MANUFACTURER

Mylan announced that it has appointed Deborah M. Autor as senior vice president, strategic global quality and regulatory policy. Autor comes to  Mylan from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where she served for 11 years, most recently as deputy commissioner for global regulatory operations and policy. At Mylan, Autor will focus on further advancing the company’s efforts to lead the industry in establishing one global quality standard for pharmaceutical products as well as expanding the world’s access to high quality medicine. As an FDA deputy commissioner, Autor oversaw the Office of Regulatory Affairs and the Office of International Programs, with responsibility for 4,400 employees. She also led the implementation of FDA’s strategy for addressing the challenges of globalization and import safety.

Sanofi announced the appointment of Peter Guenter as senior vice president, Europe and of Pascale Witz as executive vice president, global divisions & strategic commercial development. Guenter, in his new role, will focus on in-market execution across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Japan & Pacific and intercontinental. Witz will be responsible for setting strategic direction and guiding product development of the group’s key businesses. She will have direct responsibilities for the diabetes, oncology and phamarceutical customer solution divisions, as well as a new structure for consumer healthcare.

Teva Pharmaceutical announced that Paul J. Sekhri has been appointed group executive vice president, global business development and chief strategy officer. Sekhri has over 25 years of operational experience in the life sciences industry, including business development, business strategy, general management, drug development, and commercial strategy. In his new role, Sekhri will oversee Teva’s Strategy and Business Development group, reporting directly to Jeremy Levin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.  Sekhri will join Teva’s leadership team, and he will be based at the Company’s headquarters in Israel. His appointment is effective June 15. Sekhri most recently served as operating partner and head, Biotech Ops Group at TPG Biotech, the life-science venture arm of the global private investment firm TPG, where he was responsible for a portfolio of more than 50 life science firms.

Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals announced that Dave Lemus has been promoted to the newly created position of chief executive officer. Lemus had served as chief operating officer of the company since March 2012, and joined the company as vice president of finance in July 2011. Prior to joining Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals, he was executive vice president and chief financial officer of MorphoSys AG, where he launched Germany’s first-ever biotechnology IPO in 1999. Before MorphoSys, Lemus held a variety of senior management positions at Hoffmann La Roche and Lindt Chocolate, in Switzerland. He presently serves as board chairman of Proteros Gmbh in Munich, Germany, and as a non-executive board member of Toronto, Canada-based Axela Inc.

VentiRx Pharmaceuticals has hired James Kyle Bryan, M.D. as chief medical officer. Hematologist and medical oncologist,  Bryan brings more than 20 years of oncology drug discovery and development experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry to VentiRx. This includes operational and strategic leadership work in his previous roles as vice president of global product development at PPD, Inc., a global contract research organization, and as vice president of medical affairs at Seattle Genetics.

AGENCY

Publicis Touchpoint Solutions has hired Andrew Adams as senior vice president, HR and recruiting. Adams will oversee all human resources and recruiting functions for Touchpoint including employee relations, talent and recruitment, learning and development, and compensation and benefits. As a member of the Touchpoint executive team, he will act as a strategic consultant on industry trends, while providing leadership, support and vision to help foster opportunities for business growth. Adams joins Touchpoint from Pfizer where he served as vice president, human resources, and previously held the position of chief human resources officer at Geneva Global, Inc. His career history also includes director, global functions human resources operations for Hewlett-Packard, as well as assistant vice president, university relations staffing for Cigna.

AbelsonTaylor has hired Alex Humes as senior account executive and promoted Allison Kind to the position of account executive. Humes brings to AbelsonTaylor digital expertise in optimizing websites in mobile and tablet use. In his new position, he will direct all digital and promotional tactics for a pain management product, helping to extend the brand and expand new target audiences. He will report to Meredith Keroff, account director. Humes joins AbelsonTaylor from CAHG Worldwide Healthcare Communications, a healthcare agency in Chicago, Ill., where he was an account executive. During his tenure there, he spearheaded the global launches of two major diabetes campaigns. He also worked on products in the areas of ophthalmology and rheumatoid arthritis, handling the full range of marketing activities, from positioning and message development to creative and tactical planning for personal and non-personal promotion, Flash detail aids, landing pages, promotional videos and other tools. Kind, newly promoted from her position as account coordinator, will be working on a product for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. She reports to Laura Baumann, senior account supervisor. Since joining AbelsonTaylor in 2011, she has worked in the areas of gastroenterology, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Hepatitis C. Previously she worked at Windy City Live, a morning talk show on ABC Chicago, and interned at the ABC News Bureau, WGN TV and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Kind received a B.A. in communications from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and an M.A. in public communication from American University, also in Washington.

Aptuit announces the appointment of two new members to its executive leadership team. Kurt Dinkelacker has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer and Kevin Duffield has been promoted to vice president, sales and business development. Dinkelacker is reporting directly to Stuart Needleman, Aptuit’s president and COO. Dinkelacker brings experience in managing global financial operations in growth-focused corporations. Previously, he was an executive vice president and CFO at Retrievex, also a Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe portfolio company. Before that, he held leadership positions at Financing Alternatives, TeleSpectrum Worldwide and IKON Office Solutions. A graduate of Drexel University where he earned a BA in Accounting and an MBA in its executive graduate program, Dinkelacker is the recipient of the University’s 1998 Alumni Award. Duffield will be handling global sales and marketing, also reporting directly to Stuart Needleman. While the coordinated sales effort continues to be focused at the site function level, under Duffield’s leadership, all sales efforts will be leveraged. Under his supervision, cross-selling initiatives and new opportunities from Aptuit’s range of capabilities and ­disciplines are anticipated. Duffield has more than 25 years experience in pharmaceutical contract manufacturing services. He has held several leadership positions in sales, business development, and operations of cGMP development and manufacturing facilities. Before he joined Aptuit, Duffield was employed at Eastman Fine Chemicals, ­ChiRex and NovaSep. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Illinois State University.

Discovery Chicago, part of ­Publicis Healthcare Communications Group, announced the appointment of Wolf Gallwitz to senior vice president, chief scientific officer and Simriti Ranajee to senior vice president, account director. In Dr. Gallwitz’s new role, he will lead the scientific services team to produce commercial scientific content across a range of therapeutic categories. Gallawitz will also be the primary scientific resource for new business. Dr. Ranajee is responsible for the global client operations, new business and advocacy support.

From the June 01, 2013 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media