Novartis Oncology Appoints New General Manager for China; BeiGene Announces Departure of Head of Hematology Sales

Pu Cunxia, Head of Regional Marketing for AMACO at Novartis Oncology, announced to employees that Alexandre Gibim, General Manager of Novartis Oncology China, will be transferring to the Novartis AAA platform to assume the role of Head of North America, effective January 1, 2022.

On March 1, 2019, Alexandre Gibim, then President of Novartis Brazil, was appointed General Manager of Novartis Oncology (China) and adopted the Chinese name "Ji Bicheng". Over the past three years, he has navigated policy changes in the Chinese market, including National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) negotiations and volume-based procurement, ensuring the growth of Novartis Oncology's strategic products and driving the transformation of its organizational culture.

Ji Bicheng's successor has been confirmed. It is understood that, effective from the 1st of next month, Isabel Afonso will assume the position of General Manager of Novartis Oncology (China), reporting to Pu Cunxia, Head of Regional Marketing for Novartis Oncology AMACO, and will join the Novartis Oncology AMACO leadership team.

Isabel Afonso holds a degree in Computer Science Engineering from the University of Minho, Portugal. A seasoned Novartis veteran with 16 years of service, she held business and functional leadership roles across multiple divisions, including Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Animal Health, Consumer Health, and Sandoz. She first joined the Novartis Pharmaceuticals IT department in Basel in August 2002. In 2010, she participated in a general management rotation program and transferred to the Sales and Marketing department of Novartis Consumer Health in Spain. From 2011 to 2015, she served as General Manager of Sandoz Switzerland and Head of Sandoz BACH. From 2015 to 2018, as a member of the Sandoz Global Executive Committee, she was responsible for Sandoz Global Commercial Operations.

Subsequently, Isabel Afonso left Novartis in August 2018 to join Performance Health, a rehabilitation and sports medicine products company, and has served as Chief Commercial Officer of Performance Health since last year.

In April this year, Isabel Afonso rejoined Novartis as Head of Strategy and Portfolio Management at Novartis Oncology (China), and recently also assumed the role of Acting Head of the Business Optimization and Digitalization Department at Novartis Oncology (China).

BeiGene China Head of Hematology Oncology Sales Steps Down

On the same day, BeiGene's Human Resources Department announced to employees that Shi Hao, Head of Hematology-Oncology Sales for China, will leave the company on November 15, 2021, to pursue external career opportunities.

According to Da Mi, a successor has not yet been finalized. For the interim, Liu Yan, Head of Marketing for Greater China at BeiGene, will temporarily oversee the hematology-oncology sales team. The handover process has already commenced, and starting from the 16th of next month, BeiGene's hematology team will report directly to Liu Yan.