Businessman Cathal Friel has become executive chairman of Poolbeg Pharma, the same job he had at Open Orphan (now hVivo) as that firm was developed.
Mr Friel, a co-founder and substantial shareholder, was already non-executive chairman of Poolbeg,
As executive chair he will continue to work closely with CEO Jeremy Skillington, the company said.
The move comes as Poolbeg’s wider leadership has been beefed up with hires from Amryt Pharma, another Mr Friel-backed venture that was sold last year for $1.48bn (€1.38bn).
Poolbeg Pharma plc (LON:POLB) is a clinical stage infectious disease pharmaceutical company, with a novel capital light clinical model which enables us to develop multiple products faster and more cost effectively than the traditional biotech model.
