Roche

Lee Babiss, Ph.D. has been named head of global pharma research, Roche, effective July 1, 2007. In this new role, Dr. Babiss will be based in Basel, Switzerland, and focus on leading and managing research within the company’s five disease biology areas: virology, inflammation, oncology, CNS and metabolism, at research sites located in Palo Alto, CA, Nutley, NJ, Basel, Switzerland, Penzberg, Germany, and Shanghai, China. He will report to William M. Burns, chief executive officer, pharmaceuticals division, Roche, and will join the pharma executive committee.

Dr. Babiss is currently vice president, preclinical R&D in Nutley, where he is responsible for developing and directing oncology, metabolic diseases and inflammation research strategy. He also serves as a member of the international research management team, involved in developing global research strategy, and chairs the Roche biomarker leadership team, focused on the development and implementation of the company’s biomarker strategy.

“Lee is an insightful scientist who has demonstrated strong leadership for Roche. His efforts have helped the company build and maintain one of the strongest and most diverse industry pipelines,” said Mr. Burns. “In his new role, I know he will use his considerable talents to drive innovation within our disease biology areas enabling us to not only bring clinically differentiated medicines to the market, but also maintain our leadership in key therapeutic areas well into the future.”

Prior to joining the company, Dr. Babiss was vice president of biological sciences and genetics at Glaxo Wellcome, where he focused on the development of antisense technology and cancer therapeutics, headed the department of molecular cell biology, and played a key role developing and implementing the cell cycle program. He was also a member of the U.S. research senior management team, which formulated and implemented Glaxo’s U.S. research strategy and was involved in creating the Glaxo Wellcome corporate genetic strategy, which led to the creation of the company’s Genetics Division.

Dan Zabrowski, Ph.D., currently Roche’s global head of pharma development operations in Nutley, will assume the position of global head, Roche Pharma Partnering effective July 1, 2007. In his new role, Dr. Zabrowski will oversee Roche’s network of strategic alliances with biotech companies and create new alliances. He will report to Mr. Burns. Dr. Zabrowski succeeds Peter Hug, who will become head of the Roche Pharmaceuticals Western Europe Region.

According to Mr. Burns, “Roche’s focus on building strong and lasting partnerships has become an industry standard, and Dan’s strong background in drug development and regulatory affairs will be particularly important as we continue to expand our network of more than 60 global partners.”

Dr. Zabrowski is currently responsible for both the U.S. development organization in Nutley and the management of all global clinical trials for the Pharma Division. Prior to this, he served as head, global regulatory affairs at Roche. He joined the company in 1995 following the company’s acquisition of Syntex, Inc., where he held a variety of positions in regulatory affairs. Prior to that, he led regulatory affairs in North America for Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co.