Business

Sid Bhopathy has been promoted from vice president of operations to chief operating officer of Absorption Systems. Based in Exton, Pa., the firm assists companies in identifying and overcoming absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity barriers in the development of drugs and medical devices.

Jeroen Bloemhard has been appointed business vice president and global executive director for Dow Corning’s Xiameter brand, which includes more than 2,500 standard silicone products. Most recently, he served as director in the company’s procurement organization.

Brian Davis has become vice president for Shell Chemicals’ Global Base Chemicals business. He is responsible for the profitability and growth of the company’s lower olefins and aromatics activities globally. Prior to this appointment, he was vice president of downstream strategy with responsibility across Shell’s oil products and chemicals activities. Davis succeeds

Graham van’t Hoff, who has been appointed chairman for Shell in the U.K.

Cristin B. Grove has been appointed director of global contract manufacturing for Pfizer CentreSource (PCS), an operating unit within Pfizer Global Supply. Most recently, she was business development manager for Pfizer Global Supply. As part of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, PCS is involved in active pharmaceutical ingredient and dosage-form manufacturing.

Cora Leibig was recently promoted to vice president of research and development at Segetis. She had been the firm’s director of application and product development. Prior to joining Segetis she led product development at Dow Chemical for materials including polyurethane, adhesives, and sealants. Segetis, a Golden Valley, Minn.-based green chemistry company, produces chemical building blocks from renewable agricultural and forestry resources.

Sushil Mehta has been appointed executive vice president of Avantor Performance Materials. He will lead Avantor’s global laboratory and clinical business and will also manage the company’s overall Southeast Asia region. Mehta was previously the managing director and chief executive officer at India’s RFCL Ltd., an exporter, manufacturer, and supplier of laboratory reagents and consumables, as well as products for the medical diagnostics market, before it was acquired by Avantor in February. Paul Smaltz was promoted to executive vice president of Avantor. He will lead Avantor’s global pharmaceuticals business and will also manage the company’s Americas region. Smaltz was formerly vice president of global marketing at the company. Brian Wilson was appointed Avantor’s executive vice president of operations. Before joining Avantor, Wilson was a senior consultant at Bethesda, Md.-based Asset Performance Networks, a consulting firm that serves petroleum, chemical, and energy companies worldwide.

Richard C. Proehl has joined Cambridge Major Laboratories as vice president of manufacturing. He will oversee plant-scale manufacturing operations as well as engineering and environmental, health, and safety functions. Prior to joining Cambridge Major, Proehl served as the St. Louis site director for Covidien, a global health care products company. Cambridge Major is a global chemistry outsourcing partner to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, providing process research and development, scale-up, and manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Stefano Talami has been appointed regional sales manager for southern Europe at Aesica Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Aesica, he was sales and marketing manager for pharmaceutical fine chemicals company Archimica. Now based in Como, Italy, Talami will work from Aesica’s Pianezza site and will be responsible for generating new business streams and consolidating existing client relationships across southern Europe. Headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Aesica is a provider of contract research, development, and manufacturing services for formulated products and active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Matt Walker has joined TAKE Solutions as executive vice president of its supply chain business. Most recently, he managed the business development and marketing functions for ResearchPoint, a contract research organization in the life sciences industry. Mike Lewis has joined TAKE Solutions as its vice president of sales. Prior to joining the company, Lewis served as the life sciences solution leader at IBM. With its headquarters in Chennai, India, TAKE Solutions is a global business technology solutions and services company.

John Zanone has been appointed senior flavorist for oral care flavors at flavor and fragrance company Takasago Americas. He had been a senior oral care flavorist at Noville. In addition, Slavica Pesic-Klajn has been named senior beverage technologist at Takasago Americas. Previously, she had worked on the development of customized spirits and vitamin and energy drinks at Signature Design Spirits. Michael J. Paul will fill the recently created position of senior marketing coordinator at Takasago Americas. Shweta Kumari, who was a research assistant at Mississippi State University, has joined Takasago as a flavor sensory analyst.