Pharmaceutical Market Europe • June 2021 • 42-44
APPOINTMENTS
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
BEN OSBORN
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has appointed Ben Osborn as president. Currently, Osborn serves as UK country manager of Pfizer, a role which he has held for over two years. His career at Pfizer spans across 22 years – he initially joined the pharma company in 1998, working in various sales and marketing roles. Prior to becoming UK country manager, he served as chief marketing officer of internal medicine across Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand at Pfizer. Commenting on his new role, Osborn said: “Our industry has made an incredible contribution in this pandemic, working together with partners across the health and care space to research, develop, and deliver treatments and vaccines for COVID-19.”
CureVac
KLAUS EDVARDSEN
CureVac has appointed Klaus Edvardsen as its new chief development officer. Edvardsen joins the German biopharma company from Merck KGaA, where he led the early- and late-stage global oncology development as a senior vice president and head of global oncology development. Prior to that, he was senior VP and head of global medicines development oncology at AZ.
Sandoz UK
DIANE DIGANGI TRENCH
Sandoz has appointed Diane DiGangi Trench as its new UK country head. Prior to becoming UK country head, DiGangi Trench held the position of vice-president, market access and patient services at Sandoz in the US. In her new role, she will work to continue to expand access to biosimilar, generic and originator drugs for patients in the UK.
Bristol Myers Squibb
MANUEL HIDALGO MEDINA
Manuel Hidalgo Medina has been appointed to Bristol Myers Squibb’s (BMS) board of directors. Hidalgo brings over 20 years of experience in translational and clinical research in anticancer drug development to the role. Currently, he is chief of the division of haematology and medical oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in the US.
BioNTech
JENS HOLSTEIN
German biotech company BioNTech has appointed Jens Holstein as chief financial officer (CFO). Holstein previously served as CFO for Morphosys, and also worked in various CFO and general management roles within Fresenius Group. He also spent several years in the consulting industry, including in M&A with positions in Frankfurt in Germany and in London in the UK.
Crescendo Biologics
MICHAEL BOOTH
Cambridge, UK-based Crescendo Biologics has appointed Michael Booth as chief financial officer. Booth joins with over 20 years’ experience in corporate finance in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Crescendo, he served as division vice president (VP), investor relations & corporate responsibility at Incyte. Before that, he was senior VP, communications & corporate affairs at Algeta ASA.
LogicBio Therapeutics
DANIEL GRUSKIN
Genetic medicines company LogicBio Therapeutics has appointed Daniel Gruskin as chief medical officer. Most recently, Gruskin served as senior vice president (VP) and head of clinical development at LogicBio. Prior to this, he held roles of increasing responsibility at Sanofi Genzyme, most recently serving as the company’s VP, head of global medical affairs, rare disease.
LogicBio Therapeutics
STEPHEN BOYER
Also joining LogicBio is Stephen Boyer, who joins as vice president, regulatory and quality affairs. Boyer brings more than 20 years’ experience in the pharma industry. He was previously head of regulatory at Boston Pharmaceuticals, and before that he was head of regulatory strategy at Biogen and also a global regulatory team leader at Bristol Myers Squibb.
LogicBio Therapeutics
PETER PECHAN
Rounding out the appointments at LogicBio is Peter Pechan, who has been appointed as vice president, gene therapy. Pechan has over 20 years’ industry experience in gene therapy. Most recently, he served as senior director of R&D and head of vector biology at Solid Biosciences. Previously, he worked as director, head of gene transfer technologies in the gene therapy department at Biogen.
CatalYm
PHIL L’HUILLIER
CatalYm, based in Munich, Germany, has appointed Phil L’Huillier as chief executive officer. L’Huillier brings over 20 years’ experience in executive leadership positions in the pharma and biotech industries to the role. He joins from MSD – known as Merck & Co in the US and Canada – where he held the position of head of its European innovation hub & business development.
ILC Therapeutics
PETER BAINS
ILC Therapeutics has appointed Peter Bains as non-executive chairman. Bains has over three decades’ experience in the pharma and biotech industries, including senior strategic and operational roles during a 20-plus year career at GlaxoSmithKline. More recently, he was CEO of Syngene and Sosei Heptares, and has played an active role in the development of over 35 life sciences companies.
Macrophage Pharma
VENKAT REDDY
Macrophage Pharma has appointed Venkat Reddy as its new chief executive officer. Reddy has gained extensive experience from senior roles in both European and US biotech and pharma companies, including Glenmark Pharmaceutical, Pfizer, Sanofi and Novartis. At Pfizer, he served as senior director, strategic alliances and partnerships at its centres for therapeutic innovation.
Neogene Therapeutics
BRENT PFEIFFENBERGER
Neogene Therapeutics has appointed Brent Pfeiffenberger as its new chief operating officer. Most recently, Pfeiffenberger served as senior vice president, head of US oncology at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), as well as general manager of Australia/New Zealand at BMS. He also previously led the worldwide commercial oncology organisation at BMS, working closely with the R&D team.
IO Biotech
MUHAMMAD AL-HAJJ
Danish biopharmaceutical company IO Biotech has appointed Muhammad Al-Hajj as chief scientific officer. Al-Hajj has over 18 years’ pharma industry R&D experience, most recently serving as senior vice president, translational sciences at Autolus. Earlier in his career, he was senior director of biology and translational medicine at GlaxoSmithKline, where he led oncology R&D teams.
AiCuris
STEFAN OSCHMANN
AiCuris AG has appointed pharma industry veteran Stefan Oschmann as its chairman. Oschmann previously served as chief executive officer and chairman of the executive board of the Merck Group from April 2016 to April 2021. Before this, he worked for MSD – known as Merck & Co in the US and Canada – where he served in a range of senior executive positions.
Nucleome Therapeutics
JONATHAN HEPPLE
Oxford, UK-based Nucleome Therapeutics has appointed Jonathan Hepple as a non-executive director of its board. Hepple brings over 20 years’ investment experience in the life sciences industry. He is a co-founder of leading life sciences-focused investment firm Rosetta Capital and is also a strategic advisor to Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI), a founding investor in Nucleome.
Pharvaris
WIM SOUVERIJNS
Pharvaris has appointed Wim Souverijns as its new chief community engagement & commercial officer. Souverijns brings over 25 years’ experience in pharmaceutical portfolio strategic and operational leadership from roles at ObsEva, Celgene and Amgen. He joins Pharvaris from his most recent position as the chief commercial officer at ObsEva. Prior to this, he spent 11 years at Celgene.
Stalicla
BALTAZAR GOMEZ-MANCILLA
Stalicla has named Baltazar Gomez-Mancilla as chief medical officer. Gomez-Mancilla has over 25 years’ experience, including clinical neuroscience leadership. Previously, he served as senior director of clinical genomics at Pharmacia-UpJohn and also as executive director, neurosciences, translational medicine at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research.
Acacia Pharma
DEBRA HUSSAIN
Debra Hussain has joined commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company Acacia Pharma as chief commercial officer. Hussain is an experienced commercial leader, having spent over 20 years working at global pharma company Eli Lilly, where she worked in roles of increasing responsibility across US and global product sales and marketing in the hospital and outpatient settings.
Engitix Therapeutics
MIKE BURBRIDGE
London-based Engitix Therapeutics has appointed Mike Burbridge as VP oncology and immuno-oncology. Burbridge has over 20 years’ experience in oncology drug discovery, translational research and clinical development. He joins from Servier Centre for Therapeutic Innovation in Oncology, where most recently he served as programme director, external innovation.
VectivBio
OMAR KHWAJA
Swiss biopharmaceutical company VectivBio has appointed Omar Khwaja as chief medical officer. Prior to joining VectivBio, Khwaja served as chief medical officer and head of research and development at Voyager Therapeutics. Previously, he also served as the global head of rare diseases and neuroscience translational medicine at Roche, where he worked for eight years.
90TEN
CLAIRE LONG
AND SABRINA GOMERSALL
Global healthcare communications agency 90TEN has appointed Claire Long and Sabrina Gomersall as joint managing directors. Long was previously deputy managing director at 90TEN, and Gomersall was client services director for the agency. As joint managing directors, they will lead the agency’s communications division into its ‘next phase of growth’.
Clark Health
SIÂN HURST
Clark Health Communications (CHC) has announced the promotion of Siân Hurst to the role of managing director. Hurst initially joined CHC in June 2020 with over 20 years’ experience working in healthcare communications, working at Aurora for 12 years prior to joining CHC. Before that, she worked at Huntsworth Health for over six years.
VMLY&Rx
HEESUN YU
VMLY&Rx has appointed healthcare comms veteran HeeSun Yu as president of its new payer agency in the US. Yu has over 22 years of ad agency experience, having started her career in medical research at Rockefeller University with a focus on neurobehavioural science. In the agency setting she has a focus on HCPs, patient marketing, data analytics and behavioural science.
Nucleus Global
AYCAN HASSAN-WALKER
Nucleus Global appointed a new regional director for Europe, Aycan Hassan-Walker. Most recently, Hassan-Walker worked at Health Interactions in the US, where she held the position of senior vice president for just over three years. Prior to this, she served as managing director for Health Interactions in Europe, and previously as director of client services for the agency.
ENGINE MHP+Mischief
LOUISE FARMER
Strategic communications agency ENGINE MHP+Mischief has announced the appointment of Louise Farmer as a director. Farmer joins the agency with expertise spanning public affairs, communications and campaigning. Previously, she worked at Sanofi as head of corporate communications where she specialised in executive leadership, and she also worked at MSD, M&C Saatchi, the House of Commons and NCT.
ENGINE MHP+Mischief
JABER MOHAMED
ENGINE MHP+Mischief has also appointed Jaber Mohamed as a director. Mohamed previously worked as the chief press officer for international, public health and medicines policy at the Department for Health and Social Care. In this role, he oversaw all media relations for the UK’s COVID-19 vaccination programme, providing strategic advice to Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi and Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
90TEN
RICK EVANS
90TEN has also announced the appointment of Rick Evans as social strategy director. Evans joins 90TEN from Ogilvy Health, bringing over 14 years of experience in healthcare communications and social media strategy to the role. At 90TEN, he will lead the expansion of the agency’s social media offering to bring new opportunities to its roster of healthcare, pharma and biotech clients.
Havas Just::
PAULA HENSLER
Specialist healthcare communications agency Havas Just:: has appointed Paula Hensler as its new scientific director. Hensler, who joins from Prime Global, will lead all scientific strategy and content for Havas Just::. She will also oversee the editorial team, which includes senior medical writer Nick Crabb and medical writer Paola Frisone, who also both joined Havas Just:: in May.
Four Health
NICKY HUTCHENS
Healthcare communications agency Four Health has announced the appointment of Nicky Hutchens as its new deputy managing director. Hutchens initially joined Four Health in 2017 as an account director, before progressing to practice director in 2019. During her 20-year career in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, she has worked with a number of big brands.
Wilmington Healthcare
KIRSTY FRYER
Health information group Wilmington Healthcare has announced the appointment of Kirsty Fryer as its new solutions director. Fryer has worked at Wilmington Healthcare since 2015, serving as a solutions consultant at the company since November 2017. After being a ‘bespoke’ researcher, she joined the solutions team working with real-world evidence.
AS&K Group
ALANA ZDINAK
Independent medcomms agency AS&K Group has appointed Alana Zdinak as sales and marketing director. Zdinak brings over 25 years’ experience in the healthcare communications and education industry to the role. Prior to joining AS&K Group, Zdinak worked at Springer Healthcare for over ten years, most recently serving in the role of global marketing director.
AS&K Group
CHIARA FACCO
Also joining AS&K Group is Chiara Facco, who has been appointed account director in its Remedica team. Before taking on her role at Remedica, Facco worked as an account director at Method, and also previously held the role of account director at Ruder Finn UK. Earlier in her career, she held the position of senior account manager at Galliard Healthcare Communications.