West Pharmaceutical Services has named Matthew Mullarkey to the position of chief operating officer. He was previously CEO and president of engineered materials firm Impact Materials. Mullarkey succeeds Steve Ellers, West's current COO, who will remain president of the company through a transition period and his planned retirement in 2010. The transfer of management responsibilities will commence immediately.
George Fotiades has been appointed interim president and CEO of Catalent Pharma Solutions, following the departure of John Lowry “to pursue other opportunities.” The company said the search for a permanent replacement is now under way. Fotiades has served as chairman of the board at Catalent since the company was spun out of Cardinal Health last year, and will continue to serve in that capacity.
Dr Colman Casey has been appointed non-executive director of contract development and manufacturing company Avecia Biologics. Casey’s most recent position was as general manager of Schering Plough’s Brinny facility in Ireland. Meanwhile, Koen Hellendoorn has been appointed head of business development for Europe at the company.
Clinical trial software specialist Medidata Solutions reports that vice president of development Keith Howells has been selected as one of PharmaVOICE’s top 100 most inspirational people in the life sciences industry.
Chinese contract research organisation WuXi PharmaTech has appointed Steven Hutchins as vice president of business development. WuXi said that Hutchins would be responsible for leading its global business development and reinforcing its brand value and market leadership. He will report directly to Ge Li, chairman and CEO of WuXi PharmaTech.
SAFC has named Tom Beil to the post of vice president of quality and regulatory affairs. He will report to SAFC president Dr Frank Wicks and to Rich Keffer, general counsel and secretary at parent company Sigma-Aldrich.
Software specialist Octagon Research Solutions has appointed Terek Peterson to the post of director, clinical programming. Peterson will oversee all statistical programming projects and initiatives at the firm, including the strategies for process development and implementation of enabling technologies within Octagon’s clinical data operations unit.
Development, manufacturing and packaging service specialist DPT Laboratories has appointed Michael Mallon as business development manager. Mallon's most recent experience was with Catalent Pharma Solutions, where he was responsible for managing selected accounts in the northeastern US.