
US ‘star’ Bradner to head Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research
pharmafile | December 17, 2015 | Appointment | Research and Development | James Bradner, Jay Bradner, Mark Fishman, Novartis, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research
Novartis has hired James ‘Jay’ Bradner, from Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, to head its Institutes for Biomedical Research from 1 March.
He will replace Mark Fishman, who is retiring after leading Novartis research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for 13 years.
The appointment is seen as an attempt by the Swiss firm to catch on its pharma rivals, several of whom are much further on the path to the development of immuno-oncology new treatments.
Under Fishman, Novartis broadened its drug pipeline, and struck out in a new therapy area, developing CAR-T cell therapies including CTL019 for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
But the Basel-based company is seen as having failed to keep pace with Merck, Bristol-Myers and Roche in immuno-oncology, particularly ‘checkpoint inhibitors’ that are set to garner huge sales in 2016.
Bradner is well known in US drug research. His 2011 TED Talk, where he made the case for more industry and academic collaboration to speed drug discovery, has been viewed more than 466,000 times. And in a 2012 Atlantic Monthly article, he labeled drug discovery “a dark art performed behind closed doors with the shades pulled.” His arrival at Novartis is seen as a departure from its previous research strategy, and a bold move in a new strategic direction for the pharma giant.
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