Startup biopharma CeNeRx adds another GSK exec to management team

Research Triangle Park, N.C. — CeNeRx has reached into the management ranks of GlaxoSmithKline for its second executive hire since October.

The startup biopharmaceutical firm said Wednesday that Mahnaz Asgharnejad had signed on as its vice president of clinical development. She most recently served as senior director of psychiatry clinical development and product strategy at GSK.

In October, CeNeRx named Daniel Burch, another former GSK executive, as executive vice president for research and development as well as chief medical officer.

CeNeRx is focused on developing treatments for diseases of the central nervous system as well as depression and anxiety. It closed on $15 million in venture financing in 2005.

"Dr. Asgharnejad is a leading CNS clinical development practitioner, and we are delighted that she has chosen to join the CeNeRx team," Burch said in a statement.

"We expect her proven ability to lead successful clinical development programs addressing a variety of CNS disorders, and her deep knowledge of the evolving clinical and regulatory landscape will contribute greatly to our progress going forward,” he added.

Asgharnejad is a University of Minnesota graduate.