BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: BCRX) has appointed David W. Jenkins as chief scientific officer, a newly created position, effective immediately, according to a press release from the Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based company.

Jenkins will report to Sandeep Menon, chief research and development officer, and will be based in BioCryst's Boston office. His role will focus on building a research team centered on external partnerships and innovation to advance rare disease therapies.

Jenkins brings more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical experience. He most recently served as senior vice president and head of research and external innovation at Ipsen, where he oversaw preclinical drug discovery across oncology, rare disease and neuroscience. During his tenure at Ipsen, the company added more than 35 assets to its pipeline. He previously held scientific leadership roles at Tesaro, MedImmune, Novartis and AstraZeneca.

Jenkins holds a PhD in molecular pharmacology and neuroscience and an MA in pharmacology from the University of Cambridge.

"As we evolve our pipeline development model toward high impact external opportunities, scientific rigor to identify high potential therapeutic candidates has become more critical than ever," Menon said.

BioCryst markets ORLADEYO (berotralstat), an oral plasma kallikrein inhibitor approved for hereditary angioedema, and is developing additional rare disease therapies.