Xenotransplantation biotech eGenesis (Cambridge, MA, USA) has announced the appointment of Jodie Morrison (right) as president and CEO. Morrison brings over 20 years of experience in the pharma and biotech industries, most recently as president and CEO of Tokai Pharmaceuticals after serving as COO and head of clinical affairs. Before that, she was the director of clinical operations and medical affairs at Dyax. Morrison serves on the board of directors of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Aileron Therapeutics and Novus Therapeutics.

“I am excited to be joining the eGenesis team to be part of a company that is leveraging groundbreaking gene editing technology to provide next generation xenotransplantation opportunities,” said Morrison. “My early experience with xenotransplantation provided me an opportunity to see its potential first hand. With eGenesis, I'm looking forward to bringing forward the next generation of this technology and working together to have a significant impact on the lives of patients in dire need.”

Cellect Biotechnology (Tel Aviv) has named Ronit Bakimer-Kleiner chief development officer, replacing Yaron Pereg. Bakimer-Kleiner has over 20 years of experience as a scientist and executive manager in the biotech industry. She was formerly general manager of Cognate Bioservices and was the laboratory director of the International Center for Cell Therapy & Cancer of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center as well as director of cell therapy at Proneuron Biotechnologies.

Translate Bio (Cambridge, MA, USA) has named Daniella Beckman to its board of directors. Beckman will also serve as chairperson of the board's audit committee. She has over 15 years of experience in the biotech industry and currently provides consulting and interim CFO services for early-stage biotechs including Tango Therapeutics and Neon Therapeutics. She was CFO of Idenix Pharmaceuticals until it was acquired by Merck in 2014.

Abivax (Paris) has announced the appointment of Christian Bréchot to its scientific advisory board. Bréchot has held leadership positions with the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), the Institut Mérieux and the Bioaster Technology Research Institute. He recently stepped down as president of the Pasteur Institute.

Rubius Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA, USA) has appointed Chris Carpenter as chief medical officer. Carpenter most recently served as senior vice president and head of the cancer epigenetics department at GlaxoSmithKline. Before GSK, he was at Merck and led the development of MK-4827, which became Tesaro's Zejula (niraparib).

Advanced genomic testing company Sema4 (Stamford, CT, USA) has named Alan B. Copperman chief medical officer. Copperman is director of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility and vice chairman of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and is managing partner at Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York.

Noxxon Pharma (Berlin) has announced that board member Don deBethizy has been elected as the new chairman of the supervisory board; former chairman Hubert Birner will remain a member of the board; and board member Olivier Litzka has stepped down from the board. Before joining the Noxxon board in 2014, deBethizy served as CEO, chairman and board member for public and private companies in the US and Europe over a 30-year career.

Andrew Kay has been appointed chairman of the board of NeRRe Therapeutics (Stevenage, UK), taking over from Kaasim Mahmood of investment firm Advent Life Sciences, who remains on the board. Kay was previously CEO of Algeta, which was sold to Bayer in 2014, and chief commercial officer and a board director of Renovo.

Katerina Leftheris has joined Pliant Therapeutics (Redwood City, CA, USA) as vice president of chemistry. She brings more than 20 years of small molecule drug discovery and development experience. Previously, she was site head of discovery chemistry for Celgene in San Diego. In addition, Pliant announced that John Curnutte, executive vice president of R&D at Portola Pharmaceuticals, has been appointed to the board of directors.

Privately owned Apeiron Biologics (Vienna) has named Peter Llewellyn-Davies CFO and chief business officer. Llewellyn-Davies has over 25 years of financial and licensing experience in the chemical, biotech and pharma industries at Medigene, Wilex and his own consulting firm, Accellerate Partners.

Vincent Miller (right) has been appointed to the board of directors of Revolution Medicines (Redwood City, CA, USA), replacing Michael Bonney, who has been a director and advisor to the company since its early days and recently joined Kaleido Biosciences as CEO and chairman. Miller will continue to serve as chief medical officer of Foundation Medicine.

Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless has been appointed the 15th director of the National Cancer Institute (Rockville, MD, USA), part of the US National Institutes of Health, succeeding Harold E. Varmus, who stepped down as director in March 2015. Douglas R. Lowy has been NCI's acting director since April 2015. Sharpless comes to NCI from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, where he served as director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and as the Wellcome Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research.

Jan van de Winkel has been appointed chairman of the board of directors of immunotherapy developer Hookipa Biotech (Vienna). A cofounder of antibody developer Genmab, van de Winkel served as president of R&D and CSO until his appointment as president and CEO in 2010. Previously, he was vice president and scientific director of Medarex Europe.