News from Teva, Forma Therapeutics and Celgene – People on the move

in-PharmaTechnologist presents its first weekly round-up of the new appointments in the industry of 2012, including news from Teva, Forma Therapeutics and Celgene.

First up this year is Teva Pharmaceutical Industries which announced that CEO Shlomo Yani will step down in May.

Yani, who has led Teva for past five years, will be replaced by Jeremy Levin who heads up Bristol-Myers Squibb's strategies and alliances team.

Teva has also drafted in Rob Koremans as president and CEO of its European arm. He joins the firm from Sanofi-Aventis, where he was senior VP of generic strategy and development. Koremans replaces Gerard van Odijk, who steps down after six years.

Yanai, said: “I respect Gerard's decision to step down and spend more time with his family, and I wish him a lot of success in the future.

“I am very confident that Rob Koremans, together with our strong European management, will continue our success story across Europe”.

Forma Therapeutics has announced three new additions to its R&D (research and development) team.

Former head of translational biology and pharmacology at Novartis Oncology, Jaime Escobedo, has been named VP of Biology.

Mark Tebbe will become VP of medicinal and computational chemistry. Prior to joining the firm he was head of discovery chemistry at Eli Lilly.

And once VP of oncology lead discovery at ArQule, Dennis France has now been named executive director and head of biomolecular screening.

“Joining our science leadership team, these experienced drug hunters will drive Forma's astounding drug discovery engine,” said Kenneth Bair, senior VP and head of R&D.

Celgene has named Richard Bagger as senior VP of corporate affairs and strategic market access.

In this newly created role, Bagger will be responsible for all government and public affairs, strategic market access, communications and patient advocacy initiatives.

Before joining the firm, his experience in the industry includes a role as senior VP of worldwide public affairs and policy for Pfizer.

"We believe he will add a vital perspective to our business as we advance our science and novel therapies into new areas of medicine around the world,” said Robert Hugin, chairman and CEO of Celgene.

Haemophilia therapy developers Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals has expanded its leadership team with Howard Levy, Daniel Regan, Nikki Hadas, and Karen Tubridy.

Levy, who most recently serving as chief medical officer at Sangart, will take up the same role at Inspiration.

Following a 13 year career at Genzyme, Regan will become chief commercial officer for the firm. Fellow Genzyme veteran Hadas will become a member of general counsel.

Tubridy, who most recently served as executive director of clinical operations and regulatory affairs, translational medicine at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, takes the role of VP and Factor IX Launch team leader.

Gregory Gores has joined the medical advisory board at Delcath Systems.

Currently the Reuben R. Eisenberg Endowed professor in gastroenterology and hepatology, he has published more than 400 original articles, chapters, reviews, and editorials.

"The efficacy results of Delcath's Phase 3 trial are impressive," said Gores. "I am excited to be joining Delcath's Medical Advisory Board.”

Emergent BioSolutions has announced that Fuad El-Hibri will retire as CEO in April.

El-Hibri, who has been in his current role since the company's founding in 1998, will continue to serve as executive chairman of the board of directors.

Current president and chief operating officer Daniel Abdun-Nabi, will take on the role of CEO.

El-Hibri said: “I am proud of the many achievements Emergent has made over the last 13 years. I believe that it is time for the Company to continue to grow under the leadership of Dan Abdun-Nabi.”