Merck KGaA brings on U.S. Merck's Rossetti to head R&D

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.

Merck KGaA brings on U.S. Merck's Rossetti to head R&D

Luciano Rossetti, a veteran of the American Merck ($MRK), has joined Merck KGaA to head its R&D division. Taking the reins officially next week, Rossetti is set to take on a $1.5 billion budget and a few midstage prospects in the pipeline. The company's oncology-heavy assets include oncolytic vaccines, immunotherapies and a variety of kinase inhibitors, plus treatments for lupus, osteoarthritis and multiple sclerosis. Story

Merck KGaA
Luciano Rossetti will head the R&D division.


Illumina
Tina Nova joined as senior VP and general manager of oncology.

Biotech

Illumina ($ILMN) has named Tina Nova as its senior vice president and general manager of oncology. Release

Repligen ($RGEN) has hired Jon K. Snodgres as its new CFO. Release

Xencor ($XNCR) has appointed Kurt Gustafson to its board of directors and promoted John Desjarlais to chief scientific officer. Release

> Evidera has appointed Dr. Xavier Badia as senior research leader and senior leader of market development. Release

> BioUtah has elected Richard Linder as chair of its executive board of directors and George Hamilton as vice chair. Release

> Antibe Therapeutics has appointed Dr. Francis Chan, Dr. Angel Lanas and Dr. James Scheiman to its newly formed clinical advisory board. Release

> Akebia Therapeutics has appointed Dr. Michael Clayman as chief executive officer and Maxine Gowen to its board of directors. Kim Dueholm will step down from the company's board at the end of this month. Release

> PeptiDream has appointed Dr. Keiichi Masuya as chief operating officer. Release

> Mark Vachon has joined bluebird bio's ($BLUE) board of directors. Release

> James Davis was elected chairman of the national board of directors of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  Release

> Gerald Chan has joined Aduro BioTech's board of directors. Release

> Loxo Oncology has appointed Dr. Dov Goldstein as its chief financial officer; Dr. Jennifer Low as its executive vice president of research and development; and Jacob Van Naarden as vice president of corporate development and strategy. Release

Pharma

Acadia Pharmaceuticals ($ACAD) has appointed Stephen Davis as its executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief business officer. Release

> Zogenix ($ZGNX) has appointed David Brushwood to the company's External Safe Use Board. Release

> Depomed ($DEPO) has appointed Dr. Srinivas Rao as chief medical officer and senior vice president. Release

CRO

Aptuit has appointed Paul Overton as executive vice president of business development and marketing. Release

Covance ($CVD) has added Dr. Robert Wasserman as vice president and global therapeutic area head of oncology and Dr. Rogelio Mosqueda-Garcia as global vice president of early clinical services within medical and scientific affairs. Both are based in Princeton, NJ. Release

Vaccines

> ClearPath Development has named Dr. Donna Ambrosino chief medical officer of ClearPath Vaccines. Release