Cancer metabolism and rare genetic disease treatment developer Agios Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA, USA) has announced the appointment of David Scadden (right) to its board of directors. A hematologist/oncologist and expert on the medical applications of stem cell biology, Scadden is the Gerald and Darlene Jordan Professor of Medicine at Harvard University. He founded and directs the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and co-founded and co-directs the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He is chairman and professor of Harvard's department of stem cell and regenerative biology and a scientific founder of Fate Therapeutics and Magenta Therapeutics.

“I'm delighted to join Agios' board of directors and work together to achieve a shared vision of making a difference in the lives of people with cancer,” said Scadden. “I look forward to combining my expertise with Agios' proven ability to translate internally discovered novel targets into precision medicines.” Concurrent with Scadden's appointment, Robert Nelsen, a managing partner at ARCH Venture, has announced his resignation from Agios' board of directors. Nelson has served on board since December 2007.

Human Longevity (San Diego) has announced the appointment of Saturnino (Nino) Fanlo as CFO. Fanlo brings 30 years of financial services and strategic leadership experience to HLI. He most recently served as president and CFO at online lender Social Finance, and was previously a senior advisor at Golden Gate Capital.

Former US Senate Majority Leader William Frist has joined the board of directors of Profusa (S. San Francisco, CA, USA). Frist is currently a partner and chairman of the executive council of the health services private equity firm Cressey & Co. He represented Tennessee in the US Senate for 12 years, and currently serves on the boards of publicly traded companies AECOM, Select Medical and Teladoc.

Perrigo (Dublin) has announced that John Hendrickson will retire as CEO. The company has set up a search committee, and Hendrickson will step down 60 days after a replacement is named.

Gamida Cell (Jerusalem) has named Nobel Prize Laureate Roger Kornberg and immune oncology expert Michael Perry to its board of directors. Kornberg has been a professor of structural biology at Stanford Medical School since 1978. He won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2006 for his studies of the molecular basis of transcription. Perry recently retired from Novartis, where he served as senior vice president and CSO, global business development and licensing; CSO, cell & gene therapy unit; global head, cellular therapy; and vice president, integrated hospital care franchise; and as Novartis' observer on the Gamida Cell board of directors.

Cell therapy company apceth Biopharma (Munich) has announced the appointment of Dusan Kosijer as CFO. Kosijer joined apceth in October 2016, taking over the responsibility for the company's finance strategy, operations, and accountant and purchasing team. He previously served as CFO at Accovion.

Inventiva (Daix, France) has announced the appointment Nanna Lüneborg to its board of directors, succeeding Philippe Goupit. Lüneborg is a principal of Novo Ventures, which participated in Inventiva's initial public offering in February 2017.

Mathai Mammen has been named global head of R&D at Johnson & Johnson's (J&J; New Brunswick, NJ, USA) Janssen drug development arm, succeeding William Hait. Mammen, a co-founder of Theravance Biopharma, joins J&J from Merck, where he was senior vice president. Hait will serve as global head, J&J external innovation, a newly created post that gives him oversight of the biotech incubators and network of global partnerships built up by Johnson & Johnson Innovation.

Douglas Manion has been named CEO and a member of the board of directors at Kleo Pharmaceuticals (New Haven, CT, USA). He most recently served as senior vice president, head of specialty development at Bristol-Myers Squibb and previously headed up virology at the company. He takes over from co-founder David Spiegel, who had served as CEO since September 2016. Spiegel will take on the role of president of Kleo Laboratories.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (New Haven, CT, USA) has announced the appointment of John Orloff as executive vice president and head of R&D. Orloff was formerly global head of R&D and CSO at Baxalta.

Compugen (Holon, Israel) has announced that Michal Preminger, executive director of Harvard University Office of Technology Development's Harvard Medical School site, has been appointed a director of Compugen. Preminger was a member of the management team that took Compugen public in August 2000. She is a member of the board of directors of BioArray Genetics and Israel Brain Technologies.

Constellation Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA, USA) has appointed Jigar Raythatha as president and CEO. He rejoins the company from Jounce Therapeutics, where he had served as chief business officer since December 2012. He was formerly head of corporate development at Constellation.

Heinz Schwer has been appointed CEO of ViraTherapeutics (Innsbruck, Austria), taking over from interim CEO and co-founder Dorothee von Laer, who will remain a scientific advisor. Schwer most recently served as CEO of Lanthio Pharma and was previously founder and CEO of Sloning BioTechnology.

Christoph Westphal has announced his resignation as CEO of Flex Pharma (Boston) to focus on his venture firm, the Longwood Fund. He will remain as chairman of Flex. William McVicar, currently president of R&D at Flex, will fill in as interim CEO.