Up and Coming

July 29, 2019

This feature highlights changes in clinical research organizations’ personnel.

Vertex

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has announced Reshma Kewalramani will assume the role of chief executive officer, effective April 1, 2020, when current CEO Jeffry Leiden transitions to the role of executive chairman of the board. Kewalramani currently serves as chief medical officer, a position she has held since 2017. In addition to CMO, she also serves as executive vice president of global medicines development and medical affairs. Kewalramani will become the first woman to run a large biotechnology firm.

Astellas

Chelsea Glinski has been appointed vice president, oncology sales at Astellas U.S. Glinski previously served as executive director of Astellas’ market access and reimbursement strategy.

Healx

Healx has named Neil Thompson chief scientific officer. Thompson previously served as senior vice president at Astex Pharmaceuticals.

Noven Pharmaceuticals

Noven Pharmaceuticals has announced the appointment of Andrew Purcell as head of marketing and sales. Purcell was previously vice president and head of the U.S. diabetes business unit for Sanofi.

Ablative Solutions

Kate Rumrill has been named president and chief executive officer at Ablative Solutions. Rumrill most recently served as president and CEO of NeoSync.

Athira Pharma

Athira Pharma has named Mark Litton as chief operating officer. Litton most recently served as chief business officer at Alder Biopharmaceuticals.

Titan Medical

Chad Zaring has been named chief commercial officer at Titan Medical. Zaring was most recently vice president of robotics, imaging and navigation at Medtronic.

GlobalMed

GlobalMed has named Robert Rennie as vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Rennie most recently served as vice president of EMEA for Atomiton.

Gritstone Oncology

Gritstone Oncology has named Vijay Yabannavar executive vice president of manufacturing and technical operations. Yabannavar was previously vice president of global technical operations at Merck.

Selecta

Massachusetts-based Selecta Biosciences has announced the appointment of Alison Schecter as chief medical officer. Schecter was formerly the global acting head of rare diseases and was responsible for leading the Niemann-Pick Disease (ASMD) project at Sanofi.

Navitor Pharmaceuticals

Randy Owen has been named chief medical officer at Navitor Pharmaceuticals. Owen most recently served as CMO at Acadia Pharmaceuticals.

Selvita

Krakow, Poland-based Selvita, S.A. has named Setareh Shamsili chief medical officer. Shamsili was previously interim CMO at AxImmune.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Max Donley has been promoted to executive vice president of internal operations and strategy, and Glenn Schulman to senior vice president of corporate communications and investor relations at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals. Donley most recently led human resources, information technology and facilities at Senseonics. Schulman previously led corporate communications and investor relations at Achillion Pharmaceuticals.

OncoCell MDx

Michigan-based OncoCell has named Kirk Wojno as chief medical officer. Wojno was formerly the chief of pathology and laboratory services and director of clinical research at Comprehensive Urology.

Karus Therapeutics

Hilary McElwaine-John has been appointed chief medical officer at U.K.-based Karus Therapeutics. McElwaine-John was previously CMO at cancer gene therapy company PsiOxus.

Immusoft

Robert Hayes has been named chief scientific officer at Immusoft. Hayes, the former head of biologics at Amgen, was most recently CSO at Phylogica.

GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline has announced the appointment of Kim Branson as senior vice president, global head of AI and machine learning. Branson was previously head of AI at Genentech.

Pandion Therapeutics

Pandion Therapeutics has announced that Rahul Kakkar has been named chief executive officer. Kakkar most recently served as the founding executive of Corvidia Therapeutics.

Escient Pharmaceuticals

Escient Pharmaceuticals has named Kristin Taylor as vice president and head of clinical development. Taylor most recently held the same role and helped lead efforts on therapies for Type 2 diabetes and obesity at Zafgen.