Evoke Pharma has expanded its senior team with the appointment of a chief medical officer and senior director of clinical operations.
Dr Marilyn Carlson takes on the former role while Dr Wayne Alves is appointed the latter.
The appointments come as biopharma company Evoke Pharma prepares to initiate a phase III trial of its lead drug candidate EVK-001 for gastroparesis, which is expected to commence in the first half of 2014.
Dr Carlson is one of the founders of Agility Clinical, a contract research organisation (CRO) that focuses on orphan drug development.
She has also held senior roles at life science companies Synteract, Prometheus Laboratories, Xoma and Procter & Gamble.
Dr Alves joins from Sage Clinical Development where he served as president and principal consultant.
He has also held roles at Cadence, Valeant and Xcel.