Crown Bioscience, a global drug discovery and development service company providing translational platforms to advance oncology and metabolic disease research, has tripled the size of its team in Europe to meet demand for its services.

Crown Bioscience’s new director of business development, Keith Payne, will have specific responsibility for the increasing number of clients in Israel. Payne has worked in the pharmaceutical industry in technical and commercial functions for more than 25 years.

A chartered biologist with a strong background in bench research, Jonny McMichael, Ph.D., is Crown Bioscience’s new director of business development. McMichael has more than 15 years of experience in various business development, general management and scientific roles at companies involved in drug discovery and preclinical services. His responsibilities include business development in Scotland, the Cambridge area in the U.K. and the Nordic region.

They join other industry veterans that Crown Bioscience recently added to its European team including Sebastian Dempe, Ph.D., manager of business development for central Europe, and Severine Marrony, Ph.D., manager of business development in France.