Ex-Genzyme CEO to serve as Prosensa's strategic adviser

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 Alison Bryant (email | Twitter) and we will feature it here each Friday.

Ex-Genzyme CEO to serve as Prosensa's strategic adviser

Ex-Genzyme CEO and President Henri Termeer will put his experience to work at Prosensa as a strategic adviser. His arrival comes as Prosensa's lead drug against an orphan disease known as Duchenne muscular dystrophy advances in late-stage development with partner GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK). Termeer will provide Prosensa, a 2012 Fierce 15 company, with advice for the company's "corporate strategy and growth plans." He retired from Genzyme last year after the buyout of the Cambridge, MA-based biotech powerhouse by Sanofi ($SNY) for more than $20 billion. "Prosensa has the key ingredients of a successful company in the rare disease community: breakthrough science, a highly motivated workforce and a passionate commitment to improving the lives of patients," Termeer said in a statement. "I am very much looking forward to working with the Prosensa team." Story | Release


Henri Termeer--Prosensa

Termeer will serve as strategic adviser.



David Holveck--Endo Health Solutions

Holveck will retire as president and CEO.



Robert Bradway--Amgen
Bradway will serve as chairman of the board of directors.


Biotech

> Impax Laboratories ($IPXL) appointed Bryan Reasons as senior vice president and CFO. Reasons joined Impax in January as vice president of finance, and has served as acting CFO since June. Release

> Xoma ($XOMA) tapped Joseph Limber to serve on the company's board of directors. Limber now serves as president and CEO of Prometheus Laboratories, a Nestlé Health Science company. Release

> A.P. Pharma named Mark Gelder senior vice president and chief medical officer. Gelder comes from GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics, where he served as vice president and global head of medical affairs and pharmacovigilance. Release

> Aastrom Biosciences ($ASTM) selected Dan Orlando as interim CEO. Orlando joined the company as chief commercial officer in August. The company's current president and CEO, Tim Mayleben, is retiring but will remain an active member of the company's board of directors. Release

> Kristine Ball joined Relypsa as senior vice president and CFO. She joins the company from KAI Pharmaceuticals, where she served as senior vice president and CFO. Release

> Basilea Pharmaceutica tapped Ronald Scott to serve as CEO. Scott succeeds Anthony Man, who steps down effective Dec. 31. He previously served as COO for the company. Release

> Living Cell Technologies appointed Paul Tan as chief science and medical officer. Tan has more than 18 years of experience in senior roles in the biotech industry, leading research and development teams into clinical trials in several countries. Release

> Ronald Berenson will head up Aequus BioPharma as president and CEO. Aequus is a subsidiary of Cell Therapeutics ($CTIC). Berenson recently served as entrepreneur in residence at the University of Washington and co-founded HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals. Story

> Merus named Setareh van Driel Shamsili as chief medical officer. Before joining Merus, she was global medical leader in oncology at Astellas Pharma Global Development. Release

> TransCelerate BioPharma appointed Dalvir Gill as CEO, effective Jan. 1. Gill will succeed Garry Neil, who has served as interim CEO since TransCelerate, an industry consortium aimed at collaborating on more efficient R&D processes, was formed in September. Gill most recently served as president of Phase II-IV drug development at PharmaNet/i3. Release

> Charles River Associates ($CRAI) posted Jeffrey Aroy as a vice president in its life sciences practice based in Boston. Aroy notched years in consulting at firms such as IBM Global Services/The Wilkerson Group and Deloitte. Release

Medical Devices

> After stepping down as president of DePuy Synthes Spine after less than two years on the job, Namal Nawana took the position of COO at Alere ($ALR), starting Dec. 30. He spent 15 years in various leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ). Release

Pharma

> Endo Health Solutions ($ENDP) President and CEO David Holveck will retire from the company when a successor is named or at the company's annual shareholders meeting in May, whichever is earlier. The company's board of directors is conducting a search for Holveck's replacement. "I have had the opportunity to work with many talented and dedicated colleagues at Endo, and I am proud of all that we have accomplished together over the past five years," Holveck said in a statement. Release | Story

> Amgen ($AMGN) appointed CEO Robert Bradway as chairman of the board of directors, and Vance Coffman, an Amgen director since 2007, as lead independent director. Both appointments will start Jan. 1. Bradway has served as CEO since May, and was appointed to the board in October 2011. He joined the company in 2006 as vice president of operations strategy. And Coffman has served as a director of the company since 2007, after working in several positions at Lockheed Martin. Release

CRO

> INC Research tapped Robert Ryan to serve as vice president of regulatory strategy, consulting and submissions. He will lead the company's Strategic Advisory Services unit. Ryan has held regulatory and executive leadership positions in both the CRO and biopharmaceutical industries with companies such as Quintiles, PPD, Celtic Therapeutics and Schwarz Pharma. The organization also appointed Sal Chiovari as its new chief information officer. Chiovari joins the company from Smith & Nephew.  Release | Release

> Clinipace Worldwide promoted Ran Frenkel to managing director, EMEA. Frenkel joined the company in May 2011. Release

> Novella Clinical bolstered its development team with three directors of client service: Pamela Kennedy, Fabio Mariano and Matthew O'Rourke. Kennedy brings more than 30 years of experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Mariano most recently served as an associate director of business development for an academic research organization. And O'Rourke is experienced in selling full service CRO capabilities. Release

Pharma Manufacturing

> Almac Group's Clinical Technologies unit is looking to Charlie Morris, who joined the company as vice president of new products and services, to oversee the development of Almac's IXRS technology. He comes to the company after 10 years as the chief technology officer at Princeton Financial Systems. Release