Bristol R&D Chief to Leave After Celgene Acquisition

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 [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 05, 2019 07:13 ET (11:13 GMT)

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