Pacific Biosciences (Menlo Park, CA, USA) has announced the appointment of Michael W. Hunkapiller (right) as president and CEO, succeeding Hugh Martin, who will remain on the board of directors. Hunkapiller was named the company's executive chairman in October 2011. From 1995 to 2004 he was president and general manager of Applied Biosystems, after which he joined Alloy Ventures as a general partner. He joined PacBio's board of directors in 2005.

“I am excited and honored to take on the role of president and CEO of PacBio,” says Hunkapiller. “Since joining the company's board, I have always believed that our SMRT technology would play a significant role in biological research and the advancement of medical therapies. Now that we have begun to deliver products to customers, I am more convinced than ever that we are on our way to fulfilling that promise. The company is in [a] great position with the people, products and cash to drive the adoption of its disruptive technology.”

NeoGenomics (Ft. Myers, FL, USA) has announced the appointment of Maher Albitar as chief medical officer and director of R&D. From 2003 to 2010, Albitar served as Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute's medical director for hematopathology and oncology and chief of R&D.

Gilead Sciences (Foster City, CA, USA) has announced that Roy D. Baynes has joined the company as senior vice president, oncology therapeutics. He joins Gilead from Amgen, where he served as vice president, global development and therapeutic area head, hematology and oncology.

C. Glenn Begley has been appointed senior clinical advisor and nonexecutive director of Oxford BioTherapeutics (Oxford, UK). Begley was previously vice president and global head of hematology and oncology research at Amgen, which he joined in 2002.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO; Washington, DC) has named Fritz Bittenbender vice president, alliance development and state government relations. Bittenbender most recently served as vice president of public affairs at Cephalon and as president of the CephalonCares Foundation. He previously served as president of Pennsylvania Bio, an affiliated organization to BIO.

Privately held OncoMed Pharmaceuticals (Redwood City, CA, USA) has announced the promotion of Jakob Dupont to senior vice president and chief medical officer. He joined OncoMed in October as vice president, clinical research, having previously served as global medical director for Avastin at Genentech.

Biopharmaceutical industry pioneer L. Patrick Gage has been appointed chairman of the board of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals (Watertown, MA, USA). Gage currently serves as chairman of Cytokinetics and is on the boards of several other private and public life sciences companies. His previous positions include vice president of exploratory research at Hoffmann-La Roche, R&D head and then president at Genetics Institute, and president of research at Wyeth/American Home Products.

Cerus (Concord, CA, USA) has named Andrew Gomperts chief business officer and vice president, business development and marketing. He joins Cerus with extensive experience in the biopharma industry, having most recently served as head of corporate and business development at Sangart.

Karin Hehenberger has joined Coronado Biosciences (Burlington, MA, USA) as senior vice president of scientific affairs. She was most recently senior vice president for strategic alliances at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and previously vice president of metabolic strategy and business development at Johnson & Johnson.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (Research Triangle Park, NC, USA) has elected Nancy J. Hutson to its board of directors. Hutson brings over 30 years of pharma industry experience, having retired from Pfizer in 2006 as senior vice president of global R&D as well as director of its pharmaceutical R&D site in Groton and New London, Connecticut.

NeurogesX (San Mateo, CA, USA) has named Ronald A. Martell president, CEO and a member of the board of directors. He previously served as CEO of Poniard Pharmaceuticals.

MAP Pharmaceuticals (Mountain View, CA, USA) has named W. James O'Shea to its board of directors. O'Shea brings 35 years of healthcare industry experience, including serving as vice chairman, president and COO of Sepracor.

Chris A. Rallis and Anthony A. DiTonno have been named members of the board of directors of Oxygen Biotherapeutics (Morrisville, NC, USA), increasing the board to five members. Rallis is currently executive-in-residence at Pappas Ventures. Previously he was president and CEO of ImmunoBiosciences. DiTonno was president and CEO of NeurogesX.

Stemline Therapeutics (New York) has announced the appointment of Eric K. Rowinsky (right) as executive vice president, chief medical officer and head of R&D. Rowinsky has more than 25 years of experience managing clinical trials and developing drugs from preclinical to regulatory approval. He previously served as executive vice president and chief medical officer for ImClone Systems, where he led the US Food and Drug Administration approval of Erbitux for head and neck and colorectal cancers, and advanced eight other monoclonal antibodies through clinical development.

“Dr. Rowinsky brings a wealth of drug development experience to the Stemline team and we look forward to his contribution and leadership in advancing our pipeline forward,” says Stemline CEO Ivan Bergstein.

Prana Biotechnology (Melbourne) has announced the appointment of Rudy Tanzi as chief scientific advisor. Tanzi is the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard University and director of the genetics and aging research unit at Massachusetts General Hospital.