Executive Leadership Shifts: Kite VP Departs, Bayer CEO Term Extended, and BMS Oncology Head Joins Blueprint

By Shi Yuan

Recently, multiple multinational pharmaceutical companies have announced executive personnel changes. The intensified mobility of biopharmaceutical talent signifies the continuous development of economic vitality within the industry. The turnover of professionals also serves as a hallmark of industrial transformation and surging opportunities.

The details are as follows:

Kite’s Current Vice President of Cell Therapy Research Resigns

On September 14, Endpoint News reported that Peter Emage, current Senior Vice President of Cell Therapy Research at Kite, a CAR-T subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, will leave the company on September 30. According to insiders, Ken Takeshita, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Development at Kite, will temporarily assume Mr. Emage’s responsibilities, while the company continues its external search for a permanent successor.

Peter Emtage is an immunologist who has dedicated the past two decades to developing drugs that modulate human immune responses. He advances cell therapy by leveraging viral and non-viral delivery systems, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T-cell receptor (TCR) adoptive T-cell models, as well as monoclonal antibodies for checkpoint blockade and immuno-oncology.

Bayer CEO's Term Extended to 2024

On September 10, according to an announcement on Bayer’s official website, the Supervisory Board of Bayer AG unanimously decided to extend the contract of Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO, until April 30, 2024. His original term was scheduled to expire on April 30, 2021.

In 2019, Werner Baumann faced a vote of no confidence from Bayer shareholders due to the $63 billion acquisition of seed manufacturer Monsanto and multiple lawsuits alleging that the herbicide Roundup causes cancer. 55.5% of shareholders believed that he and his management team had failed to adequately assess the legal risks associated with the acquisition.

This year, the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia has put negotiations on Bayer’s Roundup litigation on hold. Thanks to sufficient stockpiling of prescription drugs, Bayer achieved sales of €12.845 billion in the first quarter of 2020, a 6% year-on-year increase on an adjusted basis; net profit amounted to €1.489 billion, up 20% year on year. This performance has helped Werner Baumann regain investors’ trust and support.

BMS Head of Oncology R&D Joins Blueprint

On September 1, Fouad Namouni, former head of oncology R&D at BMS, joined Blueprint Medicines as President of Research and Development, overseeing the entire drug development cycle from discovery to regulatory approval. Reportedly, Mr. Namouni is a 20-year veteran of BMS, having participated in and led the development teams for the immuno-oncology blockbuster drugs Opdivo and Yervoy.

According to data from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Fouad Namouni’s annual salary will reach $550,000 after joining the new company, and he will receive over $2 million in stock awards over the next four years.

Blueprint Medicines is an innovative biopharmaceutical company focused on personalized cancer therapies. Its core product is the RET kinase inhibitor Gavreto (pralsetinib), which was approved by the FDA on September 4, 2020, for the treatment of RET fusion-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). On September 7, it was accepted by the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) and included in the priority review, with the potential to become the first RET-targeted therapy in China.

It is worth noting that CStone Pharmaceuticals holds the exclusive rights for the clinical development and commercialization of pralsetinib, either as monotherapy or in combination therapy, in the Greater China region (including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). Roche holds the exclusive global license for the drug in markets outside the Greater China region (including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) and the United States, as well as the rights to co-develop and commercialize pralsetinib with Blueprint in the United States.

In addition to Fouad Namouni, three other veterans from multinational pharmaceutical companies have moved to startup biotechnology firms, including:

1. Dr. Lisa Olson, who served at AbbVie for 15 years, will join Magenta Therapeutics as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).

Magenta is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing revolutionary bone marrow transplantation therapies for autoimmune diseases, hematologic cancers, and genetic disorders. The company has pioneered a comprehensive approach that addresses four key areas: pre-transplant patient conditioning, stem cell collection, stem cell expansion, and post-transplant complications. By making the transplantation process more effective, safer, and easier, Magenta aims to extend the curative potential of bone marrow transplantation to a broader patient population.

2. Dr. Scott Edmondson, former Director and Head of Oncology Chemistry at AstraZeneca’s Boston site, has joined Nimbus Therapeutics as Senior Vice President and Head of Chemistry.

Nimbus is a biotechnology company dedicated to leveraging its expertise in computer technology to advance drug discovery and development. The company’s HPK1 inhibitor holds promise as an innovative therapy for cancer, either as a standalone treatment or in combination with existing cancer immunotherapies, to enhance therapeutic efficacy.

3. Charles Hugh-Jones, former Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Allergan, has joined Volastra Therapeutics, a U.S.-based developer of therapies for metastatic cancer, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Volastra Therapeutics is dedicated to developing novel therapies for patients with metastatic cancer by leveraging unique insights into chromosomal instability, with a focus on targeting key pathways associated with chromosomal instability.

In February this year, Volastra completed a $12 million seed funding round, led by Polaris Partners, with participation from DROIA Oncology Ventures, Arch Venture Partners, and the Global Health Sciences Fund.

Original Title: Gilead Kite VP Departs, Bayer CEO’s Term Extended, BMS Head of Oncology R&D Joins Blueprint...