* Abiomed Inc., of Danvers, Mass., named Douglas McNair vice president of clinical affairs.

* AccuImage Diagnostics Corp., of South San Francisco, appointed Shelley Staggs national sales and marketing manager.

* Adolor Corp., of Malvern, Pa., appointed Deanne Garver vice president of preclinical development.

* Allergene, of San Mateo, Calif., appointed Baruch Blumberg, a professor of medicine and anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, to its scientific advisory board.

* Alpha Therapeutic Corp., of Los Angeles, appointed Dennis Hopper medical director.

* Alza Corp., of Palo Alto, Calif., promoted Harold Ferthe to senior vice president, human resources; Dawn Pollard to vice president of human resources; and Matthew Fust, vice president of finance and controller.

* Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., named to its board of directors Jerry Choate, chairman of the board and CEO of Allstate Corp, and Allstate Insurance Co.

* Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, named Thomas Spencer chief scientific officer.

* Antigenics LLC, of New York, named Neal Gordon vice president of process development.

* Aphton Corp., of Miami, named William Hasler co-CEO.

* Aviron, of Mountain View, Calif., named Kurt Vorheis vice president of manufacturing.

* Axys Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, appointed William Newell vice president and general counsel.

* Bradley Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Fairfield, N.J., appointed Seymour Schlager worldwide medical director of Becton Dickinson and Co., to its board of directors.

* British Biotech plc, of Oxford, U.K., appointed Elliot Goldstein chief executive officer, and Christopher Hamspon non-executive director.

* Calydon Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., named Robert Tidwell vice president of business development.

* Cardio Tech International Inc., of Woburn, Mass., named John Hudson director of operations.

* Celera Genomics Corp., of Rockville, Md., named Samuel Broder executive vice president and chief medical officer, and L. Stevenson Parker vice president of administration and legal affairs. The company also named its scientific advisory board: Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania; Victor McKusick, a professor of medical genetics at Johns Hopkins University; Arnold Levine, president and CEO of Rockefeller University; Melvin Simon, chairman and professor of biology at the California Institute of Technology; and Norton Zinder, a John D. Rockefeller Jr. professor at Rockefeller University. Richard Roberts, research director at New England Biolabs, will serve as chairman.

* Chiroscience Group plc, of London, appointed as director Hugh Collum, executive vice president and chief financial officer of SmithKline Beecham plc, of London.

* Clinical reSearchNet Inc., of Kirkland, Wash., named Michael Woods director of business development and Frazier Miller manager of marketing development.

* Cognetix Inc., of Salt Lake City, appointed Brian Anderson executive vice president of corporate development.

* Collateral Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, named to its scientific advisory board John Ross, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and Jay Cohn, professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

* Coram Healthcare, of Denver, appointed Mark Hanley vice president of sales.

* CpG Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Wellesley, Mass., named Robert Bratzler president and CEO.

* Cygnus Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., appointed John Hodgman president and CEO, and Andre Marion vice chairman.

* Cytogen Corp., of Princeton, N.J., named H. Joseph Reiser president and CEO.

* Endogen Inc., of Woburn, Mass., named to its board of directors Charles Burke, principal and founder of Monument Partners Inc., of Concord, Mass.

* FemRx Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., appointed Peter Farrell, chairman and CEO of ResMed Inc., to its board of directors.

* Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Baltimore, named to its board of directors Skip Klein III, a health care analyst with The Kaufmann Fund.

* Impath Inc., of Los Angeles, named Patrick Browne, Wei Liu and Zach Liu to its medical staff.

* Innovative Tracking Solutions Corp., of Laguna Hills, Calif., named Scott Postle vice president of business development, healthcare products division.

* IntraBiotics Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., named Karen Campbell vice president of marketing, and appointed John Padfield, chief executive officer of Chiroscience Group plc, of Cambridge, U.K., to its board of directors.

* Kinetek Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, named James Woodgett chief scientific officer.

* Kosan Biosciences Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., named Kevin Kaster vice president, intellectual property.

* LJL BioSystems Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., appointed J. Richard Sportsman senior director, assay systems.

* LXR Biotechnology Inc., of Richmond, Calif., appointed Paul Hastings president and CEO.

* Magainin Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., appointed Michael Dougherty president and CEO, Roy Levitt chief operating officer, and Zola Horovitz chairman of the board.

* Metabolex, of Hayward, Calif., named Jerrold Olefsky president.

* Oceania of Palo Alto, Calif., named George Anderson executive vice president.

* Oncor Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., named R. James Danehy vice chairman of its board of directors. Danehy is currently president and CEO of Centocor Diagnostics, a unit of Malvern, Pa.-based Centocor Inc.

* Phoenix International Life Sciences Inc., of Montreal, named Susan Thornton president and chief operating officer, U.S. Phase II-IV.

* Polydex Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Scarborough, Ontario, elected John Seidler a director. Seidler is executive vice president of Manchester Partners International Inc.

* Protein Polymer Technologies Inc., of San Diego, elected to its board of directors Patrick Gerschel, founder and chairman of Gerschel & Co., of New York.

* QualChoice of North Carolina Inc., of Winston-Salem, N.C., named David Patterson president and CEO.

* Quintiles Transnational Corp., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., named James Bierman senior vice president, corporate development, and Greg Connors senior vice president of strategic planning and investor relations.

* Ringel Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., named Brian Cunningham chief operating officer.

* SafeScience Inc., of Boston, appointed James Wylie Jr. to the post of vice president for corporate development and strategic programs.

* Scriptgen Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Waltham, Mass., made several executive appointments: John Barberich, vice president and chief financial officer; Jacob Clement, vice president of drug development; Karen Hamlin, vice president of research and development operations; Andrew Pakula, senior director of drug discovery technologies; Richard Wobbe, senior director of drug discovery; and Yibin Ziang, senior director of chemistry.

* SemBioSys Genetics, of Calgary, Alberta, named Andrew Baum president and CEO.

* Sequenom Inc., of San Diego, named Charles Canter chief scientific officer.

* SmithKline Beecham plc, of London, named Joanne Nardone as director, business strategy, molecular medicine.

* Variagenics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named Gregory Verdine principal scientific advisor.

* ViroPharma Inc., of Exton, Pa., named to its board of directors Howard Pien, president, pharmaceuticals, SmithKline Beecham plc.

* Vysis Inc., of Downers Grove, Ill., appointed Paul Steuperaert president of European operations.

* Zevex International Inc., of Salt Lake City, promoted David McNally to executive vice president.