"Eugene Holuka new member of the Board of Directors at Citius Pharmaceuticals

Citius Pharmaceuticals has appointed Dr Eugene Holuka to the board of directors effective June 23, 2016. Dr. Holuka is an internist and has practiced in critical care medicine for almost thirty years. He is presently an attending physician at the Staten Island University Hospital where he has practiced since 1991. The Company’s CEO and President, Myron Holubiak, noted that: “Dr. Holuka brings over thirty years’ experience in practicing critical care medicine. We will benefit from his deep knowledge when evaluating product ideas and developing ways to improve upon the standards of care that exist in medicine today. 

Dr. Holuka has been extremely helpful in this regard, and it was very clear that he could contribute to the Company even better in this capacity.”

Torsten Derr hands over the reins at Saltigo 

as Managing Director

Exactly 10 years after the very day the company was founded, Torsten Derr, currently Head of the LANXESS Board of Management’s Commercial & Supply Chain Excellence Initiative, will take over as Chief Executive Officer of Saltigo GmbH. Wolfgang Schmitz, who has been in charge of the company since 2007, will be retiring after a 41-year career in the chemical industry. 

Derr announces: 

Saltigo will continue to play a leading role in the exclusive synthesis of agrochemicals and fine chemicals. With our expertise, flexibility, innovative strength and successful project management, we will maintain and build on our market position by continuing to create added value for our customers.

Adrian Hardy as President and CEO at Envigo, 

Brian Cass appointed Executive Chairman

Envigo Board of Directors has two new members: Adrian Hardy has been appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 July 2016. 

Dr Hardy joined Envigo in 2002 and has held various roles of increasing responsibility in Sales, Strategic Marketing and Operations, most recently serving as COO.  

In related moves, Brian Cass, the previous CEO, will become Executive Chairman, and Andrew Baker, the previous Chairman, will become Chairman Emeritus and remain a Board Member. 

These changes also are effective July 1, 2016. 

Adrian Hardy commented:

I’m delighted and extremely proud to be taking on this role at such an exciting time for Envigo and the research community. I’ve worked closely with Andrew and Brian during my time with the company and would like to thank them for their contributions to making Envigo the world class company it is today. Their vision and leadership has positioned our Company as a market leader, and I look forward to continuing to work with them in their new roles as we strive to build on the growth and success of Envigo.

Robert Kim as Chief Medical Officer at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage complement immunotherapy company, appointed Robert Kim as its Chief Medical Officer. Dr Kim will help the company optimize its drug development strategy as its clinical programs progress toward late stage clinical testing. Dr Kim commented:

I am very excited to be joining Apellis, a trailblazer of new therapies for patients suffering from diseases arising from inappropriate activity of the complement system.

Dr Kim has over 30 years of clinical experience in ophthalmology. Prior to transitioning to industry, Bob completed a MBA at University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Bob started out in the life science industry in medical devices, first at Zeiss Humphrey Systems (now Carl Zeiss Meditec) working on the Stratus OCT and then at the German venture capital firm, Earlybird. He then transitioned to drug development at Genentech, where he managed the Lucentis Phase 3 clinical program through to its first approval in wet age related macular degeneration; GSK where, as VP of Clinical Ophthalmology, he helped build an early stage clinical pipeline; Novartis/Alcon where he was VP and Head of Pharmaceutical Product Development; and most recently at retina startup Vision Medicines, where he was Chief Medical Officer and Head of R&D. He is currently Associate Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at UCSF, where he continues to see patients.

David Murphy elected new Chair of EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) 

The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) has appointed Dr David Murphy from Ireland as its new Chair for the next three years. Dr Murphy has been involved in the activities of the CVMP for more than 15 years, as a member since 2009 and most recently as the Committee’s Vice-chair and Chair of the Strategic Planning Group. He is the Veterinary Assessment Manager at the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) in Ireland and a qualified veterinarian with broad expertise in the evaluation of veterinary medicines and in-depth understanding of international regulatory affairs. 

Dr Murphy said, accepting his election:

For the coming years, the CVMP has a very ambitious work programme with specific objectives in the areas of antimicrobial resistance, vaccine availability, novel therapies, consumer and environmental safety, to name but a few, and I am looking forward to leading the Committee towards delivering on our goals.