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.
Juventas snaps up business development veteran
Juventas Therapeutics, a privately held, clinical-stage company developing novel regenerative therapies for treatment of cardiovascular disease, brought on Paul Resnick as vice president of business development. Resnick brings more than 25 years of experience to the position. He led business development for Intellikine, culminating in its acquisition last year by Takeda Pharmaceutical for $190 million upfront and up to $120 million in potential clinical milestones. He also played a key role in the Rinat Neurosciences acquisition by Pfizer ($PFE) in 2007 for $500 million in cash. "We are delighted to welcome Paul to Juventas' senior management team," commented Rahul Aras, president and CEO. "Given the development stage and clinical potential for JVS-100, we believe having someone with Paul's experience focused on strategic opportunities will allow us to best recognize the long-term value of this platform." Release
|
Biotech
> Regulus Therapeutics ($RGLS) tapped Mark G. Foletta to serve on its board of directors. Most recently, Foletta served as senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer of Amylin Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Sutro Biopharma named Edward C. Albini as its CFO. Albini has more than 25 years of life sciences industry experience, including more than 14 years in various financial management positions at Genentech. Release
> Mirna Therapeutics has appointed Clay Siegall to its board of directors. Siegall is co-founder, president, CEO and chairman of the board of directors of Seattle Genetics ($SGEN). Release
> Gyros has appointed Claus Braestrup to its board of directors. Dr. Braestrup was previously president and CEO at Lundbeck. Release
> Mads P.G. Korsgaard resigned from the board of directors at NeuroSearch ($NEUR) to be replaced by IT Director Morten Henrik Nielsen as the new employee-elected board member. Release
> Prime Therapeutics appointed Ann Tobin as its chief compliance officer. Before Prime Therapeutics, Tobin held legal leadership roles at UnitedHealth Group, Diversified Pharmaceutical Services and Medtronic ($MDT). Release
> Alon Natanson joined stem cell technology developer Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics as the company's new CEO, replacing Adrian Harel, who will move into an executive scientific role. Natanson comes from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ($TEVA), where he was director of marketing and finance of its Copaxone division. Release
> Neil M. Barth joins Agendia as the company's chief medical officer. Barth is a physician with 35 years of experience in the industry and a former leadership position at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, CA. Release
> Caroline Krumel has resigned from her position as vice president of finance and principal accounting officer at PDL BioPharm ($PDLI), effective Jan. 25. Krumel did not advise the company of any disagreements over any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure. Release
> Bryan Williams has stepped down as chairman from MEI Pharma's ($MEIP) board of directors and the company has appointed Christine White as lead director. White was appointed as a director in August 2010. She was with Biogen Idec ($BIIB) from 1996 to 2005, most recently as senior vice president of global medical affairs. Release
> Anker Lundemose has been appointed president and CEO of Bionor Pharma, beginning March 1. Lundemose was CEO of Prosidion in the U.K. from 2003 to 2005. Release
> MyoKardia announced the appointment of Jonathan C. Fox as chief medical officer. Fox will be responsible for the clinical development and regulatory strategy for MyoKardia's pipeline of novel, small-molecule therapeutics focused on treatments for genetically determined hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Release
Pharma
> Novo Nordisk ($NVO) promoted four members of its U.S. team. Effective March 1, the following members of the U.S. executive team will assume the title of senior vice president in their respective areas: Andy Ajello, U.S. national diabetes sales; Camille Lee, U.S. diabetes marketing; Dr. Alan Moses, global chief medical officer; and Dr. Anne Phillips, U.S. clinical, medical and regulatory affairs. Release
> Questcor Pharmaceuticals ($QCOR) appointed Michael Aldridge as the senior vice president of its corporate strategic development. Aldridge comes from Xenome, where he was CEO. Release
> Fishburn Hedges' Ayesha Bharmal will move to the global media director position at AstraZeneca ($AZN) on Feb. 4. She will handle proactive media relations, working to promote stories that help fit with AstraZeneca's corporate business plan. Story
CRO
> Karen Kelso has joined Novella Clinical as regulatory affairs director. Kelso joins the company after a 16-year career at Vascutek, a Terumo company, in Scotland, where she most recently served as vice president of regulatory affairs and clinical studies for the company's portfolio of vascular products. Release