AbbVie names new research and development head

AbbVie has announced the appointment of Dr Michael Severino as the new leader of its research and development organisation, taking charge of the firm's future pipeline advancement efforts.

Dr Severino has been named as the company's executive vice-president for research and development and chief scientific officer, joining from Amgen, where he served as senior vice-president and chief medical officer.

He will take responsibility for leading AbbVie's research, medical affairs and regulatory affairs organisations, utilising his extensive insights from a career spanning many years of experience in genomics and development within the biotech industry.

The appointment will strengthen the business's efforts to establish itself as a new biopharmaceutical leader.

Richard Gonzalez, chairman and chief executive officer at AbbVie, said: "We are fortunate to have a leader of his calibre to steer our efforts to develop treatments for today's toughest health challenges."

This comes after the firm recently announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2014, during which it saw a 5.4 percent year-on-year increase in revenue.