Management tracks: AbbVie, Semma, Ziopharm

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) unveiled a new executive leadership team. It includes EVP of R&D and CSO Michael Severino, who will become vice chairman and president and be responsible for R&D, HR, operations and the corporate strategy office; EVP of External Affairs and General Counsel Laura Schumacher, who will become vice chairman of external affairs and chief legal officer; EVP of Commercial Operations Carlos Alban, who will become vice chairman and chief commercial officer; and William Chase, who remains EVP of finance and administration. All four executives report to Chairman and CEO Richard A. Gonzalez.

Cell therapy company Semma Therapeutics Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) hired David Lebwohl as CMO and David DiGiusto as CTO. Lebwohl was SVP and franchise global program head of the CAR T team at Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN) and DiGiusto was executive director of stem cell and cellular therapeutics operations at Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.). ...