News from MorphoSys, Pinnacle and Catabasis – People on the move
Trius Therapeuticsdirector Karin Eastham and C&F consulting founder Marc Cluzel have joined MorphoSys's board.
The pair replace Jürgen Drews and Metin Colpan, who have been members of the board since 2004 and 1998 respectively.
In a statement, the company said Drews and Coplan were granted “full discharge in respect of their activities during the business year 2011.” In its end-of-year report, the firm announced group revenues had increased by 16 per cent, hitting €100.8m ($125.2m).
"We are pleased to announce the election of two experienced new members to our supervisory board and look forward to working with them," said chairman Gerald Möller. "On behalf of the company, I would like to thank Professor Drews and Dr Colpan for their invaluable support in establishing MorphoSys as one of the world's leading antibody companies."
Pinnacle Biologics has named and Sharon Ayd as chief scientific officer.
Her appointment follows her recent consultation for Pinnacle’s Regulatory, Quality and Scientific Affairs team. Previously she was VP of global R&D operations for the One 2 One business unit at Hospira.
The company also drafted Robert Altman onto its board of directors. He joins the firm after serving as CEO and president of Marathon Pharmaceuticals.
Guillermo Herrera, executive chairman and CEO of Pinnacle, said: "Bob is a proven individual who brings excellent experience at driving commercial performance. Sharon brings proven experience and discipline in delivering value in organisations progressing in clinical trials and expanding indications.”
Catabasis has hired Henry Rath as VP of business development.
Previously, he was executive director of corporate development at Amgen.
“Henry’s extensive transactional experience with global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies makes him a strong addition to the management team,” said Jill Milne, Catabasis CEO.
“His leadership and breadth of experience across multiple therapeutic areas will be important as we accelerate our business development and partnering activities and identify value creation opportunities.”
Targacept has created a new ‘office of the chairman’ led by current chair Mark Skaletsky.
The office of the chairman will take on interim responsibilities of Donald deBethizy, who has resigned as president and CEO whilst the firm hunts for a new chief.
“Targacept's Board of Directors has created the office of the chairman to guide the company's strategic direction, resource allocation and pipeline development,” said Skaletsky.
David Hsia has announced his retirement from the board at Kinex Pharmaceuticals. Hsia will remain as senior advisor to the company.
In his stead, Jean-Pierre Sommadossi – the principle founder of Idenix Pharmaceuticals – will join the board.
Chuck Lannon, chair of the nominating and corporate governance borad said: "Jean-Pierre brings a strong background of biotechnology and public company experience. His background is ideally suited to assist the Kinex team in the planned build-up of the operation.”
Neuroscience specialist Transcept Pharmaceuticals has named John Kollins the new senior VP and chief business officer.
Previously, he worked for Parnassus Advisors where he provided business development and transaction services to life science companies. In his new role he will take charge of business and corporate development activities.
Glenn A. Oclassen, Transcept president and CEO said: "John is an accomplished biopharmaceutical industry professional with proven expertise in the field of neuroscience.
“His ability to build our product portfolio will be an important asset as Transcept pursues its goal to become a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the field of neuroscience."
