Roche named Luca Santarelli, MD head of its Central Nervous System Discovery and Translational Area, one of five disease focused organizations at Roche which oversees research and early development up to late stage development in the field of neurology and neurosciences. Santarelli was previously global head of neuroscience, clinical research and early development at Roche.

MS&L Group hired CNBC pharma reporter Mike Huckman as SVP, director of media strategy in its healthcare practice. Huckman will provide senior level media counsel to MS&L Group healthcare clients, contribute to new business development and serve as a healthcare PR thought leader, MS&L said. He reports to Jeanine O’Kane, North American director of healthcare. Huckman has covered the drug, biotech and medical device beats for CNBC since 2000.