Roche Chairman to Step Down
Humer served as CEO at Roche between 1998 and 2008, and Chairman since 2001. Humer refined Roche’s focus on cancerFranz B. Humer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Roche Group, announced at the company’s Annual General Meeting that he will not stand for re-election to the Board in 2014. Roche will nominate a successor for the chairmanship in autumn 2013. Roche shareholders also elected Roche CEO Severin Schwan to the company’s board for a two-year term. Kepler Capital Markets analyst Martin Voegtli said Schwan might eventually become chairman given the company’s tradition of maintaining leadership continuity.
drugs, including some of the first biotechnology therapies to arrest the spread of the disease. He bought out Genentech in 2009 for nearly $47 billion. To focus the company on its diagnostics and pharmaceutical businesses, he bought a controlling stake in Japan’s Chugai Pharmaceutical, acquired diagnostics company Igen International, and sold off all Roche’s non-pharmaceutical businesses.
New CEO at Endo
Rajiv De Silva was named President and CEO at Endo Pharmaceuticals. De Silva has deep experience in the pharmaceutical sector. Previously he was President of Valeant Pharmaceuticals, a $20 billion market capitalization specialty pharmaceutical company with a presence in the U.S. and a wide range of international markets. He concurrently served as Chief Operating Officer of Valeant’s Specialty Pharmaceuticals business.
While at Valeant, he drove a turnaround plan that resulted in a multi-fold increase in revenues through acquisitions and organic sales growth and substantial improvements in profitability and cash flow generation. De Silva was also a senior executive at Novartis from 2003 to 2008.
AcelRx Pharmaceuticals
Specialty pharmaceutical company, AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, named Adrian Adams Chairman of the Board of Directors, replacing Thomas Schreck, a co-founder of AcelRx. Adams is formerly CEO and President of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals and before that served as Chairman and CEO of Neurologix, Inspire Pharmaceuticals and KOS Pharmaceuticals. He has launched major global brands and driven corporate development activities including financing, product and company acquisitions, in-licensing and company M&A activities.
Bausch + Lomb
Bausch + Lomb named Robert Bertolini President and Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the company’s Finance, Information Technology and Global Quality and Operations functions. Bertolini previously was Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer at Schering-Plough from 2003 until its merger with Merck in 2009, working closely with the CEO on all aspects of company operations. Earlier he was Partner and leader of the Global Pharmaceutical Industry practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Cubist
Cubist Pharmaceuticals appointed Michael Tomsicek as Senior VP and Chief Financial Officer. Tomsicek has been Senior VP and Deputy CFO since July 2012. As CFO, Tomsicek will oversee Cubist’s financial planning and analysis, technical accounting, controllership, treasury, tax, commercial financial services, strategic sourcing activities, investor relations and facilities functions. Tomsicek joined Cubist in 2010 as VP of Corporate Finance. Previously he was a CFO at General Electric Healthcare.
Daiichi Sankyo
Daiichi Sankyo announced several promotions. Kazunori Hirokawa and Yuki Sato added Head of Business Intelligence (Japan) and Head of Legal Affairs & CSR, respectively, to their current senior executive roles. Ryouichi Kibushi, current Head of Sales & Marketing, was promoted to Senior Executive Officer. Junichi Koga, currently in charge of Biopharmaceutical Technology, was named VP of the Biologics Oversight Function, R&D Division.
Hospira
A provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies, Hospira appointed Royce R. Bedward Corporate VP, General Counsel, and Secretary. In his new role, Bedward will oversee the company’s legal department, including litigation, benefits, labor and employment, intellectual property, governance, securities and transactional matters. Prior to Hospira’s spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2004, Bedward was Abbott’s senior counsel for litigation.
Idis and the Global Genes | RARE Project
The Global Genes | RARE Project—a rare and genetic disease patient advocacy organization—has named Natalie Douglas, CEO of Idis, to its Board of Directors. Idis partners with pharma/biotech companies to manage access to medicines that may not be commercially available for patients with unmet needs. Douglas joined Idis in 1999, led a management buyout of the company in 2005, and has more than doubled sales since 2006. In addition, Idis named Suzanne Gagnon, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer. Gagnon was previously CMO and Executive VP at ICON Clinical Research for 10 years.
MEI Pharma
MEI Pharma, an oncology company, named Thomas C. Reynolds, M.D., Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. Reynolds served as Chief Medical Officer of Seattle Genetics from 2007 until his retirement in 2013, where he led development of Adcetris, an antibody-drug conjugate for anaplastic large cell lymphoma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Previously, Reynolds was VP, Medical Affairs, at ZymoGenetics, where he oversaw development of Recothrom, a thrombin produced using recombinant DNA technology.
OncoSec Medical
Veronica Vallejo has been promoted from VP and Controller to Chief Financial Officer at OncoSec Medical.
Vallejo has over 15 years of public accounting experience and has worked for nearly a decade in a senior management position. She has extensive experience in public company operations and all financing and accounting functions.
Vermillion
A molecular diagnostics company focused on women’s health, Vermillion appointed Bruce A. Huebner Chairman and Thomas McLain President and CEO. Huebner, who has been interim CEO, was previously President of Osmetech Molecular Diagnostics, President and CEO of Nanogen, and Executive VP and COO of Gen-Probe. McLain previously was CEO and CFO of Claro Scientific, and CEO of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (now Biota), where he increased company market capitalization five-fold.
