Synthetic Biologics Inc. announced that Raymond D. Stapleton, PhD, has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Manufacturing. Dr. Stapleton will lead the manufacturing team as the company begins to prepare for late-stage clinical trials for its irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). Dr. Stapleton is a pharmaceutical and biotechnology executive with over 15 years of experience at Merck & Co.

Inc., in manufacturing, operations, quality, science, technology, engineering and process development. He most recently served as Executive Director, Global Vaccine Technology and Engineering.