News - Appointments

Richard Francis, former chief executive of the Sandoz division of Novartis, has been named CEO of the gene therapy company Purespring Therapeutics Ltd, effective 1 February. Purespring was launched in November 2020 to develop AAV gene therapies for kidney disease.

Klaas Zuideveld has been appointed chief executive of Versameb AG, a Swiss company developing RNA-based therapeutics. He was previously chief development officer. At the same time, Friedrich Metzger, the company’s co-founder and former CEO, has become chief scientific officer.

MorphoSys AG has appointed Sung Lee as chief financial officer effective 2 February as it commercialises its first oncology product on the US market. Mr Lee joins from Sangamo Therapeutics Inc where he was CFO.

Clinigen Group Plc has appointed Sam Herbert as chief operating officer to help build the company’s pharmaceutical services business. He was previously president of World Courier, a medical logistics company.

Wolfgang Baiker, a venture partner with Wellington Partners, has been appointed chief executive of Adrenomed AG which is developing a product for septic shock.

Sweden-based Alligator Bioscience AB has appointed Christina Reimer as chief medical officer, effective 1 February 2021, as it progresses three new cancer therapies in the clinic. She joins from Ferring Pharmaceuticals in Copenhagen where she was senior medical director.

The Belgian-Dutch company Allero Therapeutics BV has appointed Steven Glazer as chief medical officer and Christophe Saillez as vice president for regulatory affairs.

The UK start-up NanoSyrinx Ltd has appointed Jane Dancer to its board as a non-executive director as the company launches its platform for delivering therapeutic proteins to the cytosol.

Switzerland-based Nouscom AG has appointed Göran Ando as chair of its board of directors and Richard Davis as chief business officer. The appointments come as the company starts clinical development of its lead cancer vaccine.

Pierre Delsaux, a Belgian national with many years of experience in policy formulation and execution, has moved from defence to health at the European Commission to take up the new position of deputy director-general for health.