Ariad Pharmaceuticals has appointed Alexander Denner to the company’s board of directors.
Denner is currently chief investment officer of investment firm Sarissa Capital Management and has served as senior managing director at Icahn Capital and as portfolio manager at both Viking Global Investors and Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
His pharma experience includes director roles at Biogen Idec and Vivus.
Ariad will look to benefit Denner’s experience as it prepares to grow the market share of leukaemia drug Iclusig (ponatinib).
The drug was approved at the end of 2012 in the US and in 2013 in the EU, although later faced safety reviews in both regions after it was linked to the development of blood clots.
Both the FDA and EMA concluded that the drug should continue to be available although with updated safety information.
Ariad also announced that another director is due to join the board, bringing the total number of board members to 10.