Clinical stage biopharmaceutical group Axovant has appointed Gavin Corcoran as its new executive vice president of research and development.
Corcoran’s career history has seen him supervise drug development across multiple therapeutic areas including neurology and psychiatry.
Most recently, Corcoran served as chief medical officer at Allergan and before that he was Actavis’ chief medical officer.
Throughout his career he has served in numerous roles for Celgene, Amgen, Schering-Plough and Bayer.
Corcoran said: “I look forward to working closely with the senior management team to bring new investigational medicines into the portfolio as we build upon Axovant’s capabilities in research and development.
“We have a wonderful opportunity to develop life-changing medicines for patients with CNS diseases.
“I am also eager to leverage the Roivant platform to accelerate the development of Axovant’s pipeline.”
Meanwhile, Teva’s former chief scientific officer Michael Hayden will also join Axovant, serving as its chairman of the scientific advisory board.
Prior to his time at Teva as its president of global research and development and chief scientific officer, Hayden founded multiple biotechnology companies including Aspreva Pharmaceuticals.
Pavan Cheruvu, chief executive officer, Axovant, said: “Since starting as CEO in February, I have been focused on transforming Axovant into a leaner organisation, introducing heightened standards of quality and excellence throughout the business, and establishing a new pipeline strategy.
“We are now poised for growth, and I am excited to have Gavin and Michael join us as we look toward expanding our pipeline in the coming months.”