Dr. Jonathan Fox, former vice president of clinical development at pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, has been named chief medical officer of MyoKardia, a South San Francisco-based heart drug company.

As CMO, Fox will oversee the company’s development of drugs for two types of genetically determined cardiomyopathy, the company said in a news release (PDF). In addition, he will be charged with communicating the company’s message to physicians and patient groups.

Prior to joining AstraZeneca in 2004, he was senior director of clinical research at Merck. He also held past roles as director of clinical pharmacology and experimental medicine at GlaxoSmithKline, and as an assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

He also served four years as an industry representative on the U. S. Food and Drug Administration’s Cardiovascular and Renal Drug Products Advisory Committee.

Fox’s age was unavailable at deadline.