News from Heptares, Cerecor and Dyax Corp – People on the move

in-PharmaTechnologist.com presents its weekly round-up of career changes in the pharmaceutical industry, including news from Heptares, Cerecor and Dyax Corp.

Heptares Therapeutics has drafted Roger Perlmutter onto its board.

Perlmutter takes on the position after retiring from Amgen earlier this year, where he was executive VP of research and development (R&D).

Heptares’ chairman John Berriman said: “We are delighted to welcome Roger to our Board and look forward to benefiting from his extensive US, big biotech and big pharma experience as Heptares advances its pipeline into clinical development.”

Neuroscience developer Amarantus BioSciences has appointed Clinton Allen onto its advisory board.

Previously managing principal consultant for Orixa Consultants, Allen will now work on improving internal controls, corporate governance and investor relations.

"I am very excited to join Amarantus at this critical time in its growth cycle," he said. "Now that the company is looking at various partnering and funding opportunities to drive shareholder value, it is an opportune time to join the team in order meticulously evaluate proposals and make recommendations for future growth."

caprotec bioanalytics has named Jonathan Turner its new MD and CEO.

He takes over from founder Hubert Koester who will become acting CSO and chairman of the scientific advisory board.

"Dr. Turner is a well-known and respected executive in the biotech industry.  His depth of knowledge in drug discovery is ideal to position caprotec's technology with key collaborative partners in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries," said Koester .

Cerecor has named James Vornov its new senior VP of clinical development and regulatory affairs.

Previously the global therapeutic area leader for central nervous system (CNS) at Parexel, he will now take charge of Cerecor’s program execution from human proof of concept through to product approval and commercialisation.

Former CEO of Denysias Bioscience John Kaiser also joins the management team as  VP of commercialisation and business development. 

"Both are accomplished executives with extensive experience in their respective areas of operation, and bring invaluable experience in both large and small biomedical organisations to the table," said Blake Paterson,  Cerecor's co-founder and Chief Executive Officer.

Marc Kozin has joined Dyax Corp’s board of directors. He joins the firm from L.E.K. Consulting, where he was president of North America.

“Marc brings to our board nearly 30 years of domestic and international experience in strategy consulting and a deep understanding of our industry,” said chairman Henry Blair.

A.P. Pharma has hired Robert Rosen as senior VP and CCO.

In his new role he will head up the commercial launch of the company’s lead product candidate APF530, for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

John Whelan, president and CEO said: “Robert's deep and extensive experience commercialising oncology drugs will be instrumental as we enter the commercialisation phase of the company.”