A pharmaceutical company has tapped Novartis (NYSE:NVS) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) for chief medical officer and general counsel positions.

Dr. Clarence L. Young will serve as chief medical officer and will lead Iroko Pharmaceuticals’ clinical programs for the company’s investigational, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

He previously worked at Novartis as global head of targeted therapies and integrated hospital care and led teams to develop global registration and commercialize small and large molecules. Prior to Novartis, he held senior research positions at Protez Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Novartis in 2010), GlaxoSmithKline and SmithKline Beecham, according to a company statement.

Moji James will serve as general counsel and will oversee the pharmaceutical company’s legal and compliance duties. James previously worked as global product counsel at Pfizer and senior attorney at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals when it was acquired by Pfizer. During that time, she served as the primary business lawyer for therapeutic areas such as transplant, neuroscience and U.S. vaccines, and supported the development and launch of new products.

The Philadelphia-based Iroko was started in 2007 and is led by CEO John Vavricka. It acquires, develops and markets drugs, and develops new formulations of drugs that meet patient needs. It currently markets anti-inflammatory Indocin and hypertension drug Aldomet.

Among the four NSAID drugs in its pipeline are two undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials: Zorvolex for acute and osteoarthritic pain and Tiforbex for acute pain.

Copyright 2013 MedCity News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.