Aerospace parts supplier Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc. announced on Monday the appointment of David J. Castagnola as its chief executive and president. Castagnola will take over as head of the Valencia company effective May 4. He replaces Hal Weinstein who stepped in as interim chief executive following the retirement in December of Randy Snyder. Castagnola is currently president of the landing systems division of UTC Aerospace Systems, in Charlotte, N.C. Prior to UTC Aerospace he had been with Goodrich Corp., acquired in 2012 by United Technologies Corp. Castagnola said he will focus on planning and execution at Wesco. “At the same time, we will remain dedicated to providing superior service to our customers – a hallmark of Wesco’s success,” Castagnola said in a prepared statement. Shares closed up 14 cents, or nearly 1 percent, to $15.34 on the New York Stock Exchange. IPC Healthcare Inc. has acquired a doctors group in New Mexico specializing in geriatric patients. The North Hollywood company, which provides doctors to hospitals and nursing homes, bought Geriatrics Associates PC in Albuquerque for an undisclosed sum. The group will bring about 44,000 annual patient visits to IPC. Geriatrics Associates has doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners who provide care to residents in nursing homes and hospices. Dr. Henry Middleton, co-founder of the group, will join IPC with the title of practice group leader. Shares of IPC closed up 9 cents, or 19 percent, to $47.57 on the Nasdaq. Amgen Inc. announced on Monday that European regulators have approved Vectibix for a new use. The Thousand Oaks biotech has marketed Vectibix for certain metastatic colon cancers that didn’t respond to other treatments since 2006 in the United States. and 2007 in Europe. The new use mixes Vectibix with the chemotherapy cocktail called FOLFIRI as a first-line treatment for colorectal cancer. Vectibix is an antibody that attaches to the outside of cell membranes and disrupts the signal that turns the cell into a cancerous growth. “Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in Europe, and additional treatment options are important for patients and for physicians,” said Dr. Elliott Levy, senior vice president of global development at Amgen, in a statement. Shares closed down 60 cents, or a fraction of a percent, to $155.28 on the Nasdaq.
