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.
Roche chairman announces departure
This week Franz Humer announced he won't stand for reelection next year as Roche's chairman, a position he has held since 2001. Prior to that, he served as both chairman and CEO. His successor will also serve as a non-executive chairman. Humer ends his term after the Swiss drugmaker's 2014 annual meeting. The company plans to pick a successor by fall. Humer's announcement follows the departure of longtime Novartis ($NVS) Chairman and CEO Daniel Vasella last week. Like Humer, Vasella had previously handed over the CEO's post to a subordinate he'd hired. Story
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Biotech
> Joachim Schorr has joined Irving, TX-based Caris Life Sciences as chief medical officer after spending a year as a consultant for the bioscience company. Before joining Caris, Schorr held various leadership positions at Qiagen ($QGEN). Release
> Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners ($CPRX) has appointed Dr. Bernardino Mosquera as vice president of clinical operations. Mosquera has been an independent consultant in clinical research, and before that, he worked for Amgen ($AMGN) and Kos Pharmaceuticals. Release
> Morria Biopharmaceuticals is changing its name to Celsus Therapeutics and has tapped Dr. Gur Roshwalb as CEO. Roshwalb comes to Celsus from venture capital firm Venrock, where he most recently served as vice president. Release
> BioReliance Corporation has named Archie Cullen president. Cullen, whose career includes time with Life Technologies ($LIFE) and JRH Biosciences, will replace Charles Harwood. Release
> Douglas Swirsky has joined Fibrocell's board of directors. Since 2006, Swirsky has served as senior vice president, chief financial officer, treasurer and corporate secretary of GenVec. Release
> Biocell Laboratories appointed Paula Brown to its board of directors. Brown is formerly the director of the BC Institute of Technology's Natural Health and Food Products Research Group. Release
> Hospira brought on Royce R. Bedward as the company's vice president and Brian Smith as senior vice president. Bedward is one of Hospira's original leaders, serving as vice president of litigation at the start. Item
> Katrine Bosley joined Galapagos NV as a member of the company's board of directors. She joins upon the resignation of Ferdinand Verdonck who had served on the board since 2005. More
> Xyntek brought on Matt Thompson as its president of sales. Thompson comes from Videojet technologies, where he was a sales executive. Release
> Mark Erlander joined Trovagene as the company's chief scientific officer after more than 18 years experience in oncology-based molecular diagnostics at bioTheranostics and Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ). Item
> Lijuan Pang stepped down as director of Welichem Biotech after one and a half years in the position. More
> Intercept Pharamaceuticals ($ICPT) appointed Daniel Regan as its chief commercial officer. He brings more than 20 years of biotech experience to the company. Release
> Glide Pharma brings on former Evolutec CEO Mark Carnegie-Brown as Glide's new CEO. Item
> Helmut Hilbert joined Curetis AG as the company's head of business development. Along with Hilbert's appointment, the Curetis will expand into Belgium and Luxembourg. More
> Addgene appointed Joanna Brownstein and Kristin Darby to its board of directors. Release
> GlycoVaxyn AG brought on Gerd Zettlmeissl as chairman of its board of directors. Zettlmeissl joins shortly after the company signed collaborations with GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Item
> Stephen Sherwin joined the board of directors at Verastem ($VSTM). Sherwin is the cofounder of Ceregene and a director at Biogen Idec ($BIIB). More
> The Catalent Applied Drug Delivery Institute has appointed Ralph Lipp as the founding member of the Institute's Advisory Board. Lipp has served as vice president of pharmaceutical sciences R&D at Eli Lilly and in R&D leadership roles at Schering AG. The Institute also has appointed Terry Robinson as executive director. She joined Catalent Pharma Solutions 5 years ago. Release
> Cell Medica recently made a number of new senior management appointments, including Dr. Kurt Gutner as chief medical officer, Jeff Hammel as chief financial officer and Ross Durland as senior vice president of development. Gutner is the current president of the International Society for Cellular Therapy, while Hammel joins Cell Medica from Orthofix, where he was chief financial officer. Durland has served as senior director of preclinical development for Valentis. Release
> Helmut Hilbert has joined Curetis AG as head of business development. He was formerly associate director of corporate business development at Qiagen. Release
Pharma
> Merck ($MRK) has appointed Roger Perlmutter executive vice president and president of Merck Research Laboratories, effective April 15. Perlmutter has served as executive vice president and head of R&D at Amgen Inc. from Jan. 2001 to Feb. 2012. He will succeed Peter Kim, who has served in the role since 2003. Story
> Aquavit Pharmaceuticals has appointed Dr. David Shafer as the company's new chief medical technology officer. Shafer is a NYC double board certified plastic surgeon, a diplomat of the American Board of Plastic Surgery and a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Release
CRO
> Clinical Network Services brought on Douglas Francis as a senior regulatory toxicologist at the company's BioDesk product development planning and regulatory affairs service. Release