UTEK-Pax, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UTEK Corporation, has recruited Clare Thompson as chief technology alliance officer. Thompson has spent the previous 18 months as a healthcare and life sciences consultant.
Almedica North America, provider of clinical trial material management services, has promoted Chris Brown (above) to the role of director of operations process and labelling, where he will be responsible for crafting and implementation of operations process improvements.
Merck KGaA has named Peter Shotter as the new head of its Consumer Health Care (CHC) division. Shotter joined Merck in February 2002 as managing director of its CHC business in the UK, Seven Seas, and prior to that held various management positions with Boots the Chemists, where he served as director of healthcare businesses and director of stores. He takes over from Volker Keidtel, who retired in October 2004, after five years in the job.
Richard Montanaro has joined Centriquip, a specialist in the supply of decanter centrifuges for dewatering and thickening operations across all market sectors, as managing director, taking over from John Ball who has moved to become technical director.
Arena Pharmaceuticals has appointed Louis J. Lavigne, Jr, to its board of directors. Lavigne is executive vice president and chief financial officer of fellow US biotech company Genentech and will add further depth and expertise to Arena's board.
Dr Christopher Moyses has been appointed r&d director and has become an executive member of the board of directors, of Pharmagene. He will be responsible for managing the company's proprietary pharmaceutical r&d and will work alongside Dr Robert Coleman, chief scientific officer.
James Cooke (below) has joined Freeman Technology as an applications scientist. Cooke joins from the Welding Institute Technology Centre, Wales, where he worked as a research engineer on a range of projects in partnership with companies such as Rolls Royce and Corus, and has a background in materials science and engineering.
PowderMed, a company focusing on the development of therapeutic DNA vaccines, has appointed Adam Christie as chief business officer. His most recent position was as business development director of PPL Therapeutics. He has previously he has worked for GlaxoSmithKline, Fisons, Abbott Laboratories and Schering.
Metabasis Therapeutics has appointed Julie Cunningham, former senior vice president of investor relations at Qualcomm Incorporated, as vice president of investor relations and corporate communications at Metabasis. Cunningham spent 10 years at Qualcomm until she retired 18 months ago. She is credited with building Qualcomm's respected, world-class investor relations and communications function.