Donald Olds

Donald Olds, board chair of the Montreal-based NEOMED Institute and COO of Telesta Therapeutics Inc, has been appointed executive chairman and interim CEO of NEOMED. The appointment follows the announcement that inaugural president and CEO, Dr Max Fehlmann, will be leaving the organization and NEOMED-LABS — an affiliate contract research organization — at the end of 2016. Dr Phillipe Walker, NEOMED's "biological father" and chief scientific officer, has been named general manager of the institute's R&D programs. NEOMED was founded in 2012 with a $28-million grant from the Quebec government, $12 million from the Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence program and millions more in industry funding. It employs a collaborative R&D model for biopharmaceuticals aimed at encouraging industry-academic collaboration (R$, December 6/12). NEOMED did not provide a reason for Fehlmann's departure….