PALO ALTO, Calif., July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Affymax, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, today announced the appointment of Jeffrey H. Knapp as chief commercialization officer. Mr. Knapp, who has nearly 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, joins Affymax as a member of the senior management team.
“Jeff has a strong commercial background and extensive experience in the biotech industry and in oncology in particular. His addition to our senior management team comes at a pivotal time, as our lead product candidate Hematide(TM) advances through clinical development as a potential treatment for anemia. We recently entered into an exclusive global agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company for Hematide, and Jeff will play a major role in that collaboration,” said Arlene M. Morris, president and chief executive officer of Affymax. “Jeff’s success in commercial operations will be of great value to Affymax as we work to bring Hematide to market.”
Mr. Knapp joins Affymax from Abgenix, Inc. (which was recently acquired by Amgen), where he served as senior vice president, sales and marketing. In that position, he was responsible for building an integrated sales and marketing organization to support the co-promotion with Amgen of panitumumab, a monoclonal antibody being evaluated for the treatment of colorectal cancer and other solid tumors. Prior to joining Abgenix, he was vice president, sales and marketing, North America, for Pharmion Corporation, where he led and directed the U.S. oncology sales and marketing organization and provided strategic commercial leadership to the clinical and regulatory development of VIDAZA(R) for use in myelodysplastic syndrome. Earlier in his career, he served as vice president, U.S. sales and marketing, for EMD Pharmaceuticals, a division of Merck KGaA, where he prepared multiple products for launch in the U.S. across several therapeutic areas, including oncology and diabetes. He also has held sales, marketing, and business development positions at Eli Lilly and Company and Schering-Plough Corporation.
Mr. Knapp earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.
About Affymax
Affymax, Inc. is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company that is developing a pipeline of synthetic peptide-based drugs against clinically validated targets for the treatment of kidney diseases and cancer. Hematide(TM), the Company’s first product candidate to enter the clinic, is a novel peptide-based drug designed to stimulate the production of red blood cells. It is in Phase 2 trials for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic kidney disease and cancer. For more information go to www.affymax.com.
Affymax, Inc.
CONTACT: Mary Fermi, Senior Director, Commercial Development of Affymax,Inc., +1-650-812-8722; or media, Jani Bergan of WeissComm Partners,+1-415-946-1064, or jbergan@weisscommpartners.com, for Affymax, Inc.
Web site: http://www.affymax.com/
