Novartis and Bayer
The Novartis Annual Meeting in February promises to be a major turning point for the company. Dr. Daniel Vasella, current Novartis Chairman of the Board, announced that he will not stand for re-election, and Dr. Jörg Reinhardt, current Chairman of the Board of Bayer HealthCare AG, indicated that he will seek the post in Vasella’s stead. Reinhardt has already announced that he will not renew his contract at Bayer when it expires in summer 2013.
Vasella has been CEO and member of the Board of Directors at Novartis since the company’s creation in 1996, and Chairman since 1999. He was selected the most influential European businessman of the past quarter century by a Financial Times readership study. Reinhardt has been Chairman of the Board of Bayer since August 2010.
Novo Nordisk Promotes Four to Senior VP
The company promoted four U.S. corporate vice presidents to Senior VP in their respective areas: Andy Ajello, U.S. National Diabetes Sales; Camille Lee, U.S. Diabetes Marketing; Alan Moses, global chief medical officer; and Anne Phillips, U.S. Clinical, Medical and Regulatory Affairs. Ajello, Lee and Phillips will continue to serve on the U.S. Executive Team; Moses will move to the global headquarters in Denmark.
Ajello is widely recognized for developing a high-performing sales team. He currently leads the National Diabetes Sales strategy and the company’s 3,200-person field sales force. Recently, Lee built a strong diabetes marketing team of 365 people widely recognized for their best-in-class initiatives. She currently oversees marketing of all in-line and future brands and the Diabetes Educator Program. Moses was named chief medical officer for North America in 2007 and global chief medical officer in 2008. She currently leads an integrated drug development, medical, regulatory and safety team of more than 550 people.
Affymax
Christine Conroy, Pharm.D., is now Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance. She was previously VP of Corporate Quality and Regulatory Affairs. Before joining Affymax, Dr. Conroy held senior positions in the regulatory departments of Genitope and Roche Global Development. Tim Varacek was promoted to Vice President, Sales and Account Management. He was previously executive director, Sales and Account Management, and earlier was responsible for managing national accounts for Amgen’s nephrology franchise.
Alliqua
David Johnson, currently Executive Chairman of AquaMed Technologies, will now assume the additional role of Chief Executive Officer, and James Sapirstein, current CEO, will become the CEO of Alliqua BioMedical, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. Johnson was recently CEO at ConvaTec, a $1.7 billion global leader in wound therapeutic technologies.
Becton Dickinson
The company elected Catherine M. Burzik to the Board of Directors. Most recently she served as President, CEO and Director of Kinetic Concepts, a medical device company specializing in wound care and regenerative medicine. Her prior positions include service as President of Applied Biosystems, a leading DNA sequencing company, as well as senior positions at Eastman Kodak and Johnson & Johnson.
Edge Therapeutics
Sol J. Barer, Ph.D., who has served on the Board of Directors since 2011, has been named Chairman, and Isaac Blech has been named Vice Chairman. Dr. Barer previously spent 18 years leading Celgene as president, COO, CEO and finally Executive Chairman and Chairman. Under his helm, Celgene became the third largest independent biotechnology company in the world, with current market capitalization exceeding $35 billion. Blech has been one of the most successful biotechnology private financiers over the past three decades. He was instrumental in establishing Celgene, Genetic Systems, ICOS Corporation, Nova Pharmaceutical and PathoGenesis.
GlaxoSmithKline
Hans Wijers is named to its Board as a Non-Executive Director, subject to shareholder approval at the Company’s 2013 Annual General Meeting. Wijers is currently a Non-Executive Director and Chairman-designate of Heineken, one of the world’s largest brewers. He is also currently Deputy Chairman and Non-Executive Director of Royal Dutch Shell. Previously, he was CEO and Chairman at AkzoNobel, a world-leading paints and coating company.
Metrics Inc.
The company made two new high-level appointments: Joe Cascone as Senior Director of Operations and Dr. Brad Gold as VP of Pharmaceutical Development. Cascone, previously director of potent pharmaceutical development, will manage commercial drug product manufacturing, packaging, and facility-related operations. Gold, formerly senior director of pharmaceutical development and new technology, will manage formulation development, potent and cytotoxic products, and fast-track development.
Morria Biopharmaceuticals
Dr. Alan Harris is now Chief Medical Officer. He will lead clinical development programs for Morria’s Multi-Functional Anti-Inflammatory Drug candidates. Harris was Therapeutic Head of Endocrine Care at Pfizer, where he oversaw development of recombinant growth hormone Genotropin, and was VP of Global Healthcare Research at Schering-Plough, where he led development of the anti-allergy medication, Claritin. He has served as Chief Medical Officer and Drug Development VP at a number of other companies.
Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG)
The company appointed Nathalie Le Bos Chief Financial Officer. In her new role, Le Bos will oversee and strengthen PHCG’s global financial functions and ensure the network continues its strong growth pattern. A seven-year veteran of Publicis Groupe, Le Bos recently served as CFO, Europe for PHCG. Prior to her tenure at Publicis, she worked for TEQUILA (an Omnicom Group company) as Chief Financial Officer and for the Havas Group in several roles.
uniQure
Philip Astley-Sparke was named President U.S. to help build uniQure’s clinical, regulatory and commercial infrastructure. Previously he was President and Chief Executive Officer of BioVex from 2005 to 2011, managing its relocation from the U.K. to the U.S., the formation of a commercial-grade manufacturing facility, and the successful negotiation with Amgen to acquire BioVex for up to $1 billion. After serving as Vice President and General Manager at Amgen, Philip became a venture partner at Forbion Capital Partners, uniQure’s largest investor.
