Dr. Karin Jooss Joins Gritstone as Chief Scientific Officer
With more than 20 years of expertise in oncology and immunology research, Karin Jooss, PhD, recently joined Gritstone Oncology as Chief Scientific Officer. Gritstone focuses on the development of next generation, personalized cancer therapeutics. Gritstone’s President and CEO Andrew Allen says, “Dr. Jooss is a seasoned researcher with highly relevant scientific experience, an extensive cancer immunotherapy network, and a proven ability to lead cross functional teams that effectively move cancer vaccines into clinical development.”
Dr. Jooss formerly served seven years at Pfizer as Head of Cancer Immunotherapeutics and Immunopharmacology. During that time, she built and managed the immuno-oncology teams. She also supervised the assessment of the cancer vaccine in-licensing opportunities and played a significant role in Pfizer’s first clinical cancer-vaccine program.
HCB Names New Associate Partner, Executive Vice President of Integrated Services
HCB Health promoted Kim Carpenter to Associate Partner and Executive Vice President of Integrated Services. She has been with the company since 2006 and has more than 20 years experience leading business and brand strategy. HCB, which celebrates its 15-year anniversary this year, is adapting a new method to improve client relationships. Carpenter will lead an integrated team of account, media, and digital services. She will also launch and administrate a model intended to connect the company’s service lines.
“Kim has been instrumental in HCB’s growth over the last decade,” says CEO Kerry Hilton.
Adaptimmune Therapeutics
Names Wenyong Wang, PhD, Vice President of Business Development. “Wenyong combines deep scientific knowledge with strong commercial acumen, and we are delighted that he has joined Adaptimmune,” says COO Helen Tayton-Martin. Dr. Wang has experience in strategic partnerships and business development focused on cancer immunotherapy, M&A, licensing, and collaborations.
Altor BioScience Corporation
Recruits physician scientist and pioneer Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, FRCs (c), FACS, to lead its Board of Directors as Chairman. Dr. Soon-Shiong has launched novel therapies for diabetes and cancer, published more than 100 scientific papers, and contributed more than 170 advancements to the fields of technology and medicine.
Astellas
Names Joseph Fleishaker as Vice President, Clinical Pharmacology and Exploratory Development. His responsibilities include the function of clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, modeling, and simulation support for both early- and late-stage development programs geared to bring new deviations to consumers.
Bayer Corporation
Names Paul Capelli as Vice President of Communications for Bayer Consumer Health. He will be responsible for all internal and external communication for the company’s consumer health division. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Corporate Communications at QVC Inc.
Biogen
Welcomes Michel Vounatsos as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. He will lead the development and launch of the company’s global commercial strategy. Vounatsos served for 20 years at Merck, with his last role as President of Merck’s primary care business line and customer centricity.
Catalyst Biosciences, Inc.
Announces the appointment of Howard Levy, MBBCh, PhD, MMM, as Chief Medical Officer. With more than 25 years experience in the pharma industry, the doctor has a long track record building effective clinical and medical organizations and directing successful drug development.
Celyad
Appoints professor and medical oncologist Marc Ernstoff, MD to its Scientific Advisory Board. He focuses on immunobiology of human cancer and the expansion of immune therapies for melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, and glioblastoma multiforme. He is also Professor and Chief of Hematology/Oncology in the department of medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo.
CureVac
Strengthens its external Scientific Advisory Board with the addition of medical oncologist Karim Fizazi, MD. He has been the Head of the Department of Cancer Medicine at the Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France since 2005. Fizazi is an oncology professor at the University of Paris who authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and is the associate editor of European Journal of Cancer.
Evelo Biosciences
Adds Christian Jobin, PhD to its Scientific Advisory Board. His expertise focuses on the study of bacteria/host interaction and consequent inherited immunological responses. He also studies the effect of bacteria on colitis and colorectal cancer. Sangeeta Bhatia, MD, PhD, was also appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board. A physician and engineer, Bhatia is a cancer researcher and biotech industrialist and is also a selected member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Art and Science.
Intrexon
Names Geno Germano as President of Intrexon Corporation. He will oversee all management and commercial operations in all five sectors of the company. Germano, who has more than 30 years in the industry is admired and recognized for his agility in reforming operating performances and augmenting shareholders value. Previously, he worked with Pfizer, Wyeth, and Johnson & Johnson.
National Institutes of Health
Appoints Eric Dishman as Director of the Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program, which is focused on advancing healthcare and disease cures using appropriate procedures and medication. He recently served as Vice President and Intel Fellow of Intel Corporation’s Health & Life Science Group.
Novartis
Christi Shaw has stepped down as the U.S. head of Novartis, citing personal and family reasons. Shaw, who headed up the Swiss drugmaker’s U.S. operations since April 2014 and was credited with the fast uptake of its new psoriasis med Cosentyx, will be replaced by two people. Fabrice Chouraqui was appointed President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Tom Kendris, in addition to his current role as general counsel of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, will become President of Novartis Corporation and U.S. country president. Chouraqui most recently served as President of the Latin America and Canada region, and before that headed up the company’s global neuroscience franchise. Meanwhile, Kendris has been with Novartis since 2000.
Palio
Names Bryan Roman as SVP, Director of Technology. The experienced technology leader will be accountable of the delivery of transformative technological solutions for healthcare clients. Roman’s expertise consists of the development of touchscreen and digital display applications, e-commerce and consumer sites, and API codebase.
