Michael Moore (right) has been named nonexecutive chairman of Oxford BioTherapeutics (Oxford, UK). Moore brings several decades of senior management experience in the biotech sector and joins the board after five years as CEO of Piramed Ltd. Previously, he was CSO and research director of Xenova Group. In addition, Oxford BioTherapeutics recently announced the appointment of Jim Cornett as COO, Mike Gresser as CSO and Jon Terrett as vice president, oncology, to lead its US R&D operations.

Moore comments, “I am delighted to join Oxford BioTherapeutics at this exciting time in the company's development.”

Xencor (Monrovia, CA, USA) has named Bruce Carter (right) chairman of the board. Carter joined ZymoGenetics in 1986 as vice president of R&D. After Novo Nordisk acquired the company, he was promoted to corporate executive vice president and CSO for Novo Nordisk. He led the negotiations that spun out ZymoGenetics as an independent company in 2000 and most recently served as ZymoGenetics' CEO. He continues to serve as chairman of the board of ZymoGenetics.

Mirna Therapeutics (Austin, TX, USA) has named Chris Earl, Corey S. Goodman and Evan Melrose as outside directors to its board. Earl was the first president and CEO of BIO Ventures for Global Health and also served as managing director of Perseus Capital and the Perseus-Soros BioPharmaceutical Fund. Goodman is currently an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and most recently served as president of Pfizer's Biotherapeutics & Bioinnovation Center. Melrose is the founder of PTV Sciences and was formerly a director with Burrill & Company.

Hana Biosciences (S. San Francisco, CA, USA) has announced the appointment of Howard Furst to its board. Furst has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry and is currently a partner at Deerfield Management. Hana also announced the departure of Arie Belldegrun from the board after six years of service.

The BioIndustry Association (London) has announced the appointment of Nigel Gaymond as its new CEO. Gaymond began in sales and marketing at IBM in the UK and moved to the British Consulate-General in Boston, where he ran the commercial department in assisting the UK's biotech, healthcare and agriculture exports. Upon his departure, he established the consultancy Gaymond International.

Millipore (Billerica, MA, USA) has named Robert S. Langer to the company's board of directors, replacing Daniel Bellus, a Millipore director since 2000, who will retire from the board on March 8, 2010. Langer is the David H. Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He serves on the board of MIT's McGovern Institute and the Whitehead Institute.

Affymetrix (Santa Clara, CA, USA) has named Andrew J. Last as chief commercial officer. He was previously vice president, global marketing and strategic planning of BD Biosciences' cell analysis unit and general manager of Pharmingen.

Pepscan Holding (Lelystad, The Netherlands) has appointed Wim E.M. Mol as CEO. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the pharma industry, most recently at Schering Plough where he was vice president responsible for the global scientific development and commercial strategy of a phase 3 project in an alliance with a subsidiary of Merck-Serono.

Gary Palmer, who most recently served as vice president of medical affairs at Genomic Health, has been appointed chief medical officer at On-Q-ity (Waltham, MA, USA), a diagnostics company developing products to improve cancer therapy effectiveness.

Infinity Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA, USA) has announced that Adelene Q. Perkins will become the company's president and CEO and join the board of directors in accordance with an existing management succession plan. Founder, CEO and current chairman Steven H. Holtzman will continue full-time involvement with the company as executive chair of the board. Perkins joined Infinity in 2002 and currently serves as president and chief business officer.

Privately held NormOxys (Wellesley, MA, USA) has appointed Martin Tolar president and CEO. Tolar has held senior positions in pharma and biotech, most recently at CoMentis, where he served as CSO and later executive vice president and chief business officer. In addition, NormOxys announced the appointment of David Clark as its first chief medical officer. Clark previously served in Pfizer's clinical development division.

Diagnostics company Vermillion (Fremont, CA, USA) has named William C. Wallen to its board of directors. Wallen is CSO and senior vice president, R&D for IDEXX Laboratories.

Dennis Winger has been appointed to serve on the board of directors of Nektar Therapeutics (San Carlos, CA, USA). He is currently a director of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon and Accuray, having retired in 2008 from Applera where he served as senior vice president and CFO.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA, USA) has announced the appointment of Nancy J. Wysenski as executive vice president and chief commercial officer. Wysenski previously held the position of COO at Endo Pharmaceuticals and she was a co-founder, president and CEO of EMD Pharmaceuticals.

William D. Young, formerly chairman and CEO of Monogram Biosciences, has been named chairman of the board of Biogen Idec (Cambridge, MA, USA), succeeding Bruce R. Ross, who has retired from the board. Young previously served as Genentech's COO. Biogen Idec also announced that Marijn E. Dekkers, a director since May 2007, has stepped down from the board. Dekkers is the incoming CEO of Bayer HealthCare.