Evoke Pharma, Inc. announced the appointment of Marilyn R. Carlson, D.M.D., M.D., RAC, as Chief Medical Officer and Wayne Alves, Ph.D., as Senior Director of Clinical Operations. These two executives will focus on the initiation and execution of the company's Phase 3 clinical trial of EVK-001 for gastroparesis, which is expected to commence in the first half of 2014. Dr. Carlson has worked closely with Evoke since the company was founded in 2007.

Dr. Carlson has more than 22 years of experience in the development and post-marketing support of drugs, biologics, devices and diagnostics. She is one of the founders of Agility Clinical, Inc. Dr. Alves is a seasoned executive with a wealth of experience in leading cross-functional strategic and operational teams. Before joining Evoke, he was President and Principal Consultant of Sage Clinical Development, LLC, he held senior project leadership and research positions at Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Xcel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., DevCo Pharmaceuticals and INC Research Inc.