EnVivo Pharmaceuticals’ New CEO
EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, a company dedicated to developing a broad range of therapies for central nervous system diseases, announces the appointment of Deborah Dunsire, MD, as President and CEO. Dr. Dunsire served as President and CEO at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., prior to this. She brings 25 years of experience with proven leadership in the biological and pharmaceutical industries. The Chairman of EnVivo’s Board of Directors, Stephen Knight, MD, says, “Deborah’s ability to build a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company with an award-winning culture of innovation, and to successfully commercialize late-stage programs while developing a leading research pipeline is unparalleled.”
GlaxoSmithKline Makes Changes in China
Industry leader GlaxoSmithKline announced that they have replaced Mark Reilly, as the General Manager of its GSK China subsidiary. Herve Gisserot, the former Senior Vice President of GSK’s pharmaceutical operations in Europe, will take Reilly’s position. In his new role, Gisserot will be in charge of the investigation on recent allegations that staff at GSK China had paid $489 million in bribes since 2007 to channel cash to doctors and health officials. GSK has confirmed that Reilly has not been charged with any wrongdoing. GSK’s CEO Sir Andrew Witty says, “From what we understand from the authorities, it appears that certain senior managers in the Chinese business have acted outside of our processes and our controls to both defraud the company and the Chinese healthcare system. To see these allegations made about people working for GSK is…shameful and for me personally, deeply disappointing.”
Aerie Pharmaceuticals
Aerie Pharmaceuticals, a privately held pharmaceutical company, named Vicente Anido, Jr., PhD, as the Chairman of Aerie’s Board of Directors. An industry veteran and leader, Dr. Anido last served as President and Chief Executive Officer of ISTA Pharmaceuticals, prior to its acquisition by Bausch + Lomb.
Astellas
Astellas Pharma Global Development based in Tokyo announced the appointment of Claire Thom, PharmD, as Senior Vice President of Global Oncology Development. Thom brings more than 24 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry across a wide range of functional areas including drug development, new product planning and marketing.
Celsion Corporation
Celsion Corporation, a company dedicated to the development and commercialization of innovative cancer drugs, announced the appointment of Jeffery W. Church, to his former role as the Chief Financial Officer, a position he held prior to his promotion to Senior Vice President in July 2011. This announcement follows the resignation of Gregory Weaver as CFO.
Cellular Biomedicine
Cellular Biomedicine, a company that develops proprietary cell therapies for the treatment of certain regenerative diseases and cancers, appointed Maxwell Wang, MD, PhD, as the Director of Medical Research. Dr. Wang, an orthopedic surgeon, has over 10 years of experience in academic research focused on mesenchymal stem cells and bone cells.
Cell Therapeutics, Inc.
Cell Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development and commercialization of an integrated portfolio of oncology products, named Daniel D. Von Hoff, MD, FACP, as the Chairman of CTI’s Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Von Hoff is currently Physician in Chief and Director of Translational Research at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Chief Scientific Officer for U.S. Oncology and for Scottsdale Healthcare’s Clinical Research Institute.
Depomed, Inc.
Depomed, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, appointed Louis J. Lavigne, Jr. to the company’s Board of Directors, and to the Board’s Audit Committee. Lavigne, a former Executive VP and CFO of Greentech, is a highly skilled life sciences veteran.
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company announced that John C. Lechleitzer, PhD, has returned from medical leave after undergoing surgery in May. Lechleitzer says, “I am overwhelmed and humbled by the tremendous support and well wishes I have received from my friends and fellow Lilly colleagues around the world. I return to Lilly with renewed energy and enthusiasm, along with a new perspective on health and wellness and the critical importance of new medicines in advancing
patient care.”
Enteris BioPharma, Inc.
Enteris BioPharma, Inc., an industry leader in innovative oral dosage formulations, named Timothy J. Saxon as Vice President of Business Development. Saxon will work as part of the executive leadership team, and will lead the partnering and licensing efforts to advance the clinical development and market expansion of the company’s industry leading oral peptide and small molecule delivery platform.
KemPharm, Inc.
KemPharm, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, named Gordon K. “Rusty” Johnson, as their COO and CFO. Johnson, who has 30 years of investment banking experience, will be part of KemPharm’s executive management team and will be responsible for enhancing the company’s financial and operational initiatives.
Kinex Pharmaceuticals
A leading specialty biotech company, Kinex Pharmaceuticals appointed Flint D. Besecker as CFO and Executive VP. His primary responsibility will be to over-see all non-scientific aspects of Kinex. Flint has been an investor and on the Kinex Board of Directors since 2011.
Merz North America
Merz North America, a specialty healthcare company, named Greg Besase as Vice President, Dermatology. Besase joined Merz in December 2012 as Director of Marketing, Dermatology and has since served as the interim head of the U.S. Dermatology Business Unit. In his new role, Besase will be responsible for Merz’s growing dermatology business unit in the U.S.
Onconova
Onconova Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, appointed Dr. Jerome Groopman and Anne VanLent to their Board of Directors. Groopman previously chaired the company’s Clinical Advisory Board. VanLent, who will provide oversight as Chair of the audit committee, previously served as President of AMV Advisors, a personal strategic and financial consulting firm focused on the life sciences sector.
Rosetta
The Publicis Groupe’s customer engagement agency, Rosetta, appointed industry veterans Nikki Muntz and Eileen O’Brien as Partner, Healthcare Business Development and Associate Partner, Paid, Owned & Earned Media, respectively. Muntz was previously at Shaw Science and prior to this appointment, O’Brien was previously Director of Search and Innovation at Siren Interactive. Both will be part of the Healthcare Vertical Leadership Team, under the direction of Vertical Leader, Shannon Hartley.
