AlphaVax Inc., of Durham, N.C., said Jonathan Smith joined the company as senior vice president, discovery.

Biogen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., appointed Robert Hamm vice president, sales and marketing; Sylvie Gregoire vice president, manufacturing; and Nadine Cohen vice president, regulatory affairs.

Dynavax Technologies Corp., of Berkeley, Calif., named Andrew Gengos vice president and chief financial officer.

Metabolex Inc., of Hayward, Calif., appointed Harold Van Wart senior vice president, research and development.

Medarex Inc., of Princeton, N.J., hired Christian Schade as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

MicroIslet Inc., of San Diego, named Haro Hartounian president, chief operating officer and also a member of its board. Before joining MicroIslet, Hartounian was head of process development at Kelco Biopolymers, a unit of Pharmacia Corp.

Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., appointed James Nash senior vice president, manufacturing.

Ortec International Inc., of New York, named Ronald Dunham director of quality systems.

Sicor Inc., of Irvine, Calif., elected Marvin Samson to its board.

SignalGene Inc., of Montreal, appointed George Masters to its board.

SkyePharma plc, of London, appointed Tamar Howson to its board.

Synt:em, of Nimes, France, appointed Antony Blanc vice president, business development and named Christian Policard to its supervisory board.

The Immune Response Corp., of Carlsbad, Calif., placed Alan Rosenthal on its board.