This month’s announcements of new hires and appointments include Parexel, Boyds, ACG, Exscientia, and other key companies.
This month’s announcements of new hires and appointments include Parexel, Boyds, ACG, Exscientia, and other key companies.
Gupta re-joins ACG in the newly created role of chief sales officer, responsible for driving sales across all four ACG divisions (Films and Foils, Capsules, Inspection and Engineering) in order to continue building the company’s ‘One ACG’ agenda.
“I am so pleased that Shankar Gupta has decided to rejoin the business during this exciting time,” said managing director, Karan Singh. “His understanding of ACG and its deliverables, and deep insight into our customers’ businesses will help us to align ourselves better to their changing needs. More importantly, he will champion and support better collaboration and partnership with customers.
“Shankar will be pivotal in calibrating and aligning our business units to our goal of ‘Making it Better’, and our belief that everyone deserves access to good medicine."
Germany-based ProtaGene GmbH, a leading global contract research organization focused on advanced analytics in biologics and cell and gene therapy, announced the appointment of Raymond Kaiser, PhD, as Chief Executive Officer.
Kaiser joined the company earlier this year as Chief Operating Officer.
With the recently completed merger with GeneWerk and partnership with healthcare growth investor Ampersand Capital Partners, ProtaGene will continue building its team and capabilities to support today's increasingly complex therapeutic development programs.
"ProtaGene is incredibly well-positioned to serve as an analytical leader that supports the development of diverse therapeutic modalities," said Martin Blüggel, founder and former CEO, who remains engaged on the Board of Directors.
"It has been an extraordinary experience building the company, and now on the 25th anniversary, I entrust Ray, an experienced executive, to lead ProtaGene to future success. With growing operations in North America and Europe, the company under Ray's leadership is well prepared to serve our international sponsors within the biologics and cell and gene therapy sectors."
Oxford, England-based AI-driven pharmatech company Exscientia plc announced the appointment of Caroline Rowland as Chief People Officer.
The newly created role will see Rowland lead Exscientia’s People (human resources) and Places functions and build on the Company’s talent, training and employee experience strategies.
“Exscientia was founded to create an entirely new type of biopharma company, re-engineered to integrate technologists and drug discovery scientists who share a passion for using technology to make better medicines, faster. In recent years, we’ve expanded our global footprint rapidly, and ensuring that our unique culture persists as we scale is critical,” said CEO and Founder, Andrew Hopkins, DPhil.
“Caroline brings over 20 years of global experience in optimising organisational effectiveness and unlocking higher levels of company performance through operational growth and a sense of belonging. Caroline’s expertise and guidance will be invaluable in helping Exscientia excel as a globally diverse and innovative organisation.”
Fabian Jaramillo has joined dicentra’s Consulting division as its new Director of Business Development, Consulting.
In the new role of Director of Business Development, Consulting, Jaramillo will lead the management of client relations, focusing on the satisfaction and retention of clients for the Consulting division, and work with the senior leadership team to support the continued growth of the division.
“Understanding the regulations and compliance needed to get your product to market is critical to the success and growth of any business. I’m excited to help dicentra clients continue to navigate these hurdles and help new clients successfully get to where they want to be,” said Jaramillo.
“We are excited to have Fabian join dicentra to help us continue to provide the best service and support to our clients,” said Peter Wojewnik, a Partner at dicentra. “With Fabian leading our Consulting division, we are confident our clients will receive exceptional care and attention and that he will help acquire new ones.”
Sharp announced the appointment of Robert Feltz as Director, Analytical and Formulation Services and Michael MacNeir as Vice President, Global Business Development.
Robert Feltz moves to Sharp from Altasciences where he was Director of Analytical Services with responsibility for method validation, stability, and release testing. He also oversaw multiple drug candidates from pre-clinical to commercial launch.
Michael MacNeir joins Sharp from Marken where he was VP of Commercial Operations for the Americas. He brings over 14 years of clinical trial supply and operational experience, as well as a strong track record of success in commercial growth strategies.
“I am delighted to welcome Robert Feltz and Michael MacNeir to Sharp and I am confident they will make a significant contribution in shaping and growing our clinical business,” said Robert O’Beirn, Managing Director of Sharp Clinical. “Their respective industry expertise will put us in a stronger position to deliver and expand our client-led clinical solutions, to better serve our customers and their patients.”
Katherine Bowen joins global drug development consultancy Boyds as Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs in response to a rise in demand for its specialist regulatory services.
Bowen has over 14 years’ experience in regulatory affairs across both mid to large pharma and consultancies.
“We continue to see an increased demand from biotechs and academic groups looking for our regulatory expertise and support, particularly in advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), and cell and gene therapies,” said Dr Julie Warner, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Boyds.
“Katherine’s experience and proven track record of providing strategic regulatory advice across a range of therapeutic areas will be invaluable as we continue to build on this growth and add real value to clients looking to bring their medicines to the market.”
Leading global clinical research organization (CRO) Parexel appointed Peyton Howell as Chief Operating and Growth Officer and Amy McKee, MD, to Chief Medical Officer and Global Head, Oncology Center of Excellence.
These moves are designed to strengthen the company’s medical and scientific focus and support its continued record growth through closer alignment of all aspects of strategy, sales and delivery to delight customers, build repeat business and lead the market in the next phase of drug development transformation, said the company in a release.
Ms. Howell has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the healthcare industry, including several leadership positions with AmerisourceBergen, a Fortune 20 company, most recently as President for Health Systems and Specialty Care Solutions, a $50B business unit. Currently she represents Parexel on the Board of Directors for the Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) and serves on the Board of Directors of Tandem Diabetes Care, a medical device manufacturer.
Dr. McKee joined Parexel in February 2019 as Vice President, Regulatory Consulting Services and prior to joining the company spent 11 years with the FDA during which time she served as Deputy Center Director, Oncology Center of Excellence; Supervisory Associate Director, Office of Hematology and Oncology Products (OHOP) and Deputy Office Director of OHOP.
Asia- Pacific based CRO George Clinical expanded its China team with the addition of Helen Xu as Project Director and Cell Gene Therapy Head. She will be based in Beijing and joins a rapidly growing team responsible for expanding clinical research activity in China with biopharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostic sponsors.
“I am sure Helen will make an incredibly valuable contribution to the growth and development of clinical research operations and cell gene therapy studies across China,” said Zhenfei Yin, country head and regional head project operations, China.
Before joining George Clinical, Dr. Xu had served GSK, BI, Wuxiapp, a Chinese clinical research organization, CASI, and Carsgen, a CAR-T biotech firm. Her clinical trial experience covers the whole development lifecycle starting from phase I through PMS, the majority of the trial experiences being with pivotal trials.
“With a growing presence across the country, it is an honor to be part of global CRO able to bring further clinical research to China that can positively impact cancer care around the world,” Xu said.
India-based Piramal Pharma Limited announced the appointment of Ms. Vibha Paul Rishi to its Board of Directors.
Ms. Rishi is a marketing professional and has held global leadership positions across branding, strategy, innovation and human capital. In the domains of marketing and innovation, she has been associated with PepsiCo, Max India Ltd. and the Future Group.
Ms. Rishi currently serves on the Boards of several reputed companies, including Tata Chemicals Limited, ICICI Bank Limited, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited, Asian Paints Limited, and others.
