BioSpace Movers & Shakers, Jan. 3

AstraZeneca – From now on, AstraZeneca’s Mene Pangalos, head of biopharmaceuticals R&D, will be referred to as Sir Mene Pangalos. The longtime researcher received a knighthood from the Queen of England on Jan. 1. Pangalos has entered into the roles of Knights Bachelor “for services to U.K. science,” according to the release from the office of the Queen. AstraZeneca said Pangalos has been the “driving force” behind an almost five-fold improvement in R&D productivity at the U.K.-based company. On Twitter, Pangalos said he was “humbled” by the experience. “As Steve Jobs said ‘Great things are never done by one person; they’re done by teams of people.’ I have been lucky enough to work with some brilliant people & teams. Let’s keep rewriting medical textbooks & turning science into medicine,” he wrote on Twitter. Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive officer, called the knighthood a “fitting recognition” of Pangalos’ commitment to science and drug discovery in the United Kingdom. “He has driven the transformation of research and development at AstraZeneca, with a remarkable improvement in productivity in recent years, and he is now accelerating efforts in the digital transformation of R&D,” Soriot said in a statement.

Fountain Medical – A leading China-based clinical research organization, Fountain Medical, tapped a new co-chairman of its board of directors and a new CEO. Ling Zhen, who most recently served as a partner at Draper Dragon Venture Group, assumed the new positions. Zhen has over 25 years of professional experience in the CRO and life science industries, both in China and the US. Most recently, In addition to the venture capital organization, Zhen spent over 12 years at IQVIA (previously known as Quintiles) where he served as a global senior vice president and the General Manager of Greater China. Prior to IQVIA and Quintiles, Zhen also worked in business development, portfolio management, and strategic consulting Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Ernst &Young.

Aridis Pharmaceuticals – California-based Aridis named Michael A. Nazak as its chief financial officer. Nazak, who joined Aridis in November 2018, has been serving as vice president of finance. He replaces Fred Kurland who retired from the company but will continue to support Aridis as a consultant. Prior to joining Aridis, Nazak served as senior vice president of Finance at Coherus Biosciences, Inc. Previously he was the senior director of finance & accounting at InteKrin Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Prior to that, Nazak served as the Corporate Controller for Reliant Technologies, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of medical laser devices, and in a similar position at Connetics Corporation. Nazak also held other finance and accounting positions at Cygnus Solutions (a Red Hat company), and MIPS Computer Systems, and was previously an auditor with Coopers & Lybrand LLP.

Enzo Biochem – Rebecca J. Fisher, the CFO of Bellevue Hospital in New York was named to the board of directors of Enzo Biochem. Fischer takes the place of Gregory M. Bortz who has retired from the board, although he will remain with the board for a short term to help complete the company’s strategic plan. She has been appointed to the Audit, Compensation and Nominating/Governance Committees and she will be the Chair of the Audit Committee. She will stand for election at the upcoming Annual Shareholder meeting. Dov Perlysky, a member of the board since 2012, will replace Bortz as lead independent director of the company.

The Columbus Organization – Pennsylvania-based The Columbus Organization, a provider of case management services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities announced that Jeff Klimaski has been promoted to the role of CEO and president.

Intrexon – Maryland-based Intrexon Corporation started the new year with a name change and new CEO. The company, now known as Percigen, Inc., will be led by Helen Sabzevari. She previously served as president of a company subsidiary and is now its new president and chief executive officer. Sabzevari takes over the reins of the company from Randall Kirk, who was named executive chairman of the board of directors. As CEO, Sabzevari will be tasked with improving the lives of patients “with novel therapies that harness transformational approaches in gene and cell therapies, microbe-based biotherapeutics, and regenerative medicine.”