Transdermal patch specialist Vyteris this week announced the appointment of Rafael Espinal as the firm's new vice president of manufacturing.
The appointment comes as part of a drive to 'deepen' the manufacturing and production management team at the company, and come up with manufacturing improvements for the firm's proprietary active transdermal drug delivery technology platform.
In his new VP role, Espinal will oversee all aspects of manufacturing, including current production lines for Vyteris' analgesic active patch LidoSite, as well as any new products developed by the firm.
Espinal joins Vyteris from his former position as general manager of Johnson & Johnson's solid dose manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico and San Francisco, and has extensive experience overseeing manufacturing processes for transdermal patch products.
Sciele Pharma recently named its new COO and president, appointing current employee Edward Schutter to the position.
Schutter will oversee day-to-day operations at the firm on top his existing sales and marketing activities, reporting directly to Sciele CEO Patrick Fourteau. Part of his expanded role will focus on launching two to three new products each year from 2008.
Schutter joined the company in 2006 as executive vice president and chief commercial officer, previously having spent 15 years in a variety of management positions at Solvay Pharmaceuticals.
US biopharma Nektar Therapeutics has promoted John Nicholson, former senior VP of corporate development and business operations at the firm, to senior VP and CFO.
Nicholson had only been in his previous role at Nektar since autumn this year, and replaces former CFO Tim Harkness who is no longer with the company.
Prior to joining Nektar, Nicholson held a number of senior positions at Bayer Schering Pharma.
Alongside a $21m series B financing round, Fundamental Applied Biology (FAB) announced the appointment of Daniel Gold as the firm's new CEO.
Gold joins the company as it moves forward with the new round of investment to develop new proprietary products and collaborate with other biopharmaceutical firms to develop protein-based drugs.
Gold joins FAB from Human Genome Sciences where he was senior VP, manufacturing alliances and senior VP of pharmaceutical operations. He previously held positions at Diosynth-RTP, Genencor, Genentech and Khepri Pharmaceuticals.
Artes Medical has named its new vice president of regulatory and quality affairs, with Karon Morell due to take on the role.
Morell will report to president and CEO Diane Goostree and will have responsibility for all regulatory activities, QA/QC and quality engineering functions, as well as acting as the primary liaison with regulatory authorities worldwide.
Prior to joining Artes, Morrell served as vice president of quality assurance and regulatory affairs at IsoTis OrthoBiologics, and also held positions at Medegen MMS, Nobel Biocare, Cardiac Science and Newport Medical Instruments.
