Third Rock Ventures adds biotech veterans to team

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.

Third Rock Ventures adds biotech veterans to team

Third Rock Ventures has brought on Alnylam Pharmaceuticals ($ALNY) CEO John Maraganore in the advisory role of venture partner and former Genzyme and Sanofi ($SNY) executive James Geraghty as an entrepreneur-in-residence to support Third Rock's investments in rare genetic diseases. Also, Daniel Lynch, the former CEO of ImClone Systems, has changed roles from entrepreneur-in-residence to venture partner. Story

Third Rock Ventures
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals CEO John Maraganore will act as venture partner.

AbbVie
Chief Scientific Officer John Leonard will step down from his post.

Pharma

AbbVie's ($ABBV) head of R&D, Chief Scientific Officer John Leonard, announced that he is leaving the company in coming months. Leonard, who joined Abbott ($ABT) in 1992, was also the senior vice president for AbbVie. Story

Zosano Pharma has appointed Nandan Oza as the company's chief operations officer. Prior to joining Zosano Pharma, Oza served as vice president of chemistry, manufacturing and controls at Talon Therapeutics ($TLON). Release

Ricardo Gonzalez Balboa has been hired as general manager of Eisai Laboratorios, the pharmaceutical subsidiary of Eisai. Gonzalez Balboa comes to Eisai from Bayer HealthCare, where he headed the Specialty Medicine and Institutional Business for the company's Mexican operations. Release

> Clavis Pharma has announced that Olav Hellebø will step down as CEO effective May 20. Release

Dr. Laurence Paul has resigned from Valeant's ($VRX) Board of Directors. Release

Biotech

Former U.S. Senator from New Hampshire John E. Sununu joined the board of directors at Rib-X Pharmaceuticals. He also serves on the boards at Time Warner Cable and Boston Scientific ($BSX). Release

Immunotec CEO Robert M. Henry announced his departure from the position. Henry was also the chairman of the board of directors. Release

Vivus ($VVUS) appointed J. Martin Carroll and Dr. Jorge Plutsky to the company's board of directors. Release

Relypsa has appointed John Orwin as CEO. Orwin has held senior positions at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ), Affymax ($AFFY), Rhone-Poulenc Rorer and Genentech. Release

Medivation ($MDVN) has hired Dr. Stephen Kelsey to the newly created position of senior vice president of new projects. Kelsey joins Medivation from Geron, where he served as the executive vice president, research & development and chief medical officer. Release

Verastem ($VSTM) has appointed John Green as CFO. Green was the former CFO of GTC Biotherapeutics. Release

Alkermes ($ALKS) has elected former Vertex Pharmaceuticals ($VRTX) Chief Commercial Officer Nancy J. Wysenski to the company's board of directors. Release

Optimer Pharmaceuticals ($OPTR) has appointed Eric Sirota as chief operating officer. Sirota has served as a consultant to Optimer since March and previously served as president of commercial services of inVentiv Health. Release

David Beier joined Bay City Capital as the company's managing director. Beier has formerly served as a senior officer at both Amgen ($AMGN) and Genentech. Release

Franklin M. Berger joined the board of directors at BioTime ($BTX). Release

Chane Graziano left the top spot at Harvard Bioscience ($HBIO), to be replaced by interim CEO David Green. Release

David Apelian joined Achillion Pharmaceuticals ($ACHN) as the company's new chief medical officer. Release

Biologix Hair appointed Michael Stocker as its director and CEO, and the company also brought on J. Gregory Wilson as its CFO. Release

Medical Devices

Noxilizer has appointed David Chaskin as CFO. Chaskin was most recently CFO for Aritas Group, a financial holding company, and the financial and operations principal for the U.S. broker dealer subsidiary Aritas Securities. Release

Dr. Sumant Ramachandra has been reappointed to his role as senior vice president and chief scientific officer of Hospira ($HSP). Ramachandra returns to Hospira after a brief departure earlier this year and will serve as a member of the company's senior leadership team. Release

Research

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute at Lake Nona has recruited internationally renowned genomic scientist Dr. László Nagy to serve as professor and program director in its Diabetes and Obesity Research Center. Release