William Major joins Greater Than One
William Major has joined the senior leadership team at Greater Than One (GTO) as Director of Operational Excellence. GTO tapped the industry veteran to lead project management and creative services as well as head process optimization and system integration across all agency of record (AOR) work, which now comprises more than 60% of revenue at the global healthcare agency. He will draw on his skills in all areas of operations management, including project management, editorial, graphic services, art buying, video production, digital, and collaboration application services.
Major has 30 years of healthcare advertising experience, including serving as Senior Vice President, Director of Agency Excellence in the Omnicom Health Group. Kieran Walsh, President of Greater Than One, said in a statement, “I am thrilled to appoint Bill as GTO’s Director of Operational Excellence. I know that his disciplined approach to launch excellence will ensure that, as our business grows, we will continue to deliver best-in-class work for our clients.”
Imara Inc. Names a New CEO
The Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company, focused on sickle cell anemia therapeutics, appointed Rahul D. Ballal, PhD as CEO. Dr. Ballal will pull on 15 years of experience to guide the company through late clinical trials of IMR-687, their investigational sickle cell drug.
“Rahul is a leader in biotech and venture capital, with a strong emphasis on business development, strategic partnerships, and financing. While Chief Business Officer at Northern Biologics, he built a top-tier immuno-oncology portfolio and led a key set of transactions with Celgene,” David Mott, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Imara, said in a statement. “We look forward to Rahul leading Imara during this critical time, as the company advances IMR-687 through clinical development to help patients suffering from sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies.”
Dr. Ballal joined Imara from Northern Biologics, where he served as Chief Business Officer. He was also Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Versant Ventures.
Avinger Inc.
Mark Weinswig joins the peripheral artery disease-focused company as Chief Financial Officer. With more than 20 years of experience in financial leadership at corporations such as Emcore, Weinswig will be tasked with guiding the launch of new catheter-based products in the pipeline while strengthening the organization’s commercial plan.
AXON
The medical communications group has promoted Sam Barnes to Senior Director. Barnes will be responsible for driving the firm’s global healthcare PR and marketing communications footprint. Barnes has more than 18 years of experience in strategic healthcare communications and marketing, and has been with AXON since 2010.
Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult)
Jonathan Appleby, PhD will leave his role as Chief Scientific Officer for Cell and Gene Therapy at GlaxoSmithKline to take over the CSO position at CGT Catapult. With his 20 years of experience, Appleby will lead the development and commercialization of cell and gene therapy treatments on a global scale.
Easton Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Vince Demasi of Alliance Group was named Chief Operating Officer & Director of the board for the specialty pharma company now gearing up for medical marijuana production. Demasi is the current President of partner company Alliance Group, where he coordinates the revenue-generating operations and new contracts, which he will handle for Easton as well.
Eloxx Pharmaceuticals
Neil Belloff was appointed EVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the biopharmaceutical company focused on cystic fibrosis and other mutation-related diseases. Belloff has 30 years of legal and business experience, most recently serving as Senior Corporate Counsel at Celgene.
Gelesis
Former CMO and VP of Walgreens, Harry Leider, MD, MBA, has joined Gelesis as Chief Medical Officer. He will take responsibility for the company’s medical strategy, including overseeing medical affairs functions and programming with medical associations, patient advocacy groups, and other healthcare organizations.
High America
The non-profit 501c3, whose mission is to educate and generate awareness on the opiate epidemic, added Steve Bate to its Board of Directors. The organization will utilize Bates’ knowledge in alternative medicines, namely cannabinoids focused on helping opioid addicts through withdrawal to reduce relapses. Bates has extensive political and administrative experience, becoming an alternative medicine advocate after he recovered from his aggressive, rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with cannabinoid oils rather than intense chemotherapy.
Intouch Solutions
The marketing agency has promoted five employees in the Kansas City office, including Katie Beemer, Project Manager and Katie Schmidtberger, Team Lead. Beemer now facilitates internal processes and responsibilities for client projects and manages costs, timelines, and resources on a variety of projects, from emails to banners to full site builds. Schmidtberger has been an Intouch Project Manager since 2014 and will now manage day-to-day operations and work for a large client portfolio, jumping in on projects as needed.
Kura Oncology
The California-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to cancer medicine development, has selected John Farnam for the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer. Farnam will be responsible for clinical operations, quality assurance, finance, facilities, and professional leadership development, drawing on his experience as Vice President of Business Operations at Celgene Receptos.
Marina Biotech, Inc.
Robert Moscato joins the commercial-stage pharmaceutical company focused on therapeutics for hypertension, arthritis, and oncology as Chief Executive Officer. The young company will tap Moscato’s 20 years of pharmaceutical executive experience as it launches its first product, Prestalia, and builds commercial infrastructure. He has served as Chief Operating Officer to a number of corporations, including Cerecor and Deston Therapeutics.
Mesoblast
Joseph R. Swedish joins the Board of Directors at the U.S.-based cell medicines company, which will help Mesoblast to strengthen its commercial focus. Swedish has more than two decades of experience, most recently serving as Executive Chairman and President of Anthem, a health benefits provider.
Publicis Resolute
Emma Knott was promoted to the newly created role of Associate Director and Head of Social Media. With her 10 years of PR experience at the healthcare communications agency, Knott will now redefine and maximize social media impacts for Publicis and its clients.
