Halozyme Therapeutics

Patrick O’Connor, Ph.D., has been appointed vice president, research, Halozyme Therapeutics. Michael J. LaBarre, Ph.D., has been appointed vice president, product development, and James E. Cartoni has been appointed vice president, legal.
   
“We are delighted that seasoned executives such as Patrick, Michael, and Jim have joined the team. Successfully recruiting executives of this caliber underscores our commitment to finding exceptional talent, and also reflects the high level of excitement Halozyme is generating in the biotech industry,” said Jonathan Lim, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Halozyme Therapeutics. “Their broad collective experience in drug development, formulation, analytical methodology, manufacturing, and the legal aspects of biotechnology brings further breadth and depth to our leadership team. All three executives will work closely with our senior management to enable Halozyme to achieve its business objectives.”
   
Dr. O’Connor will be responsible for leading the company’s multiple biology and chemistry research programs. He joins the company from Ardea Biosciences where he was senior vice president and chief scientific officer. Prior to joining Ardea, Dr. O’Connor served in various executive research positions at Pfizer Global R&D and Agouron Pharmaceuticals (which was bought by Pfizer) from 1998 to 2007. His last position with Pfizer as vice president, research therapeutic area head, global oncology, included responsibility for setting the overall global oncology research strategy and overseeing all aspects of oncology research. While at Pfizer, Dr. O’Connor also built and oversaw the diabetes and obesity research groups at the La Jolla campus.
   
Dr. LaBarre will oversee all of Halozyme’s product development efforts. He has expertise in chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) based on his extensive experience in the biotechnology industry for both biologics and small molecules. Dr. LaBarre previously served as vice president of product development at Paramount BioSciences, where he led the CMC efforts for all of the product development programs within the company’s portfolio. Prior to joining Paramount, Dr. LaBarre served in various R&D positions at Biogen Idec where he had responsibility for analytical and formulation development, protein purification, and biochemical characterization supporting numerous IND and BLA submissions. His last position with Biogen Idec was director of analytical and protein biochemistry. Dr. LaBarre also spent two years at Vical, Inc. in the analytical methods development group.    
   
Mr. Cartoni will oversee various legal matters, including the negotiation and completion of agreements, corporate governance matters, securities compliance, and the coordination and management of outside legal counsel. Prior to joining Halozyme, Mr. Cartoni was a partner at DLA Piper, where he represented numerous public and private companies in areas such as financing transactions, corporate compliance, mergers & acquisitions and general business matters. DLA Piper is Halozyme’s primary outside corporate counsel and Mr. Cartoni has represented Halozyme since 2004.