Health communications and market access group OPEN Health has named Rob Barker as its new chief executive (CEO). Rob, who succeeds outgoing CEO and co-founder David Rowley, has around 30 years' executive leadership experience in the biopharma industry, including multiple roles at leading medical communications and strategy consulting firms. Most recently, he served as CEO of OPEN Health’s Medical Communications practice, having joined the business six years ago. “I am excited to be leading such a talented and expert team who have been instrumental in growing OPEN Health to its current position,” he said. “We are now in a place to take even greater strides forward, and I feel confident that our continued focus on client service and scientific excellence will drive increased growth in the business.”

AI drug discovery company Exscientia has appointed Dr Garry Pairaudeau as its new chief technology officer, bringing further drug hunting expertise into the firm's leadership team. This appointment comes following a year of high growth for Exscientia who in May announced it had secured $60 million in a Series C financing round, which is being used to expand its existing portfolio and pipeline. Garry joins Exscientia with more than 25 years’ worth of experience in the drug hunting and technology leadership space. Prior to joining the firm, he was vice president of Hit Discovery at AstraZeneca and chair of the Global Chemistry Leaders Network where he was responsible for implementing strategic initiatives and collaborations.

Raremark, a rare disease patient network and real-world insights provider, says it has reasserted its commitment to patient-centric drug development by implementing a new, dynamic executive team. Former chief commercial officer, Jeremy Edwards, has been appointed chief executive, while former head of Product, Alex Garner, has become chief operating officer. Jeremy has more than 25 years' experience in the biopharma and health sciences industry, where he has been instrumental in introducing small, European-based eClinical organisations to the US market, creating new verticals, growing operations and increasing revenue. Alex, who has been part of the team from the very beginning, has been pivotal in leading a team to develop novel design and technology concepts, the firm noted. Also, Caroline O’Connor has joined the leadership team as SVP, Business Development.

The British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) has named Helen Tucker, BIVDA board member and managed services contracts manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, as chair-elect, taking over from current chair Darren Stenlake in Spring 2022. Helen’s healthcare career began straight from school when she joined the Histopathology Department at King’s College Hospital. Following six years there, she moved into her first commercial role at Shandon Scientific. The company went through a number of acquisitions and transitions over the years, during which time she took on roles in sales management, business management and European channel management, eventually growing into Thermo Fisher Scientific. BIVDA chief executive Doris-Ann Williams said: "Helen has been an active member of the BIVDA Executive Board and I am delighted that she has become chair-elect. It is also vital for BIVDA to have continuity and establishing a chair-elect in advance means that all the leadership from our current chair, Darren Stenlake, can be continued and built upon.”

Abingdon Health has appointed Mary Tavener as non-executive director (NED) and board member. Mary will be the senior independent NED of Abingdon Health and chair of the Audit Committee. Mary has extensive experience in the healthcare sector, having previously been chief financial officer and board member of Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS) for 19 years. At AMS, Mary was responsible for strategy and risk management, finance, operations, regulatory and legal affairs. She is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA) and a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (FCT), and has a degree in Chemistry from the University of Oxford.

GCI Health London has bolstered its senior leadership team with the addition of David Berkovitch as senior director. Prior to joining GCI Health, David spent nearly four years at Zeno 3 Monkeys as Head of Healthcare, and before that held senior roles at Edelman and Fleishman Hillard Fishburn. In addition, the firm has also appointed three new account directors to support the team: Kayleigh Moore, senior account director, previously at Syneos; Fenya Lazar, account director, previously at Syneos; and Harriet Mooney, account director, previously at Evoke KYNE. The agency has also hired an additional five junior team members to support across various accounts.

Psychedelic medicine company Beckley Psytech has appointed Joanna Neill, professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Manchester, and Dr Mike Emanuel, former vice president of Global Clinical Operations at Johnson & Johnson, to its Scientific Advisory Board. Joanna and Mike will use their expertise to guide and advise Beckley Psytech on its mission to develop a pipeline of psychedelic drugs into licensed pharmaceutical medicines for treating debilitating psychiatric and neurological diseases. Joanna is also chair of the Medical Psychedelics Working Group for Drug Science, a scientific advisor for Heroic Hearts UK and the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group. She is also co-founder of b-neuro, a University based contract research organisation developing new treatments for mental illness through animal models. Mike brings extensive experience in the pharma industry, from roles including vice president of global clinical operations for EMEA at J&J, a board member of Janssen-Cilag International and as an associate director of the NIHR's Clinical Research Network.