Akouos Appoints Key Senior Leadership
Karoline Shair, PhD, JD, becomes the new Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Akouos, a precision genetic medicine company developing potential gene therapies to restore and preserve hearing. Dr. Shair is a global legal expert in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries with more than 20 years of experience. She joins Akouos from Biogen, where she served as the Vice President, and Head Counsel, Intellectual Property Program Portfolio. Prior to Biogen, she was Vice President Legal, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at FORMA Therapeutics.
“Our company made important strides to advance our gene therapy candidate pipeline throughout 2019, establishing Akouos as the leading precision genetic medicine platform focused on inner ear disorders,” says Manny Simons, PhD, Founder, President, and CEO of Akouos. Dr. Shair will lead Akouos’ legal affairs to bring new options to the deaf and hard of hearing community.
healtheo360 Gains Healthcare Marketing Veteran Bob Cecere
Robert Cecere joins the caring social network platform for patients living with chronic, terminal, and rare health conditions as its new Chief Growth Officer. He will lead his team through the launch of their patent pending Artificial Intelligence (AI) toolset h360 Albert. The tool will assist pharma and healthcare leaders in medical, commercial, and clinical development to address the need for better solutions to support patients and their caregivers.
“Bob’s expertise in developing patient education programs and interactive digital tools that put the healthcare decision making back in the hands of the patients will make him extremely effective in advancing patient health for our industry,” says healtheo360 Founder & CEO David Duplay. “We are excited about the opportunities Bob brings with his successful track record growing health communities and work with recognized patient advocates.”
Abbott Laboratories
The medtech manufacturer promotes its Senior VP of Finance and Controller, Robert Funck Jr., to Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Finance. Funck has been with the company since 1987 and will take on the new position held by Brian Yoor, who has served as CFO since 2005.
Ashfield
Greg Flynn and Colin Stanley have become the two new global presidents of Ashfield, a part of UDG Healthcare and global leader of commercialization services in the healthcare industry. Flynn becomes President of Ashfield Commercial and Patient Solutions, having been promoted from his recent role as Chief Operating Officer and North American Regional President at Ashfield. Stanley joins the company as President of Ashfield Advisory with 22 years of experience in the Contract Research Organization (CRO) industry. Most recently, he served as President of ICON Functional Services. Both are trusted to help the company build a platform for future growth to help decision makers in healthcare plan commercialization strategies for their products with the best specialist advisory services, in a connected fashion.
Calcium
The agency known for its strategic creative adds Greg Lewis as Senior Partner and President. With 21 years of experience, Lewis will lead all Calcium staff across its New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco offices to drive strategy, expand the agency’s creative capabilities, and strengthen its client relationships. Lewis is trusted to foster talent across the many disciplines within the agency while driving agile client solutions.
FibroGen
Enrique Conterno, previously Eli Lilly’s U.S. Business Chief and Worldwide Diabetes lead, joins FibroGen as its new CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Conterno will lead the company through its global launch of the kidney-drug, roxadustat, in partnership with AstraZeneca in China and the U.S., and with Astellas Pharma in Japan and Europe.
GlaxoSmithKline
The company’s Corporate Executive Team gains a new member in Deborah Waterhouse, the CEO of global specialist HIV company ViiV Healthcare. Waterhouse has a strong track record of performance in both specialty and primary care medicines and brings further commercial focus to the CET. Waterhouse has previously worked in a number of commercial leadership roles in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and the USA, as ViiV is majority-owned by GSK.
IFM Therapeutics
The immune-system focused R&D company brings in Michael Cooke, PhD, as its new Chief Scientific Officer. He will oversee IFM’s scientific and research strategy and partnerships as the company grows and attracts buyers like Novartis. His 20 years of expertise in the fields of immunology in innate and adaptive immunity and their applications to autoimmune disease, inflammation, and immuno-oncology will prove an asset to IFM during its growth.
MBX Biosciences
The Indiana-based biotech leveraging world-class peptide drug discovery for rare endocrine diseases announces Kent Hawryluk as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. He is a Co-founder and a member of MBX’s Board of Directors. With a strong track record in founding and building successful life sciences companies, Hawryluk looks to commercialize first-in-class endocrine therapeutics with MBX this year.
Selexis SA
Dr. Yemi Onakunle becomes Chief Business Officer of the cell line development company that enables the life sciences industry to rapidly discover, develop, and commercialize innovative medicines and vaccines. As Selexis’ previous Vice President of Strategic and Market Development, Dr. Onakunle was able to secure new business and continuously grow partner relationships. He will now focus on the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) market segments.
Sutro Biopharma, Inc.
James P. Panek is appointed to the Board of Directors of the drug discovery, development, and manufacturing company focused on protein engineering to create next-generation oncology therapeutics. Panek boasts 40 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry with a track record of excellence in providing technical and strategic insights to companies around the world.
The Carlyle Group
Former Pfizer CEO and Chairman, Ian Read, takes over The Carlyle Group’s healthcare team as Operating Executive. He will serve as a deal scout, as well as a strategy and operations mentor. During his 10 years at Pfizer, Read became known as an expert dealmaker who helped the company benefit through major transactions.
Waverley Pharma
The Canada-based emerging pharma focused on effective and affordable cancer therapeutics promotes Haaris Uddin, CPA, to Chief Financial Officer. Uddin has significant experience working with life sciences companies in both Canada and the United States. He will help mobilize the company’s business in the EU and North American market.
