People Spotlight — December 2022

Johnson & Johnson has elected CEO, Joaquin Duato, to assume the additional position of chairman, effective January 2023. He succeeds Alex Gorsky, who will step down from his role as executive chairman following a brief transitional period. Duato has served as J&J’s CEO and a member of the board of directors since Jan. 3, 2022. Prior to that time, he held senior leadership positions over his 30-plus year career with the company across multiple business sectors, geographics, and functions.

Rho, a full-service contract research organization (CRO), has appointed J. Marc Pipas, MD, as its senior medical director. In this global role, Dr. Pipas will provide medical expertise to sponsors and build upon Rho’s therapeutic-area expertise, including oncology.

JUICE Pharma Worldwide, a privately-held, full-service global creative marketing communications agency focused on healthcare, announced that Katya Petrova has been appointed chief business officer, a new position. She will be responsible for providing JUICE clients with direction and oversight from inception through execution. Petrova will report directly to Lynn Macrone and Forrest King, co-CEOs.

Katya Petrova

Deloitte has appointed Pete Lyons as national sector leader for the life sciences practice in the US. Lyons succeeds Mike DeLone, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, who is moving to a new position as customer and marketing portfolio leader and US head of Deloitte Digital. In his new role, Lyons will lead a multi-disciplinary team serving clients across the pharma, biotech, medical technology, and consumer health care segments through consulting, advisory, audit, and tax services.

Spartech, a manufacturer of engineered thermoplastics and custom packaging solutions, has appointed Gary Orenstein as its new VP, sales and marketing. He previously served as the company’s director of sales.

Safecor Health, who specializes in pharmaceutical unit-dose packaging services for hospitals and health systems, and Vesey Street Capital Partners, a middle-market healthcare services private equity firm, have appointed Mark Parrish as chairman of Safecor's board of directors. He has served as a member of the company's board since March 2022 and has brought a wealth of experience in the pharma and healthcare supply chain industry. Parrish was previously the CEO for healthcare supply chain services at Cardinal Health.

Absci Corporation, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) drug creation company, has brought on Meta Connectivity VP Dan Rabinovitsj as the newest member of its board of directors. With three decades of leadership in scaling technologies, innovating business models, and growing companies, he will offer strategic insights, as Absci continues to scale its unprecedented combination of AI and wet lab capabilities to help create better biologics for patients.

physIQ, a software company, has appointed Jason Luke, MD, FACP—a recognized expert in immuno-oncology, professor of medicine, and clinical practitioner—to its medical advisory board. In this role, Dr. Luke will provide medical counsel for physIQ’s ongoing development of solutions to aide in oncology treatments, including physIQ’s development of digital biomarkers for inflammation.

PayerAlly, a startup consulting firm, has appointed Kerri Tanner, PharmD, as its chief pharmacy officer. Kerri has been a leader in the medication management industry for over 20 years ,supporting the development and management of drug spend through thought leadership, superior client advisement, and a focus on preparing clients to improve the management of large molecule and other complex medications in the future.