Surprising Departure: Celgene President and COO "Retiring" in the Summer
February 24, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
SUMMIT, N.J. – Jackie Fouse, president and chief operating officer of Celgene will step down from her position on April 1 and remain with the company through June 30.
The company made the announcement this morning. Following Fouse’s departure from the office, Scott Smith will take over the duties of president and COO.
Fouse joined Celgene in 2010 and served as chief financial officer, and president of the company’s Hematology & Oncology franchise. She was elevated to the role of COO and company president in January 2016 when Celgene shook up its company leadership. That shakeup saw Mark Alles assume the role of chief executive officer and former CEO Bob Hugin took on the role of executive chairman of the company board of directors. Fouse, who has a position on the company board, said she will not stand for re-election since she is stepping down from her leadership positon with the company.
Fouse had been rumored to be a candidate for the CEO spot, John Carroll of Endpoints reported this morning. If that is true and being passed over for the top spot played any role in her decision to leave was left unanswered.
In a statement issued this morning, Alles said Fouse has shown “incredible commitment and dedication to Celgene and the patients we seek to serve worldwide.” Throughout Jackie’s nearly seven years with the Company, Celgene has produced tremendous growth and outstanding results, the company said in its statement.
“Celgene has greatly benefited from Jackie’s strategic leadership and wisdom,” Hugin said in a statement. “All of us thank Jackie for her countless and meaningful contributions to Celgene.”
Fouse is not the only leadership change announcement Celgene made this morning. Terrie Curran was named president of the company’s Global Inflammation & Immunology Franchise, the role the company credited Scott Smith as building.
“Under Scott’s leadership, Otezla has achieved tremendous commercial success and Celgene has built a robust and high-potential I&I pipeline,” Celgene said in a statement.
Smith and Curran will both assume their new responsibilities on April 1. Curran joined Celgene in 2013 as the U.S. Commercial Head of the I&I Franchise and “established the framework” for the commercial launch of Otezla, the company said.
While Fouse has stepped down from Celgene, does her “retirement,” as it’s being billed by the company, mean she is planning to pursue a life of leisure, or will she re-emerge with a leadership role in another company or a new startup? It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened. Earlier this year, former Biogen CEO George Scangos emerged as the head of a San Francisco-based startup called Vir Biotechnology, Inc. Scangos revealed his new position in January, only a few weeks after his last day with Biogen.