Appointments at Hemispherx Biopharma, Novartis and InVivo – People on the move

in-PharmaTechnologist presents its latest round up of movements in the pharma sector, including appointments at Hemispherx Biopharma, Novartis and InVivo.

Ronald Ritz has been appointed senior director of manufacturing at Hemispherx Biopharma. Ritz has pharmaceutical manufacturing experience from working at Enzon, Discovery Laboratories, Elan, and Johnson & Johnson..

InVivo Therapeutics has named Phil Pereira as director of manufacturing. Pereira has current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) experience from working at Intrinsic Therapeutics and NMT Medical.

Reneé Smith has joined Metrics to fill a newly-created validation manager position. Hiring Smith centralises oversight of validation activities and a multi-disciplinary team, which used to handle the task, will now assist her.

Novartis has hired Naomi Kelman, formerly of Johnson & Johnson, as head of its over-the-counter (OTC) unit. In anticipation of the Alcon takeover Novartis is splitting its consumer health division into two units, OTC and animal health. George Gunn will head the animal health unit.

SG Biligiri has been elected president of Karnataka Drugs & Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KDPMA), reports Pharmabiz. Biligiri is also vice president (VP), Jaggat Pharma.

Masters Pharmaceutical has promoted Wayne Corona to president and chief operating officer. Corona joined Masters in 2002 and most recently worked as SVP of purchasing.

Anirvan Ghosh has been named head of discovery for central nervous system (CNS) at Roche. Ghosh joins Roche from the University of California San Diego and will relocate to Basel, Switzerland.

Bayer Healthcare has appointed Erica Mann as president of its consumer care division. Mann has previously worked at Pfizer, Wyeth, Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly.