Pharma Pool
Dr. Julie Gerberding
Merck Strengthens Executive Team
Merck has named Julie Gerberding, M.D., as executive VP for strategic communications, global public policy and population health. In this newly created executive committee position, Dr. Gerberding, who most recently served as president of Merck Vaccines, is responsible for Merck’s global public policy, corporate responsibility and communications functions, as well as the Merck Foundation and the Merck for Mothers program. Dr. Gerberding is also leading new partnership initiatives that accelerate Merck’s ability to contribute to improved population health, a measure of impact that is increasingly valued by governments and other global health organizations.
Biotech Pool
Dr. Jeremy Graff
Biothera Names Senior VP of Pharmaceutical Research
Biothera, a privately held U.S. biotechnology company, is developing Imprime PGG, a late clinical stage biologic that modulates the immune response to cancer, has appointed Jeremy Graff, Ph.D., as senior VP, research, for its pharmaceutical group. Most recently, Dr. Graff served as a research fellow and group leader, oncology patient tailoring, at Eli Lilly and Company.
William Hodder
Protagonist Therapeutics Names Senior VP, Corporate Development
Protagonist Therapeutics, a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of orally stable peptides for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and other gastrointestinal diseases and disorders, has appointed William Hodder as senior VP, corporate development.
Mr. Hodder joins the company with more than 28 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.
Mr. Hodder joins Protagonist from his own consulting practice, where he has assisted both private and public biotech companies with fundraising, business development, and marketing activities.
Discovery Pool
Dr. Deborah Law
Jounce Therapeutics Appoints Chief Scientific Officer
Jounce Therapeutics, a company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer immunotherapies coupled to patient selection strategies, has appointed Deborah Law, D. Phil., to the position of chief scientific officer. Dr. Law brings to Jounce almost two decades of experience in biologics drug discovery and development, particularly in the fields of oncology and immunology.
Dr. Law joins Jounce from Merck, where she most recently served as VP of therapy area biology for immunology, oncology, and immunomodulators. In this role, she was responsible for bringing cancer immunotherapy compounds from discovery to the clinic.
Agency Pool
Dane Hartung
PulseCX Names Strategic Account Lead
PulseCX has named Dane Hartung senior VP account and strategy. During his 24-year career, Mr. Hartung has worked in global roles supporting in-line and life-cycle products at Merck and within different operating companies at J&J, establishing strategic planning processes, forecasting, customer segmentation, and implementation for new and existing products as well as new indications.
As strategic account lead at PulseCX, Mr. Hartung is responsible for driving internal and external cross-functional teams and leveraging opportunities to strengthen strategic dialogues that uncover the emotional decisions that customers make about brands.
Ann Kottcamp
Helen West
MMG Names President and COO
MMG, a global full-service patient recruitment group that is part of Ketchum, has promoted Ann Kottcamp to chief operating officer from VP of client services. Since she joined MMG in 2010, Ms. Kottcamp has used her 20 years of experience in patient recruitment to build upon the strengths of MMG’s program delivery teams and elevate their capabilities. In her new role, Ms. Kottcamp is charged with looking strategically across the company to maximize performance and client value.
In oth
er company news, Helen West has been named president. She succeeds John Benbrook, who is departing MMG to become CEO of a Pennsylvania-based publishing company. Ms. West, whose most recent role was VP of strategic development, is a pharmaceutical industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in clinical research. Ms. West joined MMG in 2005 as general medicine therapeutic lead, developing and executing global patient recruitment and retention programs across indications and patient populations.
CRO Pool
Dr. John Hubbard
BioClinica Names CEO
BioClinica, a provider of specialty outsourced clinical trial services, has named John Hubbard, Ph.D., as CEO and a member of the board of directors. A seasoned pharmaceutical executive, Dr. Hubbard, joins the company from Pfizer, where he served as senior VP and worldwide head of development operations. Dr. Hubbard assumes the CEO position from Mark Weinstein.
Technology Pool
John Musante
Clinverse Names Chief Commercial Officer
Clinverse, a provider of automated financial management technology solutions for clinical trials, has appointed John Musante as chief commercial officer. He brings more than 25 years of experience across industry sectors, including healthcare, technology, and life sciences. Before joining Clinverse, Mr. Musante served as senior VP, business development, at INC Research, where he led a team of account executives.
