Appointments: Almirall, Axial, Therachon, Theranexus, Carrick and Karolinksa

Almirall SA has appointed Peter Guenter CEO – effective Oct. 1. Guenter joins the company from Sanofi where he held various senior positions over the past 22 years, most recently as executive vice president diabetes and cardiovascular global business unit. Ron Menezes will also be joining Aqua Pharmaceuticals LLC, an Almirall company, as president and general manager in September. Most recently, Menezeswas vice president of sales and sales operations, pain and CNS portfolio at Depomed Inc.

Axial Biotech Inc., a company focused on neurological diseases, has appointed Srinivas G. Rao chief medical officer (CMO), Bridget M. Cole vice president of medicinal chemistry and Ryan Barrett vice president, corporate development and intellectual property. Rao has more 17 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and most recently, he was senior vice president and CMO at DepoMed Inc. Barrett joined Axial from OvaScience Inc., where he was vice president and senior corporate counsel