Business

Julie Barone and Shane Cochran have joined Chemir Analytical Services as business development specialists focused on promoting the company's nonroutine analytical services. Based in New York, Barone will serve as Chemir's East Coast representative. She has technical and sales experience primarily in the personal care, polymers, plastics, and coatings industries. Based in St. Louis, Cochran will serve Chemir's clients in the midwestern and western states. He has a technical background in the food, beverage, and nutrition industries, as well as expertise in analytical instrumentation.

Michael D. Becker has been named president and chief executive officer of VioQuest Pharmaceuticals and appointed to the company's board of directors. Becker joins VioQuest from Cytogen, where he served as president and CEO since December 2002. A biopharmaceutical company based in Basking Ridge, N.J., VioQuest focuses on acquiring, developing, and commercializing targeted late preclinical and early clinical stage therapies with unique mechanisms of action primarily for oncology and infectious diseases. The company has three targeted drug candidates in clinical development.

John Belechak has been promoted to chief operating officer of Pittsburgh-based ChemImage. He had been the company's controller and director of operations. In addition, Bob Kibler has joined ChemImage as vice president of sales and marketing. Previously, he was vice president of sales and marketing at ICx Technologies. John Maier has been promoted from senior biomedical scientist to vice president for biomedical research at ChemImage, which is a provider of molecular chemical imaging technology for chemical and biological applications.

Ernie (E. J.) Byers Jr. has been appointed production control manager for Albuquerque, N.M.-based Blast-N-Clean, developer of a patented system for using biodegradable fluids to quickly clean and sanitize garbage carts. Before joining the company, Byers helped develop the cleaning system. He also owned a company that contracted trucks for hauling. Kenneth Godana has been named director of engineering for Blast-N-Clean. Previously, he had been an engineering consultant to Blast-N-Clean and a senior mechanical engineer for Albuquerque-based Maverick Design Systems.

Albert N. Crawford has joined Charkit Chemical as vice president of sales. He will focus on new business development as well as sales and marketing responsibilities. Most recently, he served as vice president of global sales and marketing for Protex International, a pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Paris. Terence P. Owens has become Charkit's new senior product manager. He will be responsible for the sales and marketing of specialty chemicals as well as new business development. Before joining Charkit, Owens held a chemical sales position at Alcan International Network USA. Based in Norwalk, Conn., Charkit sells products to the imaging, personal care, food, flavor and fragrance, water treatment, metal treatment, and pharmaceutical industries as well as to producers of fine and specialty chemicals.

Scott Edris has joined International Specialty Products (ISP) as director of global marketing for performance chemicals. He is responsible for building strategic marketing plans in the agricultural chemicals, coatings, and adhesives markets for the Wayne, N.J.-based company. He had been segment manager for Celanese's North American paints and coatings business in Bridgewater, N.J. In another ISP move, Robert Toth has been promoted to director of sales and logistics for the company's minerals business from a position as manager of sales and logistics.

Jeff Frazier has been promoted to vice president of fine chemicals at Pfizer CentreSource. He had been the company's director of strategic initiatives and business planning. In another promotion, Kenneth Ball will step into the newly created position of marketing manager, moving from a technical development manager role. He will provide commercial market research and business strategy development support. A separate operating unit within Pfizer, Pfizer CentreSource markets active pharmaceutical ingredients, fine chemicals intermediates, and finished dosage forms and provides analytical and regulatory support.

Robert N. Henrie II has joined the law firm Synnestvedt & Lechner as a patent agent in its Philadelphia office. He will specialize in patents involving inventions in the chemical and pharmaceutical fields. Prior to joining Synnestvedt & Lechner, Henrie worked as a discovery chemist for 24 years at FMC in Princeton, N.J. Credited with 30 patents, he led discovery programs in plant growth regulators, herbicides, and insecticides, involving various enzyme, receptor, and ion channel target sites.

Ray Kollar has been named vice president of commercial services for Solutia's Flexsys business, which provides chemicals to the rubber industry. He will lead Flexsys' sales, marketing, technical service, and customer service functions. Kollar comes from a position as director of marketing strategy and market development for Intel's business computing unit.

Morry Seidel has been named vice president of sales for Frutarom USA, a supplier of flavor and fine ingredients. He is returning to the company after a six-year stint with Polarome International, where he had been global vice president of sales. In another move, J. Hunter Christensen has joined Frutarom as its national accounts executive. He is responsible for customers in the Northeast as well as some national accounts. Previously, he had been the senior account executive with Citroil Enterprises, a Carlstadt, N.J.-based flavors producer.

Ralph A. Simmons has joined Ciba Expert Services as a member of its global regulatory team dealing with the Food & Drug Administration and the international regulatory status of food-contact substances and food products. Until the end of 2006, Simmons had been a senior partner at the law firm Keller & Heckman and was instrumental in managing the firm's FDA and related practice areas. Simmons has represented industry on many policy issues before FDA and regulatory authorities in other countries.

Phillip W. Small has been named director of chemistry at Albany Molecular Research Inc.'s site in Hungary. He assumes responsibilities for all of the company's European chemistry-related activities, including custom synthesis, medicinal chemistry, analytical services, library design, and production. Most recently, Small was vice president and head of high-throughput chemistry operations at U.K.-based Tripos Discovery Research (now Exelgen). AMRI has hired Steve Jennings as its senior vice president of sales, marketing, and business development. He is now responsible for all of AMRI's global sales efforts, including sales teams in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Previously, he had been vice president of global marketing for the gastroenterology and women's health business units at Solvay Pharmaceuticals. Founded in 1991, AMRI provides contract services, technologies, and products for drug discovery, development, and manufacturing.

Ioannis I. Valvis has joined BASF as the pharmaceutical industry director for its intermediates business in North America. He will be based at BASF's North American headquarters in Florham Park, N.J. Valvis had been associate director of sourcing strategy and capacity management in chemical process R&D at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Vivian Watts has joined Chromsys as an application chemist. He will be responsible for developing analytical methods for Chromsys' customer base, as well as for installing and servicing gas chromatographic and mass spectral instruments. Prior to joining Chromsys, he was a chemist at KWV, a wine and spirits producer in South Africa. Based in Alexandria, Va., Chromsys provides analytical solutions for laboratories involved with drug discovery, environmental analysis, forensics, food and flavors, homeland security, and petrochemicals.

Robert S. Wedinger has been named chief business officer of Middlebury, Conn.-based Chemtura. He will oversee the company's four businesses-polymer additives, performance specialties, crop products, and consumer products. Wedinger will also retain the responsibilities of his former role as Chemtura's group president of performance specialties. In addition, David Dickey has been named chief functional and services officer at Chemtura. He is now responsible for all nonfinance functions, including logistics, customer care, strategic manufacturing, human resources, legal issues, and procurement. The moves fit with the company's restructuring plan announced in April. Under that plan, Wedinger, Dickey, and Stephen C. Forsyth, executive vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer, will report directly to Robert L. Wood, Chemtura chairman and chief executive officer, to increase organizational focus and speed decision-making.