Joel Barrish, Ph.D., has been appointed chief scientific officer and executive vice president, Achillion Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Barrish has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, he was vice president and head of Discovery Chemistry at Bristol-Myers Squibb, leading chemical research on small molecules and other modalities across all therapeutic areas and sites. Prior to that, he was responsible for teams at BMS that advanced more than 20 compounds into clinical development including SPRYCEL (dasatinib) for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia, which he co-invented.

“It is with great excitement that we welcome Joel to Achillion as CSO,” said Milind Deshpande, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Achillion. “Joel is a highly accomplished drug hunter who has co-invented and developed multiple clinical compounds, including the highly successful marketed therapeutic Sprycel for which he received The Thomas Alva Edison Award. We look forward to him continuing his work to address the needs of patients by stewarding Achillion’s expanding portfolio of complement factor D inhibitors including ACH-4471 which is poised to enter clinical development.”