People spotlight — July 2021

The venture capital firm General Catalyst announced that Kenneth C. Frazier, Merck executive chairman and former CEO, will be joining the firm in the newly created role of chairman, health assurance initiatives.

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharma company, has appointed Jennifer Moses, CPA, to the company’s board of directors and as chair of the audit committee. Moses currently serves as chief financial officer at G1 Therapeutics, Inc., a commercial-stage oncology company.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) appointed Brendan Sullivan as IATA’s global head of cargo, effective immediately. Sullivan has worked in air cargo for 20 years, including spending 14 years at IATA. Since January, he has been acting global head of cargo alongside his role as head of cargo operations and e-commerce.

Syneos Health, a biopharma clinical and commercial solutions organization, announced the appointment of Michael Brooks to the newly created role of chief development officer. In this role, Brooks will help drive Syneos Health’s growth strategy, building a broader, proactive go-to-market ecosystem.

Mary Evelyn Hudson. Credit: LinkedIn

Woodstock Sterile Solutions, a blow-fill-seal (BFS) contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has hired two new account directors. Mary Evelyn Hudson is the company’s new account director for the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US. Gregory Telfer serves as the account director for Canada, the Upper Midwest, and Northeastern United States.

Certara, a biosimulation company, has appointed Nicolette D. Sherman to the position of chief human resources officer. Sherman joins Certara with experience in the biopharma industry, leading HR strategy and implementing programs to drive business impact.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial-stage biopharma company focused on in-licensing, developing and commercializing medicines for patients living with rare diseases, announced the appointment of Dr. Preethi Sundaram as chief product development officer. This position will report to the CEO. Dr. Sundaram has more than 20 years of experience leading, managing and mentoring teams delivering medicines to patients.

Sean Murphy. Credit: Business Wire

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced that Alan Sachs, who has served as chief scientific officer since 2016, will take over the new role of chief medical officer and will be succeeded by Karen E. Nelson, previously president of the J. Craig Venter Institute, a non-profit genomics research institue. Both will join the company leadership team in August.

Quantori, a data science and digital transformation services company for the life sciences and healthcare sectors, has named Sean Murphy as vice president of client services, effective immediately. Sean will oversee Quantori’s global network of information technology (IT) professionals providing software engineering and data analytics services to biopharma and healthcare companies.

Centogene N.V., a commercial-stage company focused on generating data-driven insights to diagnose, understand and treat rare diseases, announced the appointment of Dr. Patrice P. Denèfle as chief scientific officer. Dr. Denèfle will join Centogene on Aug. 16, succeeding Phil Lambert, who has decided to leave the company. Dr. Denèfle has over 35 years of experience at pharma and biotech companies in Europe and the US.