Genset (Paris) has announced the appointment of Robert M. Abarbanel as chief information officer and chief technical officer. Dr. Abarbanel was most recently manager and principal scientist in mathematics and computing technology at Boeing. His previous positions include manager of the advanced technology group at Apple Computer, director of product development for IntelliCorp, an artificial intelligence company, and lead scientist at IntelliGenetics, a pioneering bioinformatics company.

PowderJect Pharmaceuticals (Oxford, UK) has announced the appointment of Staph Bakali as chief operating officer. Mr. Bakali was most recently head of worldwide sales and marketing for Chiron Vaccines. He is also expected to join the PowderJect board of directors and serve as a member of the company's executive committee.

Cypress Bioscience (San Diego, CA) has announced the appointment of John N. Bonfiglio as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Dr. Bonfiglio was most recently president and CEO of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (formerly Techniclone). In addition, the company has named Sheldon Drobny and Martin B. Keller to its board of directors. Mr. Drobny currently serves as chairman, principal, and managing director of the investment firm Paradigm Group, and Dr. Keller is currently professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry and human behavior at the Brown University School of Medicine.

Charles Cashion has been appointed executive vice president and chief financial officer of Idun Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA). He joins the company from Quidel Corp., where he was senior vice president, secretary, and CFO.

C. Thomas Caskey has been elected to Odyssey Pharmaceuticals' (San Ramon, CA) board of directors. Dr. Caskey, formerly senior vice president of research at Merck Research Laboratories and trustee and president of The Merck Genome Research Institute, also serves as chairman of the board of Lexicon Genetics and is a member of the board of Athersys.

Ulrich Delvos has been appointed senior vice president, R&D and chief scientific officer at Aventis Behring (King of Prussia, PA). Previously, Dr. Delvos was the founder and CEO of VitaResc Biotech AG and managing director of Pathogenex GmbH.

Entigen (Sunnyvale, CA) has announced the appointment of Denise Gilbert as CEO. Dr. Gilbert joins the company from Incyte, where she served most recently as executive vice president and CFO. Previously, she served as vice president and CFO at Affymax.

Triad Therapeutics (San Diego, CA) has named Christine Gray-Smith as CFO. Ms. Gray-Smith was most recently vice president of finance and CFO at Calydon, and was previously vice president of finance at SUGEN.

Chromos Molecular Systems (Burnaby, BC, Canada) has named Michael Hayden and Jeff Tomlinson to its board of directors. Dr. Hayden is scientific director of the Canadian Genetic Diseases Network and professor of medical genetics at the University of British Columbia. He also serves on the boards of Xenon Genetics, of which he is a founder, GeneSage, Excella Ventures, the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee, the Canadian Genetic Diseases Network, and Genome BC. Mr. Tomlinson is currently vice president of investments, life sciences sector at GrowthWorks Capital, and was formerly director of strategic marketing at Gene Logic.

Vaughn M. Kailian has been elected to the board of directors of NicOx (Sophia Antipolis, France). Mr. Kailian is president, CEO, and a director of COR Therapeutics, and serves on the boards of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Axys Pharmaceuticals, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the California Health Care Institute.

Elan (Dublin) has named Thomas G. Lynch to the position of executive vice chairman and Shane M. Cooke to the position of executive vice president and chief financial officer. Mr. Lynch joined Elan as executive vice president and CFO in May 1993 and was appointed to its board of directors in 1998. He is chairman of Amarin Corp. and a director of Galen Holdings, ICON, and IDA Ireland. Mr. Cooke joins Elan from Pembroke Capital, where he served as CEO.

Paul R. Schimmel has been elected chairman of the board of AvtivX Biosciences (La Jolla, CA). He is the Ernest and Jean Hahn Professor of Molecular Biology and Chemistry at Scripps Research Institute, and a cofounder of three biotechnology companies: Alkermes, Cubist, and Repligen.