Q Chip, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Richman Chemical, Nastech and Altus Pharmaceuticals - People on the move
Pharmaceuticals have all had people on the move in the world of
pharmaceutical manufacturing.
UK microencapsulation firm Q Chip recently announced the appointment of Ken Powell as the company's new executive chairman. Powell's previous positions include senior roles at Arrow Therapeutics, the Wellcome Foundation and the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research at University College London. He currently serves at the head of Arrow Therapeutics, which he founded in 1998 and was subsequently acquired by AstraZeneca in 2007 for$150m. Solvay Pharmaceuticals late last week announced a change at the top, with the news that CEO Laurence Downey intends to retire, to be replaced by Stephen Hill as the company's new president and CEO. Hill will join Solvay on April 1, 2008, with Downey officially retiring as of April 30 after almost 30 years with the company. Hill will lead the firm's US team, and serve as a member of the board of directors, CEO and chairman of the board of subsidiary Unimed Pharmaceuticals, and president of subsidiary Organics. Prior to his appointment at Solvay, Hill served as president and CEO of biotech firm ArQule for nine years, and held several senior positions at Roche. Richman Chemical has announced the appointment of Brian Watson to the newly created position of manager, toll manufacturing services at the company. Watson joined the CMO in 2001 as a project manager, and has been involved in the manufacturing industry for over 14 years. Drug delivery specialist Nastech this week named the members of the strategic advisory board for its wholly-owned subsidiary, MDRNA. The seven-member board has been set up to provide scientific, financial and corporate governance expertise as Nastech moves to establish MDRNA as an independent company. Four of the newly appointed members (Susan Bayh, Alexander Cross, Steven Quay and Bruce Thaw) have been involved with the company for a number of years, as directors and members of company boards. In addition, Daniel Peters (most recently president and CEO of global medical diagnostics at GE Healthcare), James Rothman (current Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of chemical biology, director of Columbia University's Judith P. Sulzberger, M.D. Genome Center and until December 2007, chief science advisor at GE Healthcare) and Gregory Sessler (CFO of Spiration) have also been appointed to the strategic advisory board. US biopharmaceutical firm Altus has this week announced the resignation of president and CEO Sheldon Berkle, effective February 4. Chairman of the board, David Pendergast, has been appointed to the interim position of executive chairman during the search for a new president and company CEO. Pendergast has been a member of Altus board of directors since November 2006, and was elected chairman in November 2007. He was formerly president of human genetics therapies at Shire Pharmaceuticals, and served as CEO of Transkaryotic Therapies (acquired by Shire in 2005).
