Ex-Pfizer executive Ed Mascioli joins Affinium as CEO

Affinium Pharmaceuticals has appointed former Pfizer senior executive Ed Mascioli as its new CEO.

Mascioli (pictured right) served as head of Pfizer's orphan and genetic diseases unit from 2010 to 2012, where his accomplishments included a $210m deal with Zacharon to develop drugs for orphan diseases.

Prior to his time at Pfizer, Mascioli was chief medical officer at Peptimmune – a spin-out from Genzyme that developed the investigational multiple sclerosis treatment PI-2301 ahead of the compound's acquisition by Merck KGaA in 2011.

He has also held a senior position at Parexel and was the founder of the Boston Center of Nutrition.

Mascioli is joined at Affinium by another newcomer, Robert Radie, who is appointed to the board of directors.

Radie is currently president and CEO of Egalet, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing tamper-resistant pain medicines.

The appointments come as Affinium prepares to progress the development of its antibiotic AFN-1252 for staphylococcal infections.

According to the company, the oral formulation of AFN-1252 is finishing phase IIa trials, and the intravenous formulation is completing pre-clinical studies.