People on the move: pharmaceutical manufacturing

VaxInnate, Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Par Pharmaceutical and Progen Pharmaceuticals have all had people on the move in the world of pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Edward Acuri will be taking up the post of chief operations officer at VaxInnate, a specialist company focusing on the development of vaccines for human and avian flu and malaria, among other therapeutic areas.

Acuri will oversee the development and operations activities of the firm's clinical candidates, including QA, QC and regulatory affairs, ensuring that VaxInnate has the appropriate short- and long-term strategies to bring candidates through to commercialisation.

Prior to joining VaxInnate, Acuri held a number of high-ranking operations roles in the pharma industry, including most recently as COO and executive vice president at Emergent Biosolutions, and stints at MedImmune, Aviron and Merck & Co.

The company has also added a new financial officer in the form of Andrew Dreschler, formerly of Valera Pharmaceuticals.

Inspire Pharmaceuticals has also recently announced a change at the top, with Stephen Celestini moving in as senior vice president and chief compliance officer at the company.

Inspire focuses on the therapeutic area of ophthalmology and respiratory/allergy, and is moving forward to launch its bacterial conjunctivitis product, AzaSite (azithromycin). With significant legal background the company hopes that Celestini will complement the existing quality and compliance team, as the company moves forward with commercialisation of the product.

Celestini previously held compliance and legal positions in firms including Salix Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoWellcome.

A new COO has been installed at Par Pharmaceutical in the last week, along with a new CFO. Gerard Martino will be moving over take on the position of chief operating officer and executive vice president, handing over his previous role as chief financial officer to Veronica Lubatkin.

In his new role at the drug manufacturer, Martino will oversee production, supply chain operations, pharmaceutical R&D, QA and QC, finance, HR and corporate affairs.

Australian company Progen Pharmaceuticals has announced a new vice president of manufacturing operations, in order to support the firm's efforts to push on with development of its lead product, PI-88, for post-resection liver cancer.

John Devlin, who will be taking over the role, will focus primarily on the preparation of the manufacturing requirements for PI-88's new drug application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration, as well as long-term production strategies for the drug.

The company also announced the appointment of James Garner as vice president of medical and clinical affairs, again focusing on the development of PI-88.