Ronald Black has been named chief medical officer and Inge Lues (right) has been named chief development officer of Probiodrug (Halle/Saale, Germany). Before joining Probiodrug, Black was assistant vice president of Alzheimer's immunotherapy at Pfizer. He will be based in the United States and will lead the company's clinical development strategy and US presence. Lues has acted as an R&D advisor to venture capital and biotech companies for the last five years. Earlier, she held several positions at Merck KGaA including executive vice president of global drug discovery and nonclinical development. She will be based in Germany.

“We have made great strides in understanding the role of a modified Abeta molecule, pyroglutamated Abeta, in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease. We look forward to adding the broad industry experience of Drs. Black and Lues to our efforts as we translate this important discovery further into clinical application,” says Konrad Glund, CEO of Probiodrug. “Their combined experience in Alzheimer's R&D will be invaluable as we advance PQ912, our lead QC (glutaminyl cyclase) inhibitor, through phase 2 trials and commence clinical studies on our other pipeline products.”

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Jerusalem) has announced the addition of Arie Belldegrun to its board of directors. Belldegrun is a director of the UCLA Institute of Urologic Oncology and professor and chair of urologic oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In addition, he serves as the chairman of the board of Kite Pharma, Arno Therapeutics and TheraCoat.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (Vancouver, BC, Canada) has announced the appointment of Gary J. Bridger as executive vice president, R&D. He was most recently a partner with Ventures West Capital Management and was previously with AnorMED and Genzyme.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals (S. San Francisco, CA, USA) has announced the appointment of Pablo J. Cagnoni as executive vice president, global R&D and technical operations. He was previously senior vice president and global head of clinical development for Novartis Oncology.

OXiGENE (S. San Francisco, CA, USA) has appointed David (Dai) Chaplin to its board of directors. Chaplin formerly served as CSO and head of R&D at OXiGENE, and more recently has been a scientific advisor to the company.

John Crawford and Wendy Johnson have been named co-chairs of the board of directors of The Clearity Foundation (La Jolla, CA, USA), an ovarian cancer patient advocacy group. Crawford has been a director since 2010, serving as Clearity's CFO through 2012. Since 2006 he has been CFO of Phenomix and three other San Diego-based biotechs: NovaCardia, Cabrellis and Conforma Therapeutics. Johnson joined Clearity's board in 2011. She is president and CEO of Aires Pharmaceuticals and a venture partner at ProQuest Investments.

The Broad Institute (Cambridge, MA, USA) has named as chairman of its board Lou Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM. Gerstner headed IBM from 1993 to 2002 and joined the Broad's board in 2010.

David Hogsett (right) has been appointed vice president of R&D and chief technology officer of OPX Biotechnologies (Boulder, CO, USA). With his extensive early-stage and commercial biotech company experience, he will lead the company's efforts using its proprietary EDGE (efficiency-directed genome engineering) technology to make bio-based chemicals and fuels that provide more sustainable value to customers. Hogsett was most recently a vice president of R&D at Mascoma. Previously, he was founder and president of Advanced Bioconversion Technologies, which was acquired by Mascoma in 2006.

Peder Holk Nielsen has been appointed president and CEO of Novozymes (Copenhagen) effective April 1, succeeding Steen Riisgaard, who steps down after 12 years at the top post. Nielsen previously served as executive vice president and head of Novozymes' enzyme business, a position he had held since 2007. He is also a member of the board of directors of Hempel and of LEO Pharma.

InterMune (Brisbane, CA, USA) has announced that Sean P. Nolan has joined the company as executive vice president and chief business officer, a newly created position. He joins InterMune from Reata Pharmaceuticals, where he served as vice president and chief commercial officer.

Stephen W. Potter has been named to the board of directors of NeoStem (New York). Most recently, he served as senior vice president of operations and corporate development for Osiris Therapeutics.

Saira Ramasastry has been named to Pain Therapeutics' (Austin, TX, USA) board of directors. She is the founder and managing partner of consulting firm Life Sciences Advisory, and was previously an investment banker at Merrill Lynch & Co.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals (Rockville, MD, USA) has appointed Peter D. Suzdak as its new CEO. He succeeds Chang Ahn, who will move into the role of chief scientist and will remain as chairman of the board. Most recently, Suzdak was CSO of Corridor Pharmaceuticals, and prior to that he was co-founder, founding CEO and CSO of Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals.

Krishnaswamy Vijayaraghavan has been appointed secretary of the Department of Biotechnology (New Delhi), India's government agency for biotech research. He succeeds Maharaj Kishen Bhan, who retired in December. Vijayaraghavan is a developmental biologist and fellow of the Royal Society. Since 1992 he has served as director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore.