Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing toll-like receptor and RNA therapeutics for patients with cancer and rare diseases, has named Joanna Horobin, senior vice president and chief medical officer. Dr. Horobin was most recently the chief medical officer of Verastem Inc. and previously served as chief executive officer of Syndax Pharmaceuticals.

“After an extensive search process, I am thrilled that we are able to bring Joanna into Idera, where her impressive leadership skills and experience are going to be essential in leading the many programs we have through the development cycle; and ultimately into beneficial therapeutic solutions for the patients we aim to serve,” said Vincent Milano, chief executive officer, Idear. “We are in the midst of a critical period where the strategic pathways of our clinical development programs are being crafted and I am extremely confident Joanna will successfully lead these efforts as we move forward.”

Dr. Horobin has over 30 years of pharmaceutical development experience. Prior to her positions at Verastem and Syndax, she held several roles of increasing responsibility at global pharmaceutical corporations such as Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, now Sanofi, where she spearheaded the global oncology business unit’s launch, which included the launches of Taxotere (docetaxel) in breast cancer and Campto/Camptosar (CPT11) for colorectal cancer.