GPCR drug discovery company Heptares Therapeutics has appointed Daniel Grau president. Mr Grau has been a senior advisor to Heptares since 2010, and will report to CEO Malcolm Weir. Mr Grau previously served as president and CEO of Cortria Corporation, and is currently a member of the product advisory board of Concert Pharmaceuticals.

Concert Pharmaceuticals, a US clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the application of deuterium chemistry to create small-molecule drugs, has appointed Dr Lijun Wu vice-president of biology. She was previously vice-president of discovery research at Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals. Concert has also elected Dr Lee Brettman, chief medical officer of Alnara Pharmaceuticals, and Dr Dennis Giesing, head of research at Cortria, to its product advisory board.

Cortria (US) has named Dr Gene Cefali senior vice-president of clinical pharmacology and formulation development. Dr Cefali was previously vice-president of lead optimisation at Kos Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Abbott Laboratories). He will join Cortria's development team focused on advancing TRIA-662 as a new drug candidate for the treatment of dyslipidaemia.

Cortria, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company backed by the venture capital firms Domain Associates and MVM Life Sciences, has named Daniel Grau CEO and vice-chairman and Richard King director. Mr Grau was formerly chief operating officer at CombinatoRx; Mr King is president and chief operating officer at Tercica and was previously executive vice-president of commercial operations at Kos Pharmaceuticals. Cortria's first product candidate, TRIA-662, is in Phase II clinical development for the treatment of dyslipidaemia.