McCann Health Names New President
As one of the most awarded healthcare communications networks continues to expand globally, McCann appoints Jim Joseph to President, North America. Joseph himself has led many awarded agencies and will be bringing experience in managing global brands and agencies for sustained growth and innovation. He will now oversee all advertising and promotion agencies in the U.S. and Canada, as well as build and expand McCann’s growth team.
“I look forward to seeing the results of Jim’s expert leadership at McCann Health North America,” said John Cahill, Global CEO of McCann Health. “His decades-long industry experience, investment in innovation, and talent will help continue the momentum we have been seeing in the region and push us even further towards raising the bar in delivering the best possible work for our clients.”
Joseph was previously Managing Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness as well as author of the award-winning book and blog series The Experience Effect, about the impact that a compelling and consistent brand experience can have on customer loyalty and business results.
Alexion Appoints First Chief Diversity Officer
Uzair Qadeer has been promoted to be the first Chief Diversity Officer at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he will build a diversity, inclusion, and belonging (DI&B) strategy; foster relationships with key leaders, communities, and organizations to create awareness and advocacy for diversity and inclusion efforts; and advance a unique culture of belonging and diversity for the company’s patients and employees. Qadeer will be integral in the drug maker’s efforts to spread DI&B across employee programs, corporate social responsibility initiatives, culture efforts, and patient programs.
Ludwig Hantson, PhD, CEO, said in a statement, “Establishing the Chief Diversity Officer role at Alexion is an important next step in our continued efforts to cultivate diversity, inclusion, and a unique sense of belonging at the company, all of which enhances our ability to deliver on our mission of transforming the lives of patients with rare diseases and devastating conditions.”
Arcutis Biotherapeutics
Patrick Burnett, MD, PhD, FAAD, has become Chief Medical Officer of the immuno-dermatology biopharma company. He will be helping Arcutis advance its pipeline of four novel therapies and move their lead program into clinical with his extensive knowledge of the clinical process of dermatology drug development.
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals
The immunology, oncology focused biopharma announced that Kenneth Kobayashi, MD, has been appointed Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Kobayashi will be responsible for the global clinical development of ASLAN’s pipeline, including the lead program, ASLAN004, an atopic dermatitis antibody. He has spent 25 years in the dermatological drug development, clinical, and regulation space.
Atea Pharmaceuticals
The infectious disease biotech tapped former AbbVie executive Janet Hammond, MD, PhD, for its Chief Development Officer position. She joined shortly after Atea received $215 million series D financing for Phase 2 trial of its oral purine nucleotide prodrug AT-527 for people hospitalized with moderate cases of COVID-19. Dr. Hammond will be trusted to lead development of the COVID drug as well as programs aimed at dengue, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and hepatitis C that have been delayed due to the pandemic.
Calcium
The growing marketing agency welcomes Kate Shaughnessy, EVP, Head of Client Services to its executive team. Shaughnessy has a history of transforming and retaining client relationships. She will lead the account service team and make it her focus to encourage creativity and collaboration in her new virtual office. She boasts 18 years of experience including time spent at agencies such as Razorfish Health and Snow Companies.
InStep Health
The healthcare marketer is making major additions to its leadership team with the addition of Lloyd Cochran as the Executive Vice President and CFO, and the promotion of Dan Wilmer to Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer. Cochran is an experienced CFO who has gained strategy and financial experience at large multinational brands and carried businesses through numerous acquisitions and mergers. Wilmer’s responsibilities are increasing to include leading the enhancement of InStep’s digital, pharmacy, and select HCP offerings in order to provide reinforcements for the company’s unfolding strategic growth plans.
Merus
Andrew Joe, MD, moved from Sanofi’s immuno-oncology program to Netherlands-based biotech, Merus, as Chief Medical Officer. He will take charge of all clinical and regulatory strategy and activities while advancing the company’s pipeline of multispecific antibodies, including the lead program, Zenocutuzumab, for neuregulin 1 fusion cancers. Joe’s track record for drug approval includes work on Merck’s Keytruda, Novartis’ Zykadia, and Roche’s Zelboarf.
Paragon Biosciences
Paragon Health Capital, the capital markets group of Paragon Biosciences, appointed Kerensa Jimenez as the new CEO. She will lead all financings, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory services, and capital planning for Paragon Biosciences’ portfolio of innovative life sciences companies. Jimenez has a 15-year track record of successfully advising clients on M&A and financing transactions.
Prometheus Biosciences
The biopharma focused on therapies for Inflammatory Bowel Disease named Keith W. Marshall, PhD, MBA, its Chief Financial Officer. With years of CFO experience at life sciences companies, Dr. Marshall will lead Prometheus’ finance and investor relations functions.
ROME Therapeutics
Dennis Zaller, PhD, joins ROME as Chief Scientific Officer. The drug discovery veteran will be responsible for biology, chemistry, and preclinical development. Dr. Zaller is well known in the biopharma arena, previously serving as Executive Director, Integrative Sciences at Celgene. He also spent 25 years at Merck, where Dr. Zaller helped advance 28 molecules into the clinic, resulting in eight marketed drugs.
Spark Therapeutics
The commercial gene therapy company appoints Gallia G. Levy, MD, PhD, as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Levy is trusted to lead the entire product development lifecycle, including setting the global development strategy for current and future pipeline programs. Dr. Levy joins Spark from Genentech, where she was the VP and Global Head of the Rare Blood Disorders franchise in Product Development responsible for the clinical development of Hemlibra for hemophilia A.
WuXi Vaccines
WuXi Vaccines, the vaccine contract development and manufacturing organization of WuXi Biologics and Hile Bio-Technology, named Jian Dong its Chief Executive Officer. A part of WuXi Biologics since 2014, Dong led the Wuxi site to become the first GMP biologics Drug Substance and Drug Product facilities in China certified by both the U.S. FDA and EMA. He will now help with the company’s mission to bolster the vaccine supply chain.
