April 2025 • PharmaTimes Magazine • 36-37
// YOUR MOVES //
Your Moves
Movers of the Month
Aragen, a leading global Contract Research, Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CRDMO), has announced two senior-level appointments.
Dr Manjunath Ramarao has been appointed as the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and Executive Vice President, Integrated Drug Discovery (IDD), and will be based in the USA. Jayadeva Sajankila has been appointed as the Vice President and Head, Chemical Development Solutions, and will be based in Hyderabad.
As the CSO, Manjunath will provide scientific leadership, nurture scientific talent, identify new and emerging capabilities and technologies, and focus on green science initiatives. He will also lead Aragen’s IDD business and will be responsible for formulation and execution of the IDD strategy with P&L responsibility.
Manjunath comes with over 25 years of multidisciplinary experience in global biopharmaceutical research and development. Prior to joining Aragen, he was the CSO at Atomic AI and Ribometrix Inc in the US. He has also held various leadership positions at Bristol Myers Squibb and Wyeth (Pfizer).
Manjunath said: “Aragen has a strong reputation for customer focus, and I aim to push the boundaries of science to provide innovative solutions to our customers. I look forward to working closely with the Board, the management team and business leaders in leading the company into a new phase of growth.”
Jayadeva joins CDS, one of the largest and most critical businesses of Aragen, where he will be responsible for driving growth of the CDS business, enhancing operational excellence and spearheading new technology initiatives to bolster Aragen’s capabilities in small molecule development and manufacturing.
Jayadeva said: “I am excited to step into my new role at Aragen. My focus will be on driving innovation, operational excellence and business growth while building a strong, collaborative team. Chemical Development plays a crucial role in taking a molecule to the market, and we will ensure that we stay ahead in three key aspects – technology, delivery and customer satisfaction.”
Nuclera, the biotechnology company accelerating protein expression and optimisation through its benchtop eProtein Discovery system, has announced that it has appointed Seth Benson as Chief Financial Officer.
Seth’s appointment comes after Nuclera strengthened its leadership team with three key appointments as the company continues to scale during this next phase of commercial development.
Bringing extensive financial expertise in building operational and financial infrastructure, Seth will be instrumental in guiding Nuclera’s next phase of commercial expansion across key global markets.
With over 20 years of leadership experience in finance, strategy and operations in the life sciences and healthcare sectors, Seth has a proven track record of scaling businesses, driving strategic growth, optimising operations and leading strategic financial initiatives.
Seth joins Nuclera from Vizgen, a company improving human health through spatial genomics. At Vizgen, he led the finance, operations and IT functions as CFO and guided the organisation through its acquisition of Ultivue, a spatial proteomics company.
Previously, as SVP Finance and Operations at Invaio Sciences, Seth managed a multinational finance team during early product commercialisation and fundraising.
Seth said: “I am delighted to join Nuclera, especially at such an exciting time for the company. Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery system addresses a critical bottleneck in protein production workflows, with the potential to significantly impact drug discovery."
Lawrence Tallon has been named as the new Chief Executive Officer of Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
In response to the announcement, Richard Torbet, Chief Executive of the ABPI, said: “Warm congratulations to Lawrence Tallon on his appointment into this critical role.
“The agency plays an important role in protecting public health and bringing innovative medicines to patients. Our industry looks forward to working with him as he leads the MHRA through this next phase of evolution.
“The life sciences sector in the UK is at a critical point, and regulatory reliability and predictability remain a top priority for us. A strong, agile regulatory framework will be essential in enabling timely access to medicines while maintaining the highest standards of quality, safety and efficacy.
“I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Dame June Raine for her dedicated leadership and service to the MHRA and our industry.”
The Drug Safety Research Unit has announced Linda Härmark as its new Director.
She succeeds Professor Saad Shakir who officially steps down from the position after 26 years.
Linda joins the DSRU, which is based in Southampton, from the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre, Lareb, where she has been Deputy Director for the past four years.
A pharmacist by training, Linda has over 20 years of experience in pharmacovigilance and holds post-graduate qualifications including a PhD and MBA.
Linda said: “I’m honoured to be named the new Director of the DSRU and to continue the important work that Professor Shakir has dedicated his career to.
“Now more than ever, we must protect the safety of patients and communicate the safe and effective use of medicines not only in the UK but around the world.
“I am looking forward to working with the team and supporting them in delivering efficient and robust studies to increase the knowledge about adverse drug reactions.”
Sygnature Discovery has announced the appointment of Kieron Hall as its new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Board member.
Kieron will play a key role in driving Sygnature Discovery's strategic vision forward. His leadership will be instrumental in steering the group towards its ambitious growth goals and building upon the company's strong foundation of scientific excellence and customer success.
He will also spearhead the development and implementation of a dynamic go-to-market strategy. This strategy is designed to leverage the group's strengths and enhance customer relationships through an even more responsive and scientifically driven commercial organisation.
Commenting on his appointment Kieron said: “I am excited to join Sygnature Discovery at this pivotal time as the organisation readies itself for the next phase of growth.
“Sygnature’s reputation for scientific excellence and unwavering commitment to translating great ideas in drug discovery into clinical candidates truly sets it apart.
“I’m eager to apply my experience in building and leading high-performing teams to drive Sygnature’s vision of becoming the leading global drug discovery CRO.”
Shift Bioscience, a biotech company using an AI-powered virtual cell to fight age-related diseases, has announced the appointments of Jill Reckless, as Translation Advisor and Laurence Reid as Non-Executive Director.
In these roles, Jill and Laurence will guide Shift in building a robust product translation and business development strategy respectively. This will enable the company to capitalise on early momentum and progress its pipeline of novel rejuvenation therapeutics towards clinical development.
Jill will work closely with Shift’s therapeutic translation team to guide indication selection based on proof-of-concept data and therapeutic modalities suited to rejuvenation biology.
Meanwhile, Laurence will support the design and implementation of an effective business development framework.
Jill brings more than 20 years of expertise in translational biology, having successfully led drug discovery programmes across a broad range of therapeutic indications and therapeutic modalities.
She has worked closely with companies to design and execute complex therapeutic discovery pipelines.
ViCentra has announced the appointment of Tom Arnold as Chief Executive Officer. Tom brings almost 25 years of extensive leadership experience in diabetes and medical technology. He has a strong track record in spearheading commercialisation initiatives, business strategy and product launches for leading medical device companies.
He has held key leadership roles at Medtronic, PROCEPT BioRobotics, Boston Scientific and Sorin Group. During his more than seven years at Medtronic, he played a pivotal role in launching the world’s first hybrid closed-loop insulin pump system.
He achieved this by driving adoption through innovative commercialisation strategies and payer access models. He also expanded patient access to advanced diabetes management solutions.
Jan Keltjens, Chairman of the Board at ViCentra, said: "Tom’s extensive experience in commercial strategy, his deep knowledge of the healthcare sector and personal connection to the diabetes community make him uniquely qualified to lead ViCentra into its next phase of growth.
PharmaTimes
PharmaTimes is the UK’s leading pharmaceutical magazine, tracking the trends and issues that affect the industry here in the UK, in Europe and across the world. We deliver independent, authoritative and trustworthy content through impartial, balanced and informed opinion and analysis.