British multinational GlaxoSmithKline have hired computational drug design expert Dr Kim Branson as the company’s new Senior Vice President, Global Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

In his new role, the biotech veteran will oversee projects which use AI to identify novel targets for potential medicines.

Dr Branson brings to the role more than 15 years’ worth of experience in biotech and academia having held positions at a number of Silicon Valley firms including Gliimpse, Lumia and Hessian Informatics.

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Gilead has said that Dr John McHutchison is stepping down after nine years at the firm.

Gilead’s Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Research and Development has decided to leave the company next month, Gilead said.

Under McHutchinson, Gilead developed five new hepatitis drugs, which have been used by as many as 3.2 million people around the world.

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Massachusetts-based biotech Disarm Therapeutics has hired Dr Alvin Shih as their new President and CEO.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based firm has set itself the task of creating a new class of disease-modifying therapeutics for patients with axonal degeneration, a central drive of neurological disease.

Dr Shih brings to the role a range of experiences. Having graduated with a biology degree from Vanderbilt University in 1996, Shih joined management consultancy McKinsey where he worked as a business analyst for two years.

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Chief Executive Mike Thompson is to retire from his role at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) by the end of this year.

His decision to leave the association marks the end of a three-year run beginning in March 2016, when stepped in to take up the mantle from Alison Clough, who had served as the acting Chief Executive for much of 2015.

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Business chief Jonathan Symonds has joined British multinational GlaxoSmithKline as the company’s new non-executive chairman.

The hire ends GSK’s six month search, as it prepares to fold its consumer business into a joint venture with Pfizer. In his new role Symonds will oversee the changes being implemented by CEO Emma Walmsley who joined GSK in 2017. Walmsley hopes to revitalise GSK’s R&D efforts with the help of Chief Scientific Officer Hal Barron.

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Lilly veteran Christi Shaw has joined Kite Pharma as the company’s new CEO.

Shaw comes to Gilead’s cancer immunotherapy firm, Kite Pharma, from rival US firm Eli Lilly, where she acted as a senior vice president and also as president of Lilly’s immunology, pain and neuroscience unit, Lilly Bio Medicines.

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Dr Reshma Kewalramani has been made the new Vertex CEO.

Vertex’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Kewalramani will succeed current CEO Jeffrey Leiden who has is now stepping aside from the role after seven years as Chief executive at the Boston-based firm. In stepping down Leiden will serve as executive chairman until the first quarter of 2023.     

Fourty-six year old Dr Kewalramani, who has been at Vertex since 2017, will thus become the first woman to head the firm. Prior to joining Vertex, Kewalramani spent more than 12 years at Amgen.

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The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has appointed Dr Wajid Hussain as its new clinical director for digital health.

Dr Hussain, a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysicist at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, has a demonstrated interest in IT and health.

While he currently represents the views of clinicians on the Trust’s IT committee, Dr Hussain completed a Diploma in Digital Health Leadership at the NHS Digital Academy last year. He is also currently studying for a Master’s in Digital Health leadership at Imperial College London.

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Troy Robinson has been taken on as the new managing director of Chugai Pharma Europe. Mike Crosher will succeed him in his current role as managing director of Chugai Pharma UK.

Chugai Pharma Europe (CPE) has promoted Troy Robinson and Mike Crosher into the positions of managing director of CPE and managing director of the firm’s UK subsidiary, Chugai Pharma UK (CPU).

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AbbVie’s former Vice President of Oncology has moved to Ayala Pharmaceuticals to work as its new Chief Medical Officer (CMO). 

Israel-based startup Ayala Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing targeted cancer therapies for people living with genetically defined cancers – it is currently working on the development of its pan-Notch inhibitor AL101, currently in Phase 2 in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC).

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Cerevel Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company dedicated to treating neurological diseases, has appointed renowned biotechnology leader Tony Coles as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

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Immunotherapy-focused pharmaceutical company Midatech Pharma has appointed Stephen Stamp as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with immediate effect.

He will be replacing Nick Robbins-Cherry, who has stepped down after five years since joining in 2014. Robbins will nevertheless remain at Midatech until October to facilitate Stamp’s handover in an orderly fashion.

Stamp has most recently served as CEO of pharmaceutical firm Ergomed for two years, stepping down in January citing health reasons. Prior to this he was CFO at Ergomed for a year beginning in 2016.

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The General Pharmaceutical Council has appointed Laura Fraser, former clinical fellow for the Scottish Chief Pharmaceutical Officer as the new Director for Scotland.

Fraser has held leadership roles in community pharmacy across Scotland including board member of Community Pharmacy Scotland. She has also worked for the Scottish Government as Clinical Leadership Fellow. Prior to her position as board member she was area and regional manager for nearly nine years.

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Chief Executive of Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, Jerome Carle, is stepping down from his post at the United Arab Emirates drug manufacturer facing mounting pressure.

Julphar, one of the biggest generic drugs manufacturers in the Middle East and North Africa said Jerome Carle has “tendered his resignation” and the board has accepted it. His last working day will be December 8th.

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Sir Mark Walport, Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the national funding agency responsible for science and research investment in the UK, has announced he is to retire for the role next year.

The decision to leave the organisation in 2020 will mark the end of a three-year tenure at its helm, beginning in 2017 when Walport was appointed to “create a single, ambitious organisation and provide the UK with a world class funding system to keep it at the forefront of global research and innovation”.

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Destiny Pharma, a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel antimicrobial drugs to address the global crisis caused by antimicrobial resistance (AMR), has announced that after 18 years on the board, Joe Eagle is to step down with immediate effect.

Eagle has been instrumental in the financing and strategic direction of Destiny as a private company and brought his expertise for its lead candidate, XF-73 for the prevention of post-surgical infections. A search for a replacement is underway.

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Pfizer’s executive chairman Ian Read, is to be succeeded by CEO Albert Bourla with a date to start the post being January 1st 2020.

Mr Bourla, who joined Pfizer’s animal health division in 1993, succeeded Mr. Read from Chief Operating Officer as Chief Executive earlier this year in January, and will now go on to serve as Executive Chairman.

Mr Read has spent nine years in the role and has been at the company for a total of 41 years, first arriving in 1978 and becoming CEO in 2010, joining the board the following year.

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London consultant and public health professor, Chris Whitty, has begun his role as England’s Chief Medical Officer, taking over from Dame Sally Davies, who has now stepped down from the position.

Whitty has served as the Department of Health and Social Care’s Chief Scientific Adviser since 2016 and was announced as Dame Sally Davies successor earlier in June this year.

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MSD have announced that David Peacock will become Managing Director in the UK and Ireland, succeeding former director Louise Houson, with a start date of October 1st 2019.

Peacock brings with him a broad range of experience and perspectives from senior roles within the company in the United States, Singapore, Vietnam and Japan. Most recently, David was Chief of Staff to Kenneth Frazier, Chairman of the board and Chief Executive Officer of MSD.

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Biogen have announced updates to it senior leadership team with Alfred Sandrock being named Executive Vice President of Research and Development in addition to his responsibilities as Chief Medical Officer. Additionally Alphonse Galdes has been appointed as Executive Vice President of Pharmaceutical Operations and Technology.

In a statement, Michel Vounatsos, Chief Executive Officer at Biogen, said: “Both AI and Alphonse are seasoned and respected leaders at Biogen. Their accomplishment in the scientific community is well-recognised.

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Gilead Sciences have announced that Merdad Parsey will join the company as Chief Medical Officer, effective November 1st.

Dr Parsey will be responsible for and oversee the company’s global clinical development and medical affairs organisations – reporting directly to Daniel O’Day, Gilead’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

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Gilead Sciences have announced that Andrew Dickinson has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective 1 November.

Dickinson currently serves as the company’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy and in his new role will become part of a senior leadership team reporting directly to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel O’Day.

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The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has appointed Dr Richard Torbett as its new Chief Executive. He will assume the position on 1 January 2020.

The appointment comes after his predecessor, Mike Thompson, stepped down in June. He had served in the role since March 2016. Torbett was unanimously selected by the ABPI board after an external recruitment process with an executive search agency.

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