Longtime Forest Labs CEO Howard Solomon steps aside

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.

Longtime Forest Labs CEO Howard Solomon steps aside

Howard Solomon, the CEO of Forest Laboratories ($FRX) for over three decades, stepped down as he turns 86 years old this August. Solomon worked for the company for almost 50 years and has seen many big changes as the company went from making vitamins to becoming a drugmaker. Forest now has a search committee hunting for a replacement for Solomon before the year's end. Read the FiercePharma story

Forest Laboratories
Longtime CEO Howard Solomon will step down.

Biogen Idec
Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas will be the new Chief Scientific Officer.

Biotech

Biogen Idec ($BIIB) formally named Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas as the company's chief scientific officer. Dr. Artavanis-Tsakonas had served as interim CSO while on sabbatical from Harvard Medical School. Release

Hurel Corporation has appointed James MacDonald to the company's board of directors. MacDonald is the former executive vice president of preclinical development of the Schering-Plough Research Institute. Release

Tammy Bishop, managing director of Caligor Rx, has been elected to the board of directors for Diversity Alliance for Science. Release

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. ($HALO) has appointed David A. Ramsay as chief financial officer. Ramsay was most recently vice president, corporate development at Halozyme. Release

Antares Pharma, Inc. ($ATRS) has elected Marvin Samson to its board of directors. Samson was formerly vice president of Teva's ($TEVA) Worldwide Injectables group, previously having served as CEO and as a member of the board of directors of Sicor. Release

Advanced Cell Technology has appointed Edward "Ted" Myles as CFO and executive vice president of corporate development. Myles comes to ACT from PrimeraDx, where he served as chief financial officer and vice president of operations. Release

BioHealth Innovation named Ram Aiyar as entrepreneur-in-residence at the National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. He is the first to hold the position. Release

Andrew Gitkin joined Piper Jaffray as the head of its west coast biotechnology arm at the firm's San Francisco office. Release

Flexion Therapeutics named Frederick Driscoll its CFO, a position Driscoll formerly held at Novavax. Release

Linda Bell joined PhosphonicS as the company's CEO. Release

Ohr Pharmaceutical appointed June S. Almenoff to its board of directors. Almenoff is president and chief medical officer of Furiex Pharmaceuticals. Release

John Reynders joined Moderna Therapeutics as the company's chief information officer. Release

Pharma

Paul Bradley, formerly of Hospira Aseptic Services, has joined SCM Pharma as the company's new director. Release

Clavis Pharma has appointed board member Martin Nes as interim chairman of the board of directors. Nes replaces Anders P. Wiklund, who resigned effective 21 May, 2013. Clavis has been sorting out its future after its two drug programs failed in Phase III. Release

> Elite Pharmaceuticals President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Dick will step down from his position and as a member of the board of directors. Release

> Syros Pharmaceuticals appointed Eric R. Olson as its chief scientific officer. Olson was most recently research vice president at Vertex Pharmaceuticals ($VRTX). Release

Research

> Robert Pearlman, president and CEO of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, is stepping down after 20 years at is post. Release

CROs

Celerion has appointed Dr. Bruce Morimoto as executive director of applied translational medicine. Prior to joining Celerion, he was vice president of drug development at Allon Therapeutics. Release

Anaheim Clinical Trials has hired Mimi Hayashi, a former advertising executive, to head the company's new Japanese recruitment intiative. Release