Bristol-Myers Squibb announces post-closing leadership team

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced the future leadership team of the combined company effective upon completion of the company’s pending merger with Celgene Corporation . The company is evolving key aspects of its R&D and Commercialization structure to drive the continued growth of a highly successful marketed portfolio, maximize the six near-term launch opportunities and deliver the value of the combined pipeline, all guided by its continued mission of serving patients with serious disease. The business will be supported by a lean infrastructure to enable efficiency and agility.

"I'm looking forward to working with this Leadership Team as we combine the strengths of Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene to enhance the value of our marketed portfolio, deliver six significant new product launches and realize the full potential of our deep and broad pipeline," said Giovanni Caforio, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bristol-Myers Squibb. "We are building on a strong track record of best-in-class commercial execution, industry-leading science and a culture of collaboration and innovation. Together, we will create the leading biopharma company, one that will be known for pursuing the best science to create highly innovative medicines that bring meaningful benefits to patients and value to shareholders."

Research & Development

The new structure will focus on the innovation core to both companies’ success, pairing internal discovery with strong partnerships that provide access to external innovation. To deliver on the full value of its R&D capabilities, Bristol-Myers Squibb is evolving the structure and leadership around two core functional areas, Research & Early Development (R&ED) and Global Drug Development.

Rupert Vessey, M.A., B.M., B.Ch., F.R.C.P., D.Phil., will serve as President, Research & Early Development, reporting to Caforio and serving as a member of the Leadership Team. Vessey is the current President, Research & Early Development at Celgene. Under Vessey's leadership, the R&ED organization will work as a cohesive unit across Discovery, Early Development and Translational Medicine to advance promising assets through the early pipeline. Vessey will oversee the company’s expanded range of discovery platforms to drive scientific advancements across therapeutic areas and will work closely with Business Development to identify external sources of innovation.

Samit Hirawat, M.D., will join Bristol-Myers Squibb as the Chief Medical Officer, Global Drug Development, leading the development organization across therapeutic areas. Hirawat will report to Caforio and will serve as a member of the Leadership Team. Hirawat will be joining from Novartis where he was most recently Executive Vice President and Head of Oncology Development. Hirawat brings extensive experience in a range of roles in drug development. Under his leadership, the development organization will ensure progression of pipeline assets from proof-of-concept to commercialization through world-class clinical trial design and operations.

Tom Lynch, M.D., will continue to serve as Executive Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer, reporting to Caforio and serving as a member of the Leadership Team until he departs the company by October 1, 2019, to pursue opportunities in healthcare. Lynch has played a significant role in evolving R&D, including enhancing the company's translational medicine capabilities and increasing its focus on disease biology and data and analytics.

"I want to thank Tom for joining the company from our Board of Directors, for his leadership as Chief Scientific Officer in building new capabilities in R&D and for his support during this period of transition," said Caforio.

Commercialization

With nine $1 billion-plus marketed products, six near-term launch opportunities and four strengthened global franchises of Oncology, Hematology, Immunology and Cardiovascular, our combined company is well positioned for continued growth.

Two experienced and proven leaders will work closely together to ensure that Bristol-Myers Squibb's commercialization organization continues to deliver superior in-market performance and successfully launch new products, leveraging existing strong capabilities across the entire portfolio.

Chris Boerner, Ph.D., will continue in his role as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercialization Officer, reporting to Caforio and serving as a member of the Leadership Team. Boerner is currently responsible for commercial strategy and execution for the BMS portfolio across all geographies. Following transaction close, he will assume an expanded role, overseeing the combined company’s Oncology, Immunology and Cardiovascular global businesses, Worldwide Value, Access and Pricing, and Worldwide Commercial Operations. The Global Medical organization will also report to Boerner following the transaction close.

Nadim Ahmed will serve as President, Hematology, reporting to Caforio and serving as a member of the Leadership Team. Ahmed is the current President, Global Hematology & Oncology at Celgene. Following transaction close, Ahmed will oversee the company's Hematology business including Cell Therapy. Ahmed brings deep expertise in Hematology, an area of critical importance for the combined company's near-term success, including four potential near-term launches.

Chief Financial Officer

David Elkins, who is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Celgene, will be appointed the company's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, reporting to Caforio and serving as a member of the Leadership Team. Elkins has a long career in finance, including roles of increasing responsibility at Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca and as the Chief Financial Officer of Becton Dickinson. Elkins will have oversight of the Finance organization, Business Insights & Analytics and Procurement.

Following transaction close, Charles Bancroft will work closely with Elkins to ensure an effective transition of all financial and operational matters. He will also continue with the company as Executive Lead for Integration, reporting to Caforio and serving as a member of the Leadership Team, until he retires from the company during 2020 after 35 years of service.

Caforio commented, "I would like to thank Charlie for his extraordinary contributions during his 10 years as Chief Financial Officer and for his partnership and support. Charlie has played a significant leadership role in driving our company strategy, leading our transformation and executing important business development activities, including the acquisition of Celgene. I appreciate Charlie’s commitment to lead the integration to help make this combination a reality."

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