Acorda names new chief medical officer

In this role, Dr Wessel will have responsibility for the company’s clinical development and operations, regulatory affairs, biostatistics, data management and drug safety functions.

Previously, Dr Wessel was senior vice president of clinical research at Sepracor, where he led the central nervous system and respiratory medicine development teams, including clinical research and operations, clinical pharmacology, drug safety and medical writing.

Dr Wessel received his MD from the University of Munich School of Medicine and completed his PhD in experimental neurobiology at the Max-Planck-Institute for Psychiatry in Martinsried, Germany.

Mr Cohen said: “Tom Wessel is a terrific addition to Acorda’s management team. He brings a track record of impressive achievement in the clinical development and regulatory oversight of several important CNS therapies. His expertise will be invaluable to Acorda as we move towards potential FDA approval of Fampridine-SR for multiple sclerosis and as we advance our preclinical products towards investigational new drug applications.”