Pharmaceutical Market Europe • September 2020 • 42-44
APPOINTMENTS
bluebird bio
DENICE TORRES
Denice Torres has been appointed to bluebird bio’s board of directors. Torres brings experience and expertise gained over 25 years of executive management experience in pharmaceuticals, medical device and consumer healthcare for global organisations. Previously, Torres held several executive leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, including president of McNeil Consumer Healthcare and president of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, CNS. Before joining J&J, she worked at Eli Lilly in a number of commer-cial roles, including in US women’s health, global neuroscience and growth hormone. Torres is also the founder of The Mentoring Place and The Ignited Company, a consulting firm specialising in the development of high-performing individuals and teams. In 2015, she was named named Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) Woman of the Year.
Biogen
MICHAEL MCDONNELL
Biogen has appointed Michael McDonnell as executive vice president and chief financial officer. McDonnell joins from IQVIA, where he worked as executive VP and CFO During his tenure at IQVIA, the company became an industry leader in using data and technology to improve patient outcomes.
Prior to that, McDonnell served as the executive VP and CFO of Intelsat.
Amgen
AMY MILES
Amgen has appointed Amy Miles to its board of directors. Miles will also serve as a member of the board’s audit committee and governance and nominating committee. Miles is the former chair of the board and chief executive officer of Regal Entertainment Group and she also previously worked at Deloitte & Touche and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
LifeArc
IAN CAMPBELL
Ian Campbell has joined LifeArc as chief business officer. Campbell joins LifeArc from Innovate UK, where he has served as interim executive chair and, before that, director for health and life sciences. Prior to Innovate, he was chief executive of Arquer Diagnostics. In his new role at LifeArc, Campbell will take on responsibility for the charity’s business development and partnerships.
Sobi
RAVI RAO
Sobi has appointed Ravi Rao as head of research and development. Rao joins from Aeglea Biotherapeutics where he served as chief medical officer. His previous experience includes roles at GlaxoSmithKline where he was vice president, global medical head, immunology and speciality medicine franchise. Prior to this, he was group medical director, immunology clinical development at Roche.
Merus
ANDREW JOE
Merus has appointed Andrew Joe as chief medical officer. Joe has over 20 years of experience in clinical drug development and translational research with the pharmaceutical industry and academic medicine. Most recently, he led the immuno-oncology programme at french pharma company Sanofi, which included the co-development of Libtayo with Regeneron in skin, lung and other cancers.
Alentis Therapeutics
ROBERTO IACONE
Alentis Therapeutics has appointed Roberto Iacone as chief executive officer. Iacone is a physician-scientist and brings more than 15 years of life sciences industry experience to Alentis. Most recently, while he worked at Versant Ventures, he co-founded Bright Peak Therapeutics and Ridgeline Therapeutics. Prior to Versant, he was Roche’s global head of rare diseases research.
Axol Bioscience
LIAM TAYLOR
Axol Bioscience has appointed Liam Taylor as chief executive officer. Most recently, Taylor was chief financial officer and then managing director of BBI Solutions. He is a highly experienced senior executive, with extensive knowledge of leading commercial, operations finance and innovation teams in the diagnostic, pharma and life sciences sectors, both within the UK and the US.
Viroclinics Biosciences
DAVIDE MOLHO
Viroclinics Biosciences has appointed Davide Molho as its new chief executive officer. Molho joins the team at Viroclinics from Evolution Research Group, where he also served as CEO. Prior to this role, he worked for almost two decades at Charles River Laboratories, most recently serving as president and chief operating officer of the global organisation.
Vor Biopharma
JOHN KING
Vor Biopharma has appointed John King as chief commercial officer. King has more than 20 years of global commercial leadership experience within biotechnology and rare diseases. He joins Vor from Ra Pharma, where he was the chief commercial officer. Before joining Ra Pharma, King served as vice president, US neurology business unit at Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
NBE-Therapeutics
BERTRAND DAMOUR
NBE-Therapeutics has appointed Bertrand Damour as chief executive officer. Damour has 20 years of management experience in the biotech industry in Europe and the US. He was previously CEO of GeneProt, MindNRG, OncoEthix and more recently Synthena, a company developing oligonucleotide-based therapeutics for the treatment of genetic neuromuscular diseases.
Avacta
NEIL BELL
Avacta has appointed Neil Bell as chief development officer. Bell has over 30 years of experience in the drug development industry, having held senior positions in global pharmaceutical companies and innovative biotechs. In his early career, he worked in clinical development at Eisai and Pfizer, before becoming therapeutic area head for gastroenterology and neurology at Ipsen.
Genespire
JÖRN ALDAG
Genespire has appointed Jörn Aldag as chairman of the board. Aldag has 23 years of corporate and leadership experience in the life sciences industry from a range of highly relevant roles. This includes serving as chief executive officer of uniQure and HOOKIPA Pharma. In addition to leading HOOKIPA, Aldag also serves as a board member of Idorsia Pharmaceuticals.
uniQure
RICARDO DOLMETSCH
uniQure has appointed Ricardo Dolmetsch as president, research and development. Dolmetsch joins the uniQure team from Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, the research arm of Novartis, where he served as the global head of neuroscience from 2013. During his time there, he played a pivotal role in Novartis’ acquisition of AveXis and the successful approval of Zolgensma.
LEO Pharma
NADEGE FEESER
LEO Pharma UK/Ireland has appointed Nadege Feeser as its new atopic dermatitis business unit director. Nadege has over 17 years’ experience across biotech and pharma, most recently at Novartis where she was a global marketing director for Cosentyx. Feeser also spent more than ten years in France and emerging markets with Eisai, Bristol Myers Squibb and Novartis.
LEO Pharma
AMIT AGGARWAL
Also joining LEO Pharma
UK/Ireland is Amit Aggarwal, who has been appointed as medical director. Aggarwal has over 12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently at Bayer where he held various roles, including director of medical affairs UK. Prior to that, he spent five years working clinically in the NHS, mainly in secondary care roles.
Byondis
ROBBERT VAN HEEKEREN
Byondis has appointed Robbert Van Heekeren as CFO. Van Heekeren joins Byondis with nearly 25 years of international management experience in corporate and operational finance, most recently as board member and co-owner of Odyssee Mobile. Prior to that, he worked as a management board member and chief financial officer at Kiadis Pharma.
Immunovant
MICHAEL ELLIOTT
Immunovant has appointed Michael Elliott as chief scientific officer. Prior to joining Immunovant, Elliott spent 17
years in leadership roles at
Johnson & Johnson, serving most recently as vice president of immunology science innovation. In that role, he focused on clinical and scientific due diligence of new acquisition targets and developing partnerships between industry and academia.
Amarna Therapeutics
STEEN KLYSNER
Amarna Therapeutics has appointed Steen Klysner as chief executive officer. Klysner joins Amarna with over 30 years of experience in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining Amarna, he served as CEO of ExpereS2ion Biotechnologies. Previously, he was senior vice president of preclinical R&D and senior vice president of quality of allergopharma, the allergy business unit of Merck KGaA.
Nordic Nanovector
CHRISTINE WILKINSON BLANC
Nordic Nanovector has appointed Christine Wilkinson Blanc as chief medical officer. Wilkinson Blanc is a seasoned pharmaceutical physician with broad experience in oncology and haematology, within both large pharmaceutical and emerging biotechnology companies. She brings over 25 years of experience in the pharma industry to the role, having led multiple clinical studies across all phases.
Bicycle Therapeutics
DOMINIC SMETHURST
Bicycle Therapeutics has appointed Dominic Smethurst as chief medical officer. Smethurst has extensive expertise in developing bispecific immuno-oncology agents, with over 20 years of experience working with leading pharma and biotech companies, clinical research institutions and the NHS, and also as a medical consultant.
Havas Lynx Group
JON CHAPMAN
Havas Lynx Group has promoted Jon Chapman to the new role of chief creative officer. Chapman has over 16 years of experience in both consumer and health advertising, and has worked on a number of campaigns across disease awareness, patient activation and more. Prior to his new role, Chapman worked as an executive creative director at Havas Lynx.
Havas Lynx Group
PAUL KINSELLA
Havas Lynx Group has also promoted Paul Kinsella to the new role of chief creative officer. Kinsella will share joint CCO responsibilities with Jon Chapman following the promotion. He joined Havas Lynx five years ago as the creative director of Havas Lynx London, and was promoted to executive creative director 18 months ago.
Evoke KYNE
DANTE DELVECCHIO
Evoke KYNE has promoted Dante DelVecchio to the role of senior vice president. As a member of the firm’s senior management team, DelVecchio will continue to oversee key client engagements in infectious diseases, vaccines and immuno-oncology. He has worked at Evoke KYNE for the past ten years, during which he led high-performing teams and built strong client relationships.
ZPB Associates
JO SPADACCINO
Edel McCaffrey and Annabelle Sandeman have been confirmed as board members and committee chairs of the HCA. McCaffrey, an independent communications consultant, has over 25 years of corporate and healthcare comms experience. Sandeman is global head of commercial strategy for Hunstworth, with over 20 years of experience.
90TEN
MARK LAKERAM
AND JENNY SQUIBBS
90TEN has appointed Mark Lakeram to the new roles of group director, head of behavioural science from his previous role as director of scientific services. In this role, Lakeram will lead 90TEN’s behavioural science function across all divisions of the company. Jenny Squibbs has also been appointed to associate director within the 90TEN Medical team.
90TEN
JAMES DUGGAN
AND AMY O’CONNOR
90TEN has also been bolstered by the promotion of James Duggan to director, creative services within the agency’s Medical team. Amy O’Connor has also taken on the new title of associate director, creative services, within the 90TEN Communica-tions team. Both Duggan and O’Connor will be responsible for driving innovation and creativity across the agency’s client work.
90TEN
NIAMH MANGAN
AND RUTH MCINTYRE
90TEN has further strengthened its senior management team with the promotion of Niamh Mangan to director within 90TEN Medical, as well as Ruth McIntyre to associate director within the 90TEN Communications division. Prior to 90TEN, Mangan worked at Cello Health Cypher, and McIntyre worked as an account director at Galliard Healthcare Communications.
OVID Health
RACHEL GONZAGA
OVID Health has appointed Rachel Gonzaga as associate director. Gonzaga joins OVID from GlaxoSmithKline, where she worked as global communications director. She also previously worked as a science press manager for Cancer Research UK and also worked for Nature publishing group. Gonzaga’s new focus at OVID will be leading its pharmaceutical PR and corporate communications offerings.
90TEN
JAMIE HALL
AND JESSICA GREENMAN
Jamie Hall and Jessica Greenman have also joined the team at 90TEN, and will both take on the roles of account director. Hall, who has joined 90TEN Medical, previously worked at ArticulateScience (part of Nucleus Global), while Greenman joins following previous stints at M&F Health, Porter Novelli and TogoRun.
Ashfield Medical Communications
REBECCA DOUGLAS
Ashfield Medical Communications has appointed Rebecca Douglas as programme director within its allegro team. Prior to joining Ashfield, Douglas worked as a freelance medical writer at Douglas MCS for almost 12 years. She gained her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Manchester, and a BSc in Applied Genetics from the University of Liverpool.
Porterhouse Medical Group
EMMA CONRAN
Porterhouse Medical Group has promoted Emma Conran to the new role of principal medical writer. Conran joined Porterhouse’s scientific services team in 2014 as a medical writer, and has been the lead writer on many key projects during this time. Last year, she passed the International Society for Medical Publications Professional certification exam.
Onyx Health
ALIX STONEHOUSE
Alix Stonehouse has joined Newcastle-based healthcare marketing communications agency Onyx as account manager. Previously, Storehouse has worked for a number of companies within the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, including MSD, ProPharma Group and Boots. In her new role at Onyx she will oversee client projects and the day-to-day management of accounts.