UDG Healthcare appoints two non-executive directors to board

Healthcare services provider UDG Healthcare has appointed two new non-executive directors to its board.

Immatics Biotechnologies chairman Peter Chambré and Alkermes director Shane Cooke will take up their roles on February 1st.

Mr Chambré is currently the chairman of clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy firm Immatics, which is based in Germany and the United States. He has held a number of senior positions in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors, serving as chief executive of Cambridge Antibody Group until 2006, and as chief operating officer of Celera Genomics Group and chief executive of Bespak (now Consort Medical) prior to that.

He has been a trustee of Cancer Research UK since 2016, and since 2011 has been chairman of the charity's commercialisation division Cancer Research Technology.

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Mr Chambré was a non-executive director of Spectris until December 2016, and of Touchstone Innovations until January 2017.

Life sciences

Mr Cooke has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors in Europe and the United States. Currently a non-executive director of Alkermes, he previously served as president of the company from September 2011 until last March, when he retired.

He was also chief financial officer of Elan Corporation, a 10-year appointment from 2001, and from 2007 he was head of Elan Drug Technologies. Before joining Elan he was chief executive of aviation leasing firm Pembroke Capital, which he founded, and he currently serves as a non-executive director on the board of Prothena Corporation and Endo International.

UDG Healthcare chairman Peter Gray welcomed the appointments. "We're delighted to welcome Peter and Shane to the board, each of whom bring extensive experience with European and US healthcare companies on both the service-provision and service-procurement sides," he said.

“Their insights will further inform our continued strategic development of the group. Their appointment also ensures board succession planning is well provided for in the context of recent governance guidance and our current board profile,” he added.