Shire promotes Dr Jeff Jonas to lead regenerative medicines business

Shire has promoted Dr Jess Jonas to president of its regenerative medicines business in a move that will also see him join the pharma company's leadership team.

Shire's regenerative medicines business was formed through its 2011 acquisition of Advanced BioHealing and Dr Jonas takes over from Kevin Rakin, who joined Advanced BioHealing in 2007. 

Dr Jonas said: “Shire's regenerative medicine business has so much potential; it serves a growing patient population with unmet needs and we have an excellent, differentiated product in Dermagraft, already commercialised for diabetic foot ulcers. We're exploring other possible indications for Dermagraft and we believe we can expand its use into new geographies.

“The science and technology in regenerative medicine is developing well and we see many opportunities to acquire other exciting assets to build a robust and attractive pipeline.”

Dr Jonas moved to Shire in 2008, prior to which he served as executive vice president at Isis Pharmaceuticals in charge of clinical and pre-clinical development, regulatory affairs, quality assurance and compliance.

Before this, he was chief medical officer and executive vice president at Forest Laboratories and began his career at Upjohn Laboratories, where he rose to become chief medical officer.

He most recently served as head of Shire's specialty R&D team, a role that will be filled by Arnaud Partiot, who is a qualified psychiatrist and has been a senior member of the Shire specialty pharmaceuticals team in various roles since joining the company in 2004.

Meanwhile, Kevin Rakin is stepping down as regenerative medicine president and from the Shire leadership team to pursue new career interests.

The changes come ahead of new Shire chief executive Flemming Ornskov joining the company in January. Ornskov will spend time with each of the company's businesses, beginning with Shire's specialty pharmaceuticals unit.