PM360 AUGUST 2010

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Ambit Biosciences, a leader in kinase drug discovery and development, announced the appointment of Alan J. Lewis, PhD, as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Lewis has served as Executive Chairman of Ambit since March 2010 and will now be responsible for the company’s daily operations as CEO. Previously, he was President and CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 diabetes research worldwide, and before that, President and
CEO of Novocell.

George Scangos started as CEO of Biogen Idec on July 15, replacing James Mullen, who retired from the position on June 8. Scangos previously served as the CEO of Exelixis for 14 years. At Biogen Idec, Scangos will oversee the launch of five new products in the next three years and look to advance the biotech company’s pipeline.

Gregory Glenn, MD, has been named Chief Scientific Officer for Novavax, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company creating novel vaccines to address infectious diseases worldwide, including H1N1, using advanced proprietary virus-like-particle (VLP) technology. Dr. Glenn previously served as Chief Scientific Officer with IOMAI (now Intercell), as an associate in international health at Johns Hopkins University's School of Public Health, and as a clinical and basic research scientist at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He brings to Novavax experience in the discovery, development, and evaluation of a wide variety of vaccines such as pandemic influenza, tetanus, malaria, HIV, and cancer.

Tengion, a clinical-stage biotech company, announced the appointment of Sunita B. Sheth, MD, as Chief Medical Officer, Vice President, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs. Her responsibilities will include developing clinical development strategies, implementing clinical trials, and providing clinical translation insights to preclinical pipeline programs. Dr. Sheth most recently served as Vice President, Specialty Care Business Unit, for Pfizer, and has also held previous positions at AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.

Michael Weiss has been appointed Vice President, Sales, at D&R Communications. As Vice President, Weiss will head the Business Development team, support sales efforts, and enable D&R to extend its services to more companies and brands. He brings more than 25 years of experience in healthcare to D&R. Much of his career was at Roche Laboratories, where he won the President’s Achievement Award at both a sales and a sales management level.

MicroMass Communications has named Connie Mester to the position of Vice President, Director of Business Development. Mester was most recently National Marketing Communications Director with Cigna. With a strong background in behavioral change and social marketing, she will continue to focus on establishing relationships with healthcare professionals and improving health outcomes for patients.

Cara Cocroft and Myra Tejada have joined AbelsonTaylor as Account Supervisors. Cocroft, with a background in hematology and antibiotics, will focus on pediatric and diabetes nutrition products. Tejada, with experience in the areas of psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes, will be responsible for a product in the immunology category. Tejada previously served as an account supervisor with Cline Davis Mann. Cocroft comes to AbelsonTaylor from Burrell Communications.

Greg Lewis has been named Chief Marketing Officer for DKI Direct, a patient relationship marketing agency. In his new position, Lewis will lead the marketing efforts for both existing and new clients. Lewis’s branding, positioning, and promotional work has included products such as Botox, Claritin, Colgate, Imitrex, and Nexium. Most recently, Lewis led the cross-functional launch efforts for Simponi—a TNF-alpha inhibitor—including all on- and off-line promotion, medical education, and strong collaboration with DTC efforts.

Caris Life Sciences has appointed Dominic P. Moorhead to the position of President of European Operations. European operations play a pivotal role in the development and commercialization of several of the company’s new platforms. Moorhead has over 26 years of experience in finance and operations management in the European healthcare sector. His most recent work was with Roche Pharmaceuticals, where he served as CFO. In his new role at Caris, Moorhead will be responsible for establishing and reinforcing the company’s European operations.

Chris Neuner has been named Executive Vice President, Sales and Client Engagement, for QualityHealth. Neuner will lead the company’s client-facing teams utilizing the company’s performance-based marketing programs. Neuner was formerly the CEO of Greater Than One, an interactive healthcare agency.

MBS/Vox, the research-based consultancy unit of Common-Health, has appointed Katy Hewett as Senior Analyst. Hewett will analyze data from naturally occurring healthcare interactions using sociolinguistic research methods. She will also conduct ethnographic research across various disease states and therapeutic areas. Hewett joins MBS/Vox as a recent graduate of Georgetown University with a master’s degree in sociolinguistics.

Susan Cuozzo has been appointed Vice President of Program Development at AXON US. Cuozzo was previously the Team Leader of Medical & Scientific Services for ACUMED, where she led a team responsible for the execution of promotional oncology and multiple sclerosis initiatives. She has also produced programs including oncology forums, advisory board meetings, symposia, and speaker tours throughout Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

Healthcare advertising agency Brandkarma announced the promotion of two of its team members in client services. Ryan Nibouar advanced to the position of Account Executive, and Ashley Delgadillo assumed her new title of Traffic Coordinator.

Healthcare marketing and communications agency Core-Create announced a new hire and two promotions. Leslie Ferreira joins the company as Designer, while Mandy Graziani is promoted to Marketing and Media Manager and Jennifer Hollis advances to Senior Account Executive.

The Hal Lewis Group, a branding agency focused on strategic marketing and advertising services for companies in the healthcare sector, announced the promotion of Nicole Clause to the position of Project Manager. HLG has also added Gayatri Bhasin to its account service staff as Senior Account Executive. Clause has been with HLG since 2007. Bhasin previously worked as Senior Account Executive at EuroRSCG Life.

William T. Talman, MD, has been named the newest President of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). Dr. Talman is a Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at the University of Iowa and is a practicing physician at the University Hospital and at the Iowa City Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital, where he is Chief of the Neurology Service. He will serve for one year as the leader of FASEB, a coalition of 23 member societies comprising more than 100,000 scientists and engineers.
—Peter Bradley