Asterand plc, of Royston, UK, appointed Martyn Coombs CEO and director.

Baird, of Chicago, hired Franklin Stokes as managing director in the health care investment banking group.

BioMedInvest AG, of Basel, Switzerland, added Frances Wildhaber as partner and Patrick Burgermeister as associate.

Cardiome Pharma Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, elected current board member and CEO Bob Rieder as chairman.

Cytokine PharmaSciences Inc., of King of Prussia, Pa., said Cameron Macdonald will become managing director of its wholly owned operating subsidiary, Controlled Therapeutics (Scotland) Ltd. Macdonald also will be named a vice president of CPSI.

EpiCept Corp., of Tarrytown, N.Y., named Stephane Allard chief medical officer.

Epiphany Biosciences Inc., of San Francisco, made six appointments to its board: Charles Sanders, Clyde Turner, John Quelch, Paul Mieyal, Lee Meisel and Fred Volinsky, Epiphany's CEO, who will serve as chairman.

Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, of New York, hired Steve Wiggins as operating partner and Tamara Elias as principal.

Genstruct Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., appointed Christian Reich vice president of scientific research.

Hana Biosciences Inc., of South San Francisco, appointed Leon Rosenberg non-executive chairman.

Marshall Edwards Inc., of Washington, appointed William Rueckert to its board.

Metabolic Research Inc., of Montgomery, Texas, appointed Robert Shorr chairman of the newly formed scientific advisory board.

NeoPharm Inc., of Waukegan, Ill., appointed Laurence Birch president and CEO. He also will be appointed to the board.

Northfield Laboratories Inc., of Evanston, Ill., appointed Donna O'Neill-Mulvihill vice president, finance.

PDL BioPharma Inc., of Fremont, Calif., is hiring Bob Savel as senior vice president of technical operations.

Protox Therapeutics Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, hired David Swetlow as vice president, finance and operations.

Radius Ventures, of New York, hired Sanuj Ravindran as a principal.

Rincon Pharmaceuticals, of San Diego, hired Peter Heifetz as chief scientific officer, and appointed Jacqueline Johnson and Alan Lewis to its board.