Agios Appoints Bruce Car, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer
December 02 2019 - 7:00AM
Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO), a leader in the field of
cellular metabolism to treat cancer and rare genetic diseases,
today announced the appointment of Bruce Car, Ph.D., as chief
scientific officer effective January 6, 2020. Dr. Car will replace
Scott Biller, Ph.D., who will retire at the end of 2019 and remain
a strategic advisor to Agios through 2020 as previously announced.
Dr. Car spent 25 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and its legacy
companies, working across all therapeutic areas and drug
modalities, and serving most recently as the interim head, BMS drug
discovery.
“Great science is the backbone of Agios and what allows us to
make transformational medicines for patients. With Bruce on board,
along with the support of our tremendous scientific leadership
team, I’m certain that we will continue our legacy of uncovering
biological breakthroughs and developing first-in-class therapies,”
said Jackie Fouse, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Agios. “I want
to thank Scott for contributions to our pipeline, people and
culture over the last nine years. He has mentored, challenged and
supported countless employees and led by example in his relentless
focus on making a difference for patients.”
During his tenure at BMS and its legacy companies, Dr. Car
helped bring more than 200 drug candidates to clinical trials and
13 marketed drugs, including ELIQUIS®, OPDIVO® and FARXIGA®, to
patients. For more than two decades, he held roles of increasing
responsibility in drug discovery, covering all therapeutic areas,
drug platforms and stages of discovery. Dr. Car also led the BMS
R&D campus in Bangalore, India (BBRC) for six years across all
aspects of discovery and later established a translational medicine
function at that site. In early 2017, he became the first head of
the BMS translational medicine group, where he successfully built a
cohesive function of over 300 scientists and specialists covering
biomarkers through pharmaco-diagnostics. Among his responsibilities
in translational medicine, Dr. Car led the R&D computational
biology and machine learning capabilities and pharmaco-diagnostic
technology platforms. Dr. Car received veterinary medicine and
Masters in pathology degrees from The University of Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University, where
he is currently an adjunct professor. Dr. Car undertook his
postdoctoral studies in immunology and inflammation at the Theodor
Kocher Institute, University of Berne and ETH/University of
Zurich.
“I’ve long been impressed by the innovation and productivity of
the research team at Agios. I’m excited to take on this unique
opportunity at a company with expansive metabolism expertise and a
robust preclinical pipeline across oncology and rare genetic
diseases,” said Dr. Car. “I look forward to working with the
research organization to advance the next wave of Agios
medicines.”
“With more than two decades of broad drug discovery experience
across BMS, Bruce is the ideal scientific leader to join Agios, and
I have tremendous confidence in his ability to support and guide
the research organization,” said Dr. Biller. “I want to thank my
research colleagues for their hard work and tireless dedication to
science in the service of patients. Our accomplishments as a team
has been the pinnacle of my career.”
About Agios Agios is focused on discovering and
developing novel investigational medicines to treat cancer and rare
genetic diseases through scientific leadership in the field of
cellular metabolism and adjacent areas of biology. In addition to
an active research and discovery pipeline across both therapeutic
areas, Agios has two approved oncology precision medicines and
multiple first-in-class investigational therapies in clinical
and/or preclinical development. All Agios programs focus on
genetically identified patient populations, leveraging our
knowledge of metabolism, biology and genomics. For more
information, please visit the company's website
at www.agios.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include those
regarding the expected benefits of Dr. Car’s employment and Agios’
strategic plans and focus. The words "expects," "anticipates,"
"believes," "intends," "estimates," "plans," "will," "outlook" and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain
these identifying words. Such statements are subject to numerous
important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
events or results to differ materially from Agios' current
expectations and beliefs. For example, there can be no guarantee
that any product candidate Agios is developing will successfully
commence or complete necessary preclinical and clinical development
phases, that development of any of Agios' product candidates will
successfully continue, or that any positive developments in Agios'
business will result in stock price appreciation. Management's
expectations and, therefore, any forward-looking statements in this
press release could also be affected by risks and uncertainties
relating to a number of other important factors, including: Agios'
results of clinical trials and preclinical studies, including
subsequent analysis of existing data and new data received from
ongoing and future studies; the content and timing of decisions
made by the U.S. FDA and other regulatory authorities,
investigational review boards at clinical trial sites and
publication review bodies; Agios' ability to obtain and maintain
requisite regulatory approvals and to enroll patients in its
planned clinical trials; unplanned cash requirements and
expenditures; competitive factors; Agios' ability to obtain,
maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property
protection for any product candidates it is developing; Agios'
ability to maintain key collaborations; and general economic and
market conditions. These and other risks are described in greater
detail under the caption "Risk Factors" included in Agios’ public
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak
only as of the date hereof, and Agios expressly disclaims any
obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by law.
Investor & Media ContactHolly Manning,
617-844-6630Associate Director, Investor
RelationsHolly.Manning@agios.com
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