Changing Faces: Agency and consultancy, January 2026

The pharmaceutical services sector saw a flurry of new executive hires last month, spanning agencies, consultancies, investment firms, and a few other miscellaneous categories we’re including in this round-up.

Inizio Evoke creates new AI leadership role. The UK-based global pharma commercialisation partner appointed Kristin Ryan as EVP for AI transformation and acceleration, a newly created position. Ryan joins from GCI Health, where she most recently served as EVP and US head of digital & innovation.

EVERSANA strengthens media capabilities. Dave Leitner was named EVP and head of media for EVERSANA INTOUCH. He brings more than 30 years of experience in the media industry, including work on both the agency and client-side across multiple verticals, including life sciences, financial, CPG, QSR, entertainment, and technology, with a specialty in evolving organisations from legacy operations to future-readiness.

Strategy consultancy adds commercialisation expertise. Numerof & Associates, a St Louis-based strategy consulting firm, hired Mark C Twyman as senior advisor and client engagement manager. Twyman comes in with 30 years of global commercialisation and launch experience, including senior leadership roles at Merck, Genzyme, MedImmune, Novavax, and most recently as chief commercial officer at Inovio.

Abingworth reshapes leadership structure. The transatlantic life sciences investment firm Abingworth, part of the global investment firm Carlyle, made two significant appointments. Dr Bali Muralidhar, managing partner, CIO, and COO of Abingworth, was appointed head of Abingworth Life Sciences as previous head Kurt Von Emster moved into a managing partner role. Additionally, Travis Wilson joined as managing director. Most recently, he was a growth partner with Flagship Pioneering and, prior to that, he was managing partner of Gurnet Point Capital. He was also previously CEO of Stealth BioTherapeutics and a member of the venture capital team at Morningside.

Private equity firm expands healthcare focus. Inflexion, a leading European mid-market private equity firm, appointed John DiGiovanni as head of healthcare. He most recently served as healthcare sector co-leader, member of the Healthcare Investment Committee, and partner at Arsenal Capital Partners.

LabCentral brings in science strategy leader. LabCentral, the private, non-profit institution that serves as a launchpad for high-potential life-sciences and biotech start-ups, named Kamran Tavangar as head of science strategy. Previous roles include co-founder and COO of Affinivax, CEO of Atias Pharma, and a variety of leadership positions at Novartis.

Design firm bolsters leadership team Ensara Design, a global healthcare innovation partner focused on medtech, pharma, and consumer health product design, made two key hires. Oliver North joined as head of engineering, bringing 12 years of experience from The Technology Partnership, whilst Maartje Pel was appointed research and design director following 14 years at DCA Design International.

Executive search firm expands partnership Catalyst Advisors LP, a global executive recruiting firm focused on the life sciences sector, strengthened its team with three additions: Manon Fuller joined as associate director while JJ Marshall and Riko Arends joined up as partners. Marshall brings more than 20 years of experience recruiting senior executives and board leaders for innovative life sciences companies, with a particular strength in finance, business development, and commercial leadership and Arends has significant experience managing complex international executive recruitment assignments across Europe, the US, and Asia.

Law firm adds regulatory expertise Morgan Lewis, a renowned global law firm, appointed Bart Jong as partner. Joining from Arnold & Porter and resident in the firm's Brussels office, Jong will focus on European Union and Dutch regulatory frameworks governing pharmaceuticals and biologicals.

That’s it for our agency hires, but stay tuned for our other hires round-ups and remember, you can send your own hires to editorial@pharmaphorum.com for inclusion in this column.