Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has appointed Joan Schmidt as executive vice president, General Counsel and Secretary. Ms. Schmidt will join Arena in March 2020 and report to Amit D. Munshi, Arena’s president and chief executive officer.

Steven Spector, Arena’s executive vice president, General Counsel and Secretary, will be retiring from the company after nearly two decades of service. To support the transition, Mr. Spector will remain in his current role until early March, and then will serve as a consultant supporting ongoing projects.

“We are excited to have Joan join the Arena team,” said Mr. Munshi. “Joan has an extensive and proven track record leading later-stage and commercial-stage corporate legal and governance activities for companies with a global footprint. Her expertise and leadership will be critical as we continue to build a bold, vibrant, sustainable company to support the potential delivery of multiple important medicines.”

Ms. Schmidt joins the company from DBV Technologies, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, where she served as executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary. She also served as executive vice president and US general counsel at Biotronik, Inc., a global commercial stage medical device company. 

Ms. Schmidt’s experience includes twenty years of increasing responsibility at Novo Nordisk both in the U.S. and in Europe, most recently as U.S. corporate vice president, Legal Affairs. During her time at Novo Nordisk, Ms. Schmidt’s responsibilities included leadership roles in compliance, risk management, licensing, litigation, advertising, pricing and promotion.