Genentech appointments

Biotech giant Genentech have made three vice president appointments in the company's product operations, regulatory, and research groups: the appointment of Dr David Broad, to vice president and general manager, Oceanside Product Operations; the appointment of John Pinion to vice president, external quality; and the appointment of Dr Michael Varney, to vice president, small molecule drug discovery.

David Broad, 52, will join Genentech as vice president and general manager, Oceanside Product Operations. Broad will be responsible for the facilities and engineering, information technology, manufacturing, and manufacturing technology departments at the Oceanside facility, reporting to Dr Patrick Yang, senior vice president, product operations.

Broad will join Genentech with the acquisition of the Oceanside manufacturing facility from Biogen Idec. He was vice president and general manager of Biogen Idec's West Coast Manufacturing Operations since October 2000. In that role, he was responsible for the design, engineering, construction and startup of the large-scale biotech bulk substance manufacturing facility in Oceanside, California.

'We are very pleased that David will be continuing his leadership role and joining Genentech with the acquisition of the biologics manufacturing facility in Oceanside, California,' said Yang. 'David has been involved with the Oceanside facility since its inception, and is well respected by his fellow employees and colleagues as a hands-on, thoughtful leader who understands the technical, scientific, engineering, operational and organisational aspects of this new biotech production organisation.'

John Pinion, 39, will join Genentech on July 18 in a newly created position as vice president, external quality. In this role, Pinion will be responsible for setting Genentech's domestic and international long-term outsourcing strategies for bulk manufacturing, filling, packaging and logistics. Pinion will also provide leadership direction for Genentech's management of strategic quality relationships with domestic and international partners, ensuring that quality and compliance are documented and met at Genentech's contractor locations. He will report to Dr Robert Garnick, senior vice president, regulatory, quality and compliance.

'John has more than 17 years of global experience providing executive leadership and expertise in quality and manufacturing management of device, drug and biologic operations in North America, Canada, Australia, Asia and Western Europe,' said Garnick. 'We believe Genentech's efforts to continuously improve its quality and compliance programs will benefit from John's extensive experience.'

Dr Michael Varney, 47, joins Genentech as vice president, Small Molecule Drug Discovery. In this newly created position, Varney is responsible for directing the small molecule drug discovery efforts at Genentech and oversees the departments of medicinal chemistry, small molecule assays and screening, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, and early stage formulation. Varney reports to Dr Marc Tessier-Lavigne, senior vice president, research drug discovery.

'Michael is an accomplished drug hunter who will be a tremendous asset to our research organisation,' said Tessier-Lavigne. 'Given his extensive experience in drug discovery and development and his exceptional track record as a leader, I am confident that he will make significant contributions to our drug discovery efforts as a member of the r&d leadership team.'

'With the continued expansion of our efforts to develop breakthrough therapies for unmet medical needs in oncology, we have been growing our small molecule drug discovery activities both internally and through collaborations,' said Dr Richard Scheller, executive vice president, Research. Michael's breadth and depth of experience make him the perfect leader for these activities.

He is well-known and well-respected throughout the drug discovery community and he will be a superb addition to Genentech's Research department, both as a scientist and as a leader.'