutes and Ladders

Welcome to this week's Chutes and Ladders, our roundup of hirings and retirings 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 at the end of each week.

Sanofi appoints Japan exec to lead U.S. pharma ops

Sanofi ($SNY) has a new North American chief. The French drugmaker has appointed Jez Moulding to the post Anne Whitaker suddenly vacated a few weeks ago. He'll head up the North American pharma business after serving as SVP of the company's Japan and Pacific operations. Moulding has been hopping around Sanofi's global operations, with stints in the U.K., Europe, South Africa, Korea, Australia and, most recently, Japan. In his new role, he'll be supervising Sanofi's commercial pharma operations, covering everything from diabetes and cardiovascular drugs to specialty care and consumer health. Story

Sanofi
Jez Moulding joined as North American pharma chief.

Biotech

Isogenica has appointed Chris Ullman as its CEO. Release

Novartis ($NVS) neurologist Dr. Donald Johns is joining Biogen Idec ($BIIB) as vice president. Johns will head the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Innovation Hub. Release

Chinese BeiGene added Dr. Jason Yang as senior vice president of clinical development and operations and Wendy Yan as senior vice president of regulatory affairs. Release

Tokai Pharmaceuticals appointed Daniel Dransfield as vice president and head of translational medicine. Release

Compugen appointed Ari Krashin as its chief financial officer. Release

Esmé C. Smith joined Heron Therapeutics as vice president, general counsel and secretary. Release

NC COIN bumped Karen Shank up to be its business development director. Release

LanzaTech appointed Gregg Clevenger as its new chief financial officer. Release

Bench International appointed Dr. Sally Barennes as its vice president of executive recruitment. Release

David Borasky joined the Copernicus Group as its vice president of quality management. Release

Tocagen brought on Dr. Wayne Saville as its vice president of clinical development and Mary Rose Keller as its vice president of clinical operations. Release

Miriam Monge joined Sartorius Stedim Biotech as its director of marketing for integrated solutions. Release

Lycera appointed Harinder Singh as chair of its scientific advisory board. Release

Charles Walker joined Imugene as its new CEO. Release

StemCutis brought on stem cell entrepreneur Ike Lee as its president and CEO and dermatologist Dr. Ronald Wheeland as its director. Release

Nordic Nanovector's board appointed Luigi Costa as its new CEO. Release

Pharma

> Steve Cagle has stepped down from his position as head of U.S. operations for Moberg Pharma. Release

> Former Novartis ($NVS) executive Paul Hodgkinson joined Mesoblast as the company's chief financial officer. Release

Medical Devices

> GI Dynamics ($GID) has appointed Michael Dale as president and CEO. Release

Mary Kay Deck joined Intelomed as vice president of clinical affairs. Release

HeartFlow appointed four new executives: Baird Radford as chief financial officer, Brent Ness as chief commercial officer, Robert Eno as vice president of marketing and Yoshiki Kawabata as president of the Japanese division. Release