As 2018 comes to a close, members of the industry are preparing to take on new roles for the upcoming year.
Former GW Pharmaceuticals executive, Rupert Haynes, will follow the successful approval of Epidiolex by taking on a new position as CEO.
In another significant move in the industry sees the chief executive of UK regulator, MHRA, leave his position, after working in the industry for nearly 29 years.
As 2018 comes to a close, members of the industry are preparing to take on new roles for the upcoming year. Former GW Pharmaceuticals executive, Rupert Haynes, will follow the successful approval of Epidiolex by taking on a new position as CEO.
In another significant move in the industry sees the chief executive of UK regulator, MHRA, leave his position, after working in the industry for nearly 29 years.
Dave Tudor will take on the role of managing director of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI). Tudor will manage the center after 27 years of experience, five of which at SmithKline and 21 at GlaxoSmithKline.
Tudor has been involved with the center since its inception. The facility offers solutions in small molecules and fine chemical manufacturing. While managing the center, he will investigate how the UK can establish more value from life science research and development.
In regard to finding ways to establish himself in this position, Tudor stated, “My aim is to connect the industry and bring partners together to work in a non-competitive way.”
Ian Hudson, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), will be leaving the agency in September 2019.
Hudson stated, “My reasons for stepping down are both personal and professional. I had always intended to reduce my total work commitment to enable me to pursue other things and perhaps have more of a portfolio career by the time I reached 60, which has now happened.”
His retirement will not occur until next year in order to ensure that a proper successor is in place and a handover can be arranged. Until then, Hudson said he will continue to focus on leading the agency.
Hudson has spent 17 years with the agency. He served as MHRA’s licensing director until 2013 and in that role he was responsible for the majority of medicines licensing activity. For the past five years, he has lead the company as its chief executive.
Before entering the pharmaceutical industry, Hudson worked as a pediatrician, before entering clinical research and development industry in 1989.
The Mundipharma network appointed Arnaud Breabout to serve as SVP and chief financial officer.
The Harvard Business School graduate worked at GSK beginning in 2002 and progressed to assume various financial roles, until he reached the position of VP and CFO of GSK Global Functions and Investments in 2014.
Breabout gained experience working across the industry before beginning at GSK, he held positions at Corixa Corporation, Proctor & Gamble, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. His working history also extends into international health care and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG).
“I look forward to deploying my international experience in growing and transforming businesses, to optimize the financial functions across the Mundipharma Network,” Breabout stated.
Linda Basse was appointed chief medical officer at Medivir, following her 18 years of working in drug development and medical marketing. Her experience lies in the development of oncology drugs, managing and advising companies in development such as Abbott Laboratories, Nycomed, and Novo Nordisk.
She previously served as medical director at Zealand Pharma, a biotech focused on developing peptide-based medicines. She also worked as medical director at Genmab and contributed to the approval of datatumumab
CEO of Medivir, Christine Lind said the Basse has a “strong track record” and will be “responsible for the clinical strategy and development of our pipeline.”
The pharmaceutical company announced the appointment of Rupert Haynes as CEO, after his near three decades of service in the industry. Interim CEO and co-chairman of the board, Raza Bokhari, will remain in place until Haynes assumes the role.
Haynes previously held the position of head of global marketing at GW Pharmaceuticals in the UK. In this position, he supervised the development of the firms’ cannabinoid portfolio. He also worked to plan and develop Epidiolex, an FDA-approved cannabidiol for the treatment of seizures.
Previous to his work at GW, Haynes held various commercial roles across the industry, including at Sobi, UCB Pharma, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, and Pharmacia & Upjohn.
Bokhari stated that Haynes, “blends world class specialty pharmaceutical experience with a fast-paced biotech mindset that will help accelerate FSD’s growth and global expansion strategy.”
