MANUFACTURERSNektar Therapeutics named Howard Robin as CEO, effective Jan. 15. Robin will replace acting CEO Robert Chess who will remain chairman. Robin was previously CEO where he helped re-launch the company and created significant shareholder value leading to the firm’s acquisition by Merck for $1.1 billion. At Berlex Laboratories, as corporate VP and GM of US Therapeutics, Robin was responsible for development of Betaseron for multiple sclerosis and Fludara for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, generating annual global sales in excess of $800 million.BioCryst Pharmaceuticals appointed Jon Stonehouse CEO and a member of the company’s board of directors. Stonehouse succeeds Charles Bugg, founder and former CEO, who previously announced his intention to retire in 2007. In his new role, Bugg will become non-executive chairman of BioCryst. Stonehouse, a pharmaceutical executive for almost 20 years, most recently served as SVP of corporate development at Merck KGaA with responsibility for global licensing and business development, corporate mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategic planning and alliance management. AGENCIES Ed Wise has been named CEO of Cline Davis & Mann (CDM), while Carol DiSanto will succeed Wise as president. The executive-level moves follow the November retirement announcement made by CDM COO Jack Slonaker to pursue personal interests. Wise joined CDM in 1984 and was named president in 2001, helping diversify the Omnicom-owned agency’s client roster by adding clients including Amgen, Novartis and NovoNordisk. DiSanto, a 15-year CDM veteran, served most recently as CDM director of client services, working on brands including the Pfizer blockbusters Lipitor and Viagra and Amgen’s Aranesp. Linda Holliday president and co-founder of Medical Broadcasting Company, has been named a Woman of Distinction by the National Association of Women Business Owners and Philadelphia Business Journal.Lowe Healthcare’s Integrated Communications has hired Ken Jordan as an EVP, management supervisor, on the AstraZeneca, Bausch & Lomb, Johnson & Johnson, Ross, and Sanofi Pasteur businesses. Previously Jordan spent 15 years at Sudler & Hennessey, where he rose to EVP on Astellas, AstraZeneca, Berlex, Forest Labs and Pfizer.MEDIAMediZine has added Eileen Bruno, Brooks Crandall and Jamie Blocher to its sales team. Bruno will serve as VP, sales and marketing for MDminute working with Blocher, who will serve as sales director on the launch for MDminute, MediZine’s latest magazine, distributed to medical specialists’ offices. Crandall will serve as VP, sales and marketing for Remedy & RemedyDirect. Bruno joins MediZine from Thomson Healthcare, where she served as PDR (Physicians Desk Reference) solutions manager. Blocher was formerly with MD Net Guide Publications–Intellisphere, where he served as senior national accounts manager, responsible for sales and marketing of two physician focused publications, Psychiatry and Neurology. Most recently, Crandall served as sales development manager for Parade Publications in New York, responsible for selling marketing solutions for the company.