APPOINTMENTS: Apellis, Araim, Ascendis, Chronos, Intrexon and Proteostasis

Chrono Therapeutics Inc., a private biotech company focused on ageing diseases, brain and nervous system disorders, has named Drs. Fraser Murray and Timothy Schulz-Utermoehl vice presidents of pre-clinical development. The pair join Chronos from Polleo Pharma, a UK biotech start-up company they co-founded, and will be responsible for three preclinical research programs recently acquired by Chronos from Shire PLC – these include a dopamine active transporter inhibitor program in multiple sclerosis fatigue and the company's orexin 1 antagonist program in addictive behaviors. Both Murray and Schulz-Utermoehl have previously held leadership roles at Shire plc, AstraZeneca PLC and Merck & Co. Inc. Prior to founding Polleo Pharma Murray was senior director and head of discovery biology for Shire Speciality Pharmaceuticals; and Schulz-Utermoehl was a director within the exploratory projects department for Shire.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapeutic compounds for the treatment of autoimmune diseases based upon complement immunotherapy, has appointed Dr. Robert Kim chief medical officer. Kim will help the company optimize its drug development strategy as its clinical programs progress toward late-stage clinical testing. Most recently Kim was CMO and head of R&D at startup Vision Medicines. He is currently an associate clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Araim Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, has appointed Ferdinand Breedveld, chair of its board of directors. Breedveld will succeed Dr. Tony Cerami, who has been chair of the board since founding the company in 2006. Cerami will remain involved with Araim Pharmaceuticals as chair of the scientific advisory committee, focusing his efforts on the scientific advancement of the company's innate repair receptor (IRR) platform.

Ascendis Pharma AS, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has appointed Scott T. Smith senior vice president and chief financial officer. Smith was most recently director of the healthcare investment banking group at Wedbush Securities, from 2012 to 2016, where he led the healthcare team and oversaw a substantial increase in revenue and transaction volume. Ascendis Pharma is developing an internal pipeline of therapeutics using its TransCon technology to address unmet medical needs in rare disease indications. TransCon technology can be applied to a broad range of drug therapies, including proteins, peptides and small molecules, to create "prodrugs" that provide predictable and sustained release of an unmodified parent drug.

Intrexon Corp. has named Dr. Andrew J. Last chief operating officer, effective August 29, 2016. Last, who will oversee operations across the company's multiple technology divisions and operating subsidiaries, will report to Intrexon's president Geno Germano. Most recently Last was executive vice president and COO of Affymetrix Inc. where he was responsible for directing five business units – overseeing strategic marketing, product management, R&D, clinical operations, regulatory affairs, quality assurance and overall manufacturing operations.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule therapeutics to treat diseases caused by dysfunctional protein processing such as cystic fibrosis, has named James M. DeTore chief financial officer, Dr. Geoffrey S. Gilmartin chief development officer, Dr. Marija Zecevic vice president of business development and Eric B. Rabinowitz a new member of the company’s board of directors. DeTore joins the company from bluebird bio Inc., where he was CFO from 2014 through 2016, leading the company’s financings and investor relations strategies, and helping to raise over $720m in capital. Most recently Gilmartin was senior medical lead for global medicines development at AstraZeneca. Zecevic, the founder and managing director of consulting firm Zebra Ventures, has collaborated with Proteostasis on multiple projects since July 2014. Finally, Rabinowitz – who is currently vice president of global corporate development at Perrigo Company PLC – will replace Conor Walshe as a member of Proteostasis' board.