BUSINESS DRIVERS

Cancer molecular diagnostics manufacturer Agendia BV (Amsterdam) has appointed Richard A. Bender, MD, to the position of vice president and chief medical officer. Bender will be responsible for directing all medical activities within Agendia, where he will play an integral role in defining the strategic vision of the company as it expands its U.S. presence, through an office in California. Most recently, Bender was vice president and chief medical officer at Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Irvine, CA), an oncology drug development company. He also previously held the position of medical director in the oncology division of Quest Diagnostics Inc. (Madison, NJ), where he was involved in the development of new biomarkers and genomic assays. Bender continues to serve as a clinical instructor at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine.

Affinergy Inc. (Research Triangle Park, NC), a Duke University spinout that develops site-specific biological delivery systems, has appointed two new vice presidents to its leadership team. Carmella S. Moody, PhD, has joined the company as vice president of regulatory and quality assurance, and Bud Nelson, PhD, has been promoted to vice president of intellectual property. Moody has more than 20 years' experience in the life sciences industry, primarily in regulatory and clinical areas. She previously held positions of increasing responsibilities in regulatory affairs, quality, and clinical trials with Constella Group, NextGen Pharma, Glaxo Wellcome, Covance Biotechnology Services, and Cato Research. Nelson has more than 13 years' experience as an intellectual property attorney in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, and seven years' experience as corporate legal counsel. Prior to joining Affinergy, he was vice president of R&D and IP at BioCrystal Ltd., and chief IP counsel at Trimeris Inc. Nelson is listed as co-inventor on 10 issued U.S. patents.

Arterial Remodeling Technologies (Paris) has appointed Machiel Van Der Leest as its chief operating officer. Most recently, Van Der Leest was director of R&D and regulatory affairs at Minvasys (Genevilliers, France), which is focused on bifurcation treatment with dedicated devices. Arterial Remodeling Technologies is developing bioresorbable peripheral and coronary polymer stents that promote the natural remodeling of an injured artery after angioplasty.

Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. (Tustin, CA) has named Girish T. Hagan as its new vice president of marketing. Previously, Hagan served as the director of business development and strategic management for Toshiba, a position in which he was an integral part of Toshiba's alignments with multiple vendors, including McKesson and Vital Imaging. When Hagan joined Toshiba in 2005, he brought more than 15 years of broad marketing experience from Agfa, Bayer, and GE Healthcare.

Luminex Corp. (Austin, TX) has announced several executive management changes. Randel S. Marfin has been named to the new position of vice president of strategic development, a role in which he will be responsible for identifying and building business growth plans that will enable Luminex to access and penetrate new high-value growth markets for its multiplexing technology. Marfin joined Luminex in June 1998 and previously served as vice president of the Luminex Bioscience Group. In conjunction with the move, Gregory J. Gosch has been named vice president of the Luminex Bioscience Group, replacing Marfin. Meanwhile, Darin Leigh, previously senior director of sales and marketing for diagnostics at Luminex, will replace Gosch as vice president of sales and marketing.

The Cooper Companies Inc. (Pleasanton, CA) has appointed John A. Weber as president of CooperVision. Weber served as president of Asia Pacific since April 2007, and vice president of worldwide manufacturing and distribution of CooperVision from January 2005 to March 2007.