Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Conor Hale, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Ex-Millennium chief Deborah Dunsire named CEO of Lundbeck
Lundbeck
Deborah Dunsire was named CEO, effective Sept. 1.
Dunsire was CEO of Millennium from 2005 to 2013, while the company grew into an oncology biotech leader with drugs like Velcade before being sold to Takeda to help form its U.S. operation. Before that, she oversaw Novartis’ North American oncology business for about a decade. Lundbeck has been without a permanent CEO since last November, when Kåre Schultz left for Teva. FiercePharma
Robert Zeldin to take CMO post at Acceleron
Acceleron Pharma
Robert Zeldin was named CMO.
Zeldin picks up the torch from Acceleron’s retiring CMO, Matthew Sherman, who will stay on through the release of topline phase 3 data from the company's lead candidate, luspatercept, in beta-thalassemia. Zeldin previously served as CMO at Belgian biotech Ablynx, and he also held roles at Stallergenes, Novartis, Merck and the FDA. FierceBiotech
PredictImmune appoints Paul Kinnon as CEO
PredictImmune
Kinnon's first CEO job started in 2007, leading the DNA product company ZyGEM. Recently, Kinnon has served as CEO of Transgenomic. He joins PredictImmune following a $6.2 million series A round last year to support development of lab services and diagnostic kits. FierceBiotech
Novocure promotes Pritesh Shah to chief commercial officer
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Novocure
The company appointed its senior VP of the Americas, Pritesh Shah, to be CCO.
Shah will report to Novocure CEO Asaf Danziger as the company looks to expand the use of its electric-field cancer treatment into mesothelioma, its first indication in the torso. Shah first joined Novocure in 2012 as senior director of global marketing and would later head its U.S. oncology business. FierceBiotech
> German CRO Proinnovera named Novella Clinical's Sonja VanWye as its VP of U.S. clinical operations, after opening its first office in the states. FierceCRO
> Anthony Wieczorek was named president of medical device and medical gas equipment provider Ohio Medical. Wieczorek was previously the company's senior VP of global sales. Release
> Independent pharma agency Intouch reorganized and rebranded as the parent of six affiliates representing its various service offerings. FiercePharmaMarketing
> Novartis plans to spin off Alcon into a separately traded company based in Switzerland next year, pending shareholder approval, with its current home base of Fort Worth, Texas, serving as a “critical location,” according to CEO Vas Narasimhan. FiercePharma
> Imaging device manufacturer NinePoint Medical named co-founder Eman Namati president and CEO. Release
> Xyphos Biosciences appointed Thorsten Melcher as chief business officer. Melcher previously served as senior director of business development for Calico, and held roles at Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Varian Medical Systems. Release
> New Leaf Ventures brought on Rallybio co-founder and former R&D head of Alexion Pharmaceuticals Martin Mackay as a senior advisor to the venture capital firm. Mackay also served as president of R&D at AstraZeneca, and he currently sits on the boards of Charles River Laboratories and Novo Nordisk. Release