McFarlane named Adamas CEO

Adamas Pharmaceuticals has named Neil McFarlane as CEO and member of the board of directors. He succeeded Gregory Went, who was chairman and CEO of the company since its  launch.

Alexion names Sarin CFO 

Alexion Pharmaceuticals is planning to replace outgoing EVP and CFO Paul Clancy with Aradhana Sarin, currently chief strategy and business officer. The transition is set to take place after the filing of the company’s Q3 results. Clancy will stay at Alexion as senior adviser through mid-2020.

Opiant builds out executive team

Opiant Pharmaceuticals named Aziz Mottiwala as chief commercial officer and Rahsaan Thompson as general counsel. Both are newly created positions reporting to CEO Roger Crystal. Mottiwala was previously SVP and head of commercial at Avanir Pharmaceuticals. Thompson was most recently VP of law at Actelion. 

McCloskey joins Xenon 

Xenon Pharmaceuticals has appointed Shelley McCloskey as SVP of human resources. Previously, she was VP of human resources and administration at Aquinox Pharmaceuticals and VP of human resources at Stemcell Technologies. 

Soligenix names Ring as VP 

Soligenix has appointed Daniel Ring as VP of business development and strategic planning, overseeing the company’s global business development function. Previously, he was VP of business development at Exela Pharma Sciences and worked at Merck. 

Marques named sales VP at BioVentrix

BioVentrix has appointed Pedro Marques as VP of sales for the European market. He was previously VP of global access and clinical development at Medtronic and VP of international sales for HeartWare. 

Medisafe names CMO 

Medication management platform Medisafe has named Jennifer Butler as chief marketing officer. Previously, she led marketing at New Century Health and Eliza, as well as commercial marketing at Tufts Health Plan. The company also named Sean Markey as chief business officer.

Client-side people moves courtesy of MM&M sister brand The PMD.

The Escalator is a weekly roundup of notable people moves in the pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing industries. For submissions, email Frank Washkuch at [email protected].