40 - Appointments

Sharmila Nebhrajani, OBE, has taken up her position as NICE's new chairman following her appointment by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and an independent open recruitment process. Sharmila has strong industry, government and charitable experience across a wide range of sectors. A biomedical scientist by background she read Physiological Sciences at the University of Oxford and began her business career as a management consultant. She was most recently chief executive of Wilton Park, a not-for-profit agency of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office which organises events on key issues including global health and international patient safety. She has also previously held the post of chair of the Human Tissue Authority and currently holds a non-executive role at the Health Foundation. Other past positions include director of external affairs for the Medical Research Council and chief executive of the Association of Medical Research Charities.

Following the retirement of Tony Brampton, Eddy Littler has been appointed as non-executive Chairman of drug discovery contract research organisation Domainex. Eddy began his research career at the University of Leeds obtaining his PhD in virology. After postdoctoral research at McMaster University in Canada, he joined the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester. Eddy held senior positions with Wellcome Research Laboratories, GSK and Medivir, where he led the team that discovered Olysio which was a major drug for treatment of hepatitis C virus. He became chief executive of Domainex in May 2008.

Ashfield, part of UDG Healthcare, has named Mike Hodgkiss as UK head of quality and compliance. In his role, Mike will support Ashfield’s commercial and medical activities by ensuring regulatory compliance across a wide range of projects in both the UK and Ireland. He joins Ashfield from Aquilant Healthcare, where he served as the head of Quality for four years. Throughout his first few months, Mike will be working to find new ways that quality and compliance can support the various functions of Ashfield. This includes implementing a new Quality Management Software that will assist in harmonising the processes already in place. “I am delighted to be joining Ashfield during such an important time for the industry,” said Mike. “The regulatory environment is growing ever more complex and I will be working to support the Ashfield team and its customers with navigating the existing and emerging requirements.”

Sygnature Discovery, an independent integrated drug discovery and preclinical solutions provider, has strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of Dr Paul Overton as senior VP of Business Development, focusing primarily on expanding Sygnature’s North American market. In this newly created role, he will work alongside Dr Paul Clewlow, senior VP, Business Development and executive board director. Paul has more than 20 years’ experience in business development roles within the CRO sector. He joins Sygnature from the Global testing specialist Eurofins, where he was Head of European Sales, Marketing and Key Account Management.

Bristol-based vaccine start-up Imophoron has recruited serial biotech entrepreneur and director Damian Marron as chairman, to support the development of the company’s vaccine platform and preclinical COVID-19 candidates. An experienced life sciences executive, Damian’s achievements include multiple company exits, partnerships and fundraising, including deals with top-tier pharmaceutical companies. Damian has held chief executive positions at four biotech and immunotherapy firms. He is now chairman at Targovax and a non-executive Director at Bone Therapeutics and Resolys Bio. Frederic Garzoni, Imophoron's chief executive and co-founder, said that Damian’s experience and industry knowledge “will be a major advantage to Imophoron as we push ahead with preclinical trials of our COVID-19 candidates”. The group is currently undertaking preclinical trials in COVID-19 using several vaccine candidates developed in Bristol.

Oxford Biomedica has appointed Dr Roch Doliveux as non-executive chairman of the group, replacing Dr Lorenzo Tallarigo who has retired from the board. Roch is currently the chairman of the board of directors at Pierre Fabre S.A and a non-executive director at Stryker Corporation and UCB SA. He is also chairman of the GLG Healthcare Institute, a community of senior executives for experience sharing and learning, chairs the Caring Entrepreneurship Fund (King Baudouin Foundation), a philanthropic initiative which he created in 2008 which supports entrepreneurship in health and wellness. Roch Doliveux is a veterinary surgeon by training and has an MBA from INSEAD.

Mundipharma has announced that Marc Princen has joined its network of independently associated companies as the global chief executive officer. In his new role, Marc will be responsible for all Mundipharma strategic and operational matters globally, focusing on seamless execution of the 2020-23 Business Plan. “Marc is a highly proven pharmaceutical executive with a strong track record at leading pharma companies such as Schering-Plough, Merck & Co, Takeda and Allergan. He is widely recognised for his expertise in business change and transformation and joins us at an important moment as we continue our evolution as an organisation,” said Jacques Theurillat, Mundipharma's chairman. Marc is joining Mundipharma from Allergan International, where he was the President and EVP, International Business. He brings more than 30 years' cross-functional experience in the pharma industry with expertise spanning commercial, marketing, business development and management. Marc holds a Bachelor in Physiotherapy degree from Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium.

Havas Lynx Group has revealed the promotion of Jon Chapman and Paul Kinsella from executive creative directors (ECD) to chief creative officers (CCO). Jon and Paul, both previously ECDs, have been integral to the growth of Lynx, harnessing talent and developing a creative environment that continues to expand, the firm said. Their promotions and joint CCO responsibilities will continue to drive the Group’s creative vision and strategy. As Havas Lynx Group’s CCOs, Jon and Paul will take joint responsibility to continue driving forward the agency’s creative vision, bringing a fresh perspective to the current offering.

AI-powered tech company Healx has announced the addition of Meri Williams to its senior leadership team as chief technology officer. Meri joins from challenger bank Monzo, where she helped scale the engineering and data team by 500% and led significant investment in platform resilience and business continuity as Monzo’s customer base grew to over 4 million. Well-known for leading and scaling world class tech and product organisations, Meri will now focus on deepening Healx’ investment in artificial intelligence and data, and broadening the use of modern product engineering approaches to build world-class drug discovery tools. She also chairs The Lead Dev conference, which focuses on levelling up technical leaders and is a published author, tech advisor to equitable venture firm Kindred Capital, international keynote speaker, and a trustee on the board of Stonewall, the UK’s leading LGBTQ rights charity.

Merck is excited to announce the appointment of Prof. Dr. Michelangelo Canzoneri as the new global head of Digital and Data, Healthcare. Michelangelo will become a member of the Healthcare Executive Committee and be responsible for the creation and execution of Merck’s digital transformation. This will enable Merck to create next generation drugs, precision and personalised medicines, technology solutions, services and business models. He brings with him experience of digital transformation from his prior role at Sanofi and has been a guest lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prof. Dr. Michelangelo Canzoneri will be based in Darmstadt, Germany, and will start on August 3.

Pharmaceutical and biotech product development consultancy Boyds has hired regulatory professional Dr Lucie Hwang as associate in its regulatory affairs team that supports clients facilitating the fast and efficient development of medicinal products. A specialist in the pharmaceutical development of biologics and ATMPs, clinical trial applications (CTAs), orphan drug designations (ODDs), gene therapies, and monoclonal Antibodies, Lucie will focus on Boyds’ extensive strategic regulatory work and scientific advice requests for small molecules and advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), for its UK and international clients. Lucie has an MSc in BioMedical Engineering in Cellular and Molecular Biotherapies and a Pharmaceutical Doctorate (PharmD) from the Paris Descartes University. She began her pharma career with an internship in the Cell and Gene Therapy Clinical Trial Evaluation Department at regulatory agency ANSM, before moving to Merck Sharp & Dohme, where she supported monoclonal antibody and small molecule CTA submissions.

Health Unlimited, a global health consultancy and communications agency, has announced the appointment of one of its longest-serving team members, Clare Peck, to managing director. Clare, who has been with Health Unlimited for 11 years, will oversee operations, advance business performance and provide strategic leadership for the growing agency of approximately 40 consultants. Clare joins the board of the Communications Division, one of four divisions within parent company, Unlimited Group, with Health Unlimited sitting alongside sister agencies Nelson Bostock Unlimited and Fever Unlimited.

Appointments

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