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Novo Nordisk has appointed George Godfrey as Senior Director for Medical and Regulatory in the UK. Godfrey brings over 20 years’ experience at the forefront of healthcare delivery spanning clinical medicine, pharmaceutical leadership and healthcare system transformation. In this role he will lead the UK’s medical and regulatory functions.

Godfrey previously served as Head of Medical for Respiratory and Immunology for AstraZeneca UK, where he led multidisciplinary medical teams. Prior to this, George spent two years in Switzerland as Regional Medical Director for Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism across Europe and Canada.

Before moving into the pharmaceutical industry, George worked as a trained physician in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine, experience that continues to shape his commitment to improving patient care.

Stoke Therapeutics has appointed Thomas McCauley as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). McCauley has more than 25 years’ experience leading high-performing R&D teams and translating early scientific discoveries into clinical programmes that have delivered new medicines to people living with severe diseases. He brings extensive expertise in developing novel technology platforms and modalities across multiple therapeutic areas, including six years at Shire where he played a key role in the late-stage development and global approvals of multiple genetic medicines for rare diseases. McCauley was most recently President and CEO of Neptune Bio, and was previously CSO at Omega Therapeutics, Macrolide Pharmaceuticals and Translate Bio, and also held roles at Inotek and Archemix.

Inventiva has appointed Chris Benecchi as Chief Operating Officer. With extensive experience in building organisations, preparing medicines for launch and integrating cross-functional operations, Benecchi brings 30 years of biopharmaceutical leadership across commercial, operational and enterprise roles. He has a track record of building organisations, preparing innovative investigational medicines for launch and leading cross-functional execution in competitive and access-challenged markets. Most recently, he served as CEO of Motric Bio (an Aditum Bio company). Prior to that, he was Chief Operating Officer, Chief Business Officer and Chief Commercial Officer at Sage Therapeutics. He also held roles at UCB, Alexion, Acorda Therapeutics, Takeda and Johnson & Johnson.

LEO Pharma has elected Henriette Mersebach as a member of the Board of Directors. Mersebach is on the Board of Trustees of the LEO Foundation and will serve as the second board representative on LEO Pharma’s Board of Directors. Mersebach has more than 20 years’ experience in global drug development, R&D strategy and enterprise leadership. She most recently served as Executive Vice President, Research & Development at ALK-Abelló, where she was a member of the Executive Leadership Team and led the company’s R&D and innovation strategy. Mersebach also held several senior leadership positions at Novo Nordisk, including Corporate Project Vice President for Rare Disease & Advanced Therapies and Project Vice President in Global Development.