People on the move: Jobs in Pharma

In-Pharmatechnologist.com presents its latest round-up of the movers and shakers in the world of pharmaceuticals.

Emerging specialty pharma company Orexo has announced a restructure to its leadership as it prepares for US commercialisation of its anti-opiod dependence drug Zubsolv and pain-killer for cancer sufferers, Abstral.

Current CCO Nikolaj Sørensen (pictured) will be promoted to CEO of the company following the two year tenure of Anders Lundström.

Sørensen, who joined Orexo in 2011 and has previously worked at Boston Consulting Group and Pfizer, said: “I am excited and honored to be appointed CEO of Orexo.”

Joining Sørensen in Orexo news is current Chairman of the Board Martin Nicklasson who has been appointed Executive Chairman.

Prior to joining Orexo in 2012, Nicklasson spent four years as CEO of Biovitrum and 16 years with Astra and AstraZeneca.

“My principal focus will be to maximize value of the assets for the company and its shareholders,” Nicklasson said. “I’m looking forward to working with Nikolaj Sørensen and the leadership team towards this common goal.”

Owen Hughes Jr. has been appointed Chief Business Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Intarcia Therapeutics.

Hughes arrives having been Director at hedge-fund company Brookside Capital.

Intarci CEO Kurt Graves praised Hughes’ “in-it-to-win-it spirit” along with his “leadership, external focus and team-building demeanor.” He added that Hughes “is broadly plugged into where healthcare and technology is going and has built valuable relationships with many key players that will be important for our future success.”

Privately held clinical-stage Biotech Company, Juventas Therapeutics, has hired Dr. Paul Resnick as its Vice President of Business Development.

Resnick is a veteran in the biotech world having played key roles in Pfizer’s acquisition of Rinat Neurosciences in 2007 and, more recently, Takeda’s acquisition of Intellikine.

President and CEO of Juventas, Rahul Aras, said: "We are delighted to welcome Paul to Juventas' senior management team," adding that Juventas’ development of its natural stem-cell enhancer platform, JVS-100, will reap the benefit of Resnick’s experience.

Jonathan Wolfson has been appointed to the Supervisory Board of Avantium.

Wolfson is current CEO and co-founder of industrial biotech company Solazyme.

Tom van Aken , CEO of Avantium expressed his pride in the appointment, adding: “His experience and insights in bringing biobased chemicals to the market, will be very valuable for Avantium to commercialize its YXY technology for the production and use of FDCA and PEF."

In other industry news:

Regulus Therapeutics has appointed Mark G. Foletta to its Board of Directors. Foletta comes with over 12 years of experience at Amlyn Pharmaceuticals, recently bought by Bristol Myers-Squibb.

Novo Nordisk has promoted the following four members of its US Leadership Team to Senior Vice Presidents in their relevant areas:

Andy Ajello, U.S. National Diabetes Sales; Camille Lee, U.S. Diabetes Marketing; Alan Moses, MD, global chief medical officer; and Anne Phillips, MD, U.S. Clinical, Medical and Regulatory Affairs.