GVK Biosciences has appointed Dr Cecil B Pickett as scientific advisor to the Board of Directors.

Dr Cecil B Pickett has served as president of Research and Development, and member of the Biogen Idec Board of Directors for three years between March 2006 and October 2009. Prior to joining Biogen Idec, Dr Pickett held several senior R&D positions at Schering-Plough Corporation. As the senior vice president & president, Schering-Plough Research Institute, he helped bring several large and small molecule candidates into the Schering-Plough clinical development pipeline. Prior to joining Schering-Plough, he held several senior R&D positions at Merck & Company.

According to D S Brar, chairman, GVK Biosciences, Dr Pickett is an acknowledged scientific leader and brings vast knowledge and experience regarding the interests and demands of pharmaceutical and biotech customers to our Scientific Advisory Board. His experience in drug metabolism, molecular pharmacology and expertise in leading drug discovery initiatives, will be invaluable to GVK BIO as we build our organization to provide a wide range of scientific solutions globally.