Bristol R&D Chief to Leave After Celgene Acquisition
June 05 2019 - 7:28AM
Dow Jones News
By Jared S. Hopkins
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s research-and-development chief will
leave the company later this year after the drugmaker completes its
$74 billion acquisition of rival Celgene Corp. and will hand over
his responsibilities to a pair of scientists from outside the
company.
Thomas Lynch Jr., Bristol's chief scientific officer overseeing
R&D since March 2017, is scheduled to leave in October, the
company said Wednesday in unveiling its management team when the
deal closes.
Part of Dr. Lynch's role will pass to Rupert Vessey, a Celgene
research executive. He will oversee the combined company's drug
discovery work and the early clinical testing of drug candidates.
He will also help search for potential deals to add to the
company's pipeline.
The later stages of developing drugs, before they go up for
approval and come to market, will be handled by Samit Hirawat, the
incoming chief medical officer. He comes from Novartis AG, where he
led cancer development.
Shareholders approved the deal in April, after an unsuccessful
activist campaign to break it up. The combined company will have
nearly $38 billion in annual sales and command a leading position
in the $123 billion world-wide market for cancer drugs.
Bristol pioneered the development of cancer drugs known as
immunotherapies, which unleash the body's immune system on tumors.
Summit, N.J.-based Celgene leads in the sale of treatments for
multiple myeloma. Its blood-cancer treatment Revlimid is among the
world's best-selling drugs.
Dr. Lynch had spent more than two decades at Massachusetts
General Hospital and is a former director of the Yale Cancer
Center. He took charge of Bristol R&D after serving on its
board while the company was trying to recover from the failure of a
key study for flagship immunotherapy Opdivo.
Since then, Opdivo, used to treat types of lung cancer and other
tumors, has continued to see pressure from competitors such as
Keytruda from Merck & Co.
Under Dr. Lynch, Bristol sought to avoid a repeat of the Opdivo
study setback, chiefly by honing efforts to incorporate scientific
insights into drug development. Dr. Lynch also worked to lift
morale in the company's labs.
The new structure assigns one official to oversee the earliest
science and another to manage the latter stages of development and
regulatory submissions. Bristol has emphasized the incoming
pipeline from Celgene since the deal was announced in January. The
drugmaker is getting several drugs in the late-stages of
development that could be up for approval and launch in the near
term.
Management of Bristol's commercial division will also be shared
by executives reporting to Bristol CEO Giovanni Caforio.
Nadim Ahmed from Celgene will manage the combined company's
blood-cancer business. The rest of the combined company's
commercial side, including its cancer, immunology and heart-drug
businesses, will be managed by Chris Boerner, currently Bristol's
chief commercial officer.
Celgene Chief Financial Officer David Elkins will move into that
role at the combined company. He will succeed Charles Bancroft, who
will retire next year after a 35-year career at Bristol.
Write to Jared S. Hopkins at jared.hopkins@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 05, 2019 07:13 ET (11:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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