Finland's Faron Pharmaceuticals appoints new medical director

Dr Matti Karvonen has moved from Roche to join Finland's Faron Pharmaceuticals as its new medical director.

He previously served as Roche's European medical lead and prior to that held roles with Novartis and Biogen, as well as several consultancies.

Dr Karvonen has a background in clinical neurology and in the early part of his career he held several research positions, including as research director for the University of Turku's Clinical Research Services Turku (CRST) unit.

In his new role he will join Turku-based Faron's executive management team and oversee its drug development strategy, including its clinical programmes for Traumakine and Clevegen.

Dr Markku Jalkanen, CEO of Faron, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dr Karvonen to our ambitious executive management team. His appointment comes at an important time for Faron as we expand our clinical activities.

“Our lead drug candidate Traumakine, for the treatment of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is now in a pan-European phase III INTEREST trial, while clinical development for Clevegen, our novel cancer immunotherapy drug candidate is under active planning.”