Arbutus Biopharma Corporation announced the appointment of William H. Collier as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective June 24. Mr. Collier has also been appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of Arbutus, effective June 24, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mark J. Murray, Ph.D., from the Board of Directors. Dr. Murray will continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors until his retirement on June 23.

Dr. Murray and Arbutus Biopharma entered into a consulting agreement on June 13, 2019 whereby Dr. Murray will provide transition services from June 24, 2019 to August 23, 2019. Mr. Collier has over 30 years of experience as a senior executive in the pharmaceutical industry and previously served as President and General Manager, North America at ViiV Healthcare. Prior to joining ViiV in 2009, Mr. Collier held multiple senior leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline.

Earlier in his career he led the launches of new treatments for herpes and bacterial infections.