People on the Move: Specialty Pharma Companies

 

Raj Kannan has been made CEO of Chiasma Inc. The former CEO, Mark Fitzpatrick, continues to serve as president. Chiasma is focused on improving the lives of patients who face challenges associated with their existing treatments by developing oral medications that are currently available only as injections.

James Green was tapped as president and CEO of Harvard Bioscience Inc. Additionally, Harvard Bioscience’s board appointed Bertrand Loy as lead independent director.

Manoj Pananchukunnath has been appointed as chief scientific officer, Georges Ibrahim is the new chief quality officer, and Omair Ahmed assumes the role of interim chief finance officer at Julphar. Other new appointments at the company are Jacques Safarian as the chief commercial officer in charge of sales, global marketing, business support, and MEBO marketing; Samir Mardini as the chief human resources officer, and Rita Karam as head of legal affairs. Julphar is one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Middle East and Africa.

Alessandra Cesano, M.D., Ph.D. is now chief medical officer of ESSA Pharma Inc. Dr. Cesano was the chief medical officer at NanoString Technologies Inc. ESSA is focused on developing novel and proprietary therapies for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Mark Litton, Ph.D., MBA, has become chief operating officer of Athira Pharma. Dr. Litton is co-founder of Alder BioPharmaceuticals, where he served as chief business officer and treasurer from 2004 to 2018. Athira is a drug development company striving to improve human health by advancing new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.