Protein separation product supplier Zaxis International appointed Leonard Tannen as president and CEO. Tannen previously served as a marketing and sales consultant to the company. Zaxis, in Hudson, Ohio, manufactures standard and custom pre-cast polyacrylamide gels for use in diagnostic kits, DNA sequencers, and 2D protein separation systems.
Nancy Dahl joined ActivX Biosciences as vice president and general counsel. She previously served as VP and general counsel of Amylin Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Amylin, Dahl worked for a private patent practice and a corporate law firm.
Aclara BioSciences CTO and cofounder Herbert Hooper has stepped down to join Ampersand Ventures and was elected to Aclara’s board of directors. Hooper will also chair the company’s scientific advisory board. Meanwhile, David Parker of Ampersand, which was a founding investor in Aclara in 1995, resigned from the board. In addition, Alfred Merriweather was appointed as Aclara’s CFO. Merriweather previously served as CFO for the life sciences companies Laserscope and Symphonix Devices, and the software company Citadon.
George Montegu Black, the founding chairman of Canadian proteomics firm Syn X Pharma, died on January 10 of cancer. He was 61. During his career Black served as governor of the Toronto Stock Exchange, trustee of the Toronto Hospital, and director of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. George Jackowski, Syn X’s vice chairman, will serve as acting chairman until the company’s general meeting later this year.