Aridis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARDS]]) has appointed Hasan Jafri to serve as its chief medical officer. He succeeds Paul Mendelman, the company’s interim CMO since last October. San Jose, CA-based Aridis said Mendelman will become senior medical advisor to the company. Jafri is joining Aridis from AstraZeneca (NYSE: [[ticker:AZN]]), where he was director of clinical research and development for infectious disease and vaccines. Aridis is developing drugs to treat life-threatening bacterial infections.