Global Blood Expands Leadership Team With Appointment of Chief Medical Officer and Key Hires in Development and Finance
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global Blood Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel, orally-available therapeutics for chronic blood diseases, announced today the appointment of Ted W. Love, M.D., to chief executive officer. Dr. Love has served on the company’s board of directors since September 2013. He succeeds interim chief executive officer Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., a partner at Third Rock Ventures who will remain on the company’s board of directors. The company also appointed Eleanor (Leni) R. Ramos, M.D. to chief medical officer, Kim Graham to senior vice president, development and John Schembri to vice president, finance and administration.
“I am excited and honored to join Global Blood as it advances its lead program toward clinical trials,” stated Dr. Love. “There is a significant need to develop and deliver therapies that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients affected by sickle cell disease and other serious blood diseases. The company has made great strides under Mark’s stewardship. I look forward to doing my part in leading the company and bringing our treatments to the clinic and ultimately to patients.”
Dr. Love brings more than 20 years of broad leadership and management experience in the pharmaceutical industry. A number of important new drugs have been developed and approved under his direction. Prior to joining Global Blood Therapeutics, Dr. Love served as executive vice president and head of R&D at Onyx, where he oversaw the approval of Kyprolis for multiple myeloma. Before Onyx, Dr. Love served as president, chief executive officer and chairman of Nuvelo, Inc., where he led growth of the company to a market capitalization of $1 billion. He previously served as senior vice president, development at Theravance, Inc. Earlier in his career, Dr. Love held roles of increasing responsibility in medical affairs and product development at Genentech. As vice president, product development, Dr. Love oversaw the development strategy and execution leading to approvals of Rituxan, Herceptin, Xolair, TNKase, Raptiva and Avastin. Dr. Love has served as a consultant in medicine at Massachusetts’s General Hospital in the department of cardiology. Dr. Love currently sits on the boards of directors of Amicus Therapeutics, Oncothryeon and KaloBios. He holds a B.A. in molecular biology from Haverford College and an M.D. from Yale Medical School.
Eleanor R. Ramos, M.D.
Dr. Ramos, an industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, will oversee clinical development and medical affairs. Prior to joining Global Blood Therapeutics, Dr. Ramos served as chief medical officer of Theraclone Sciences where she led the development of monoclonal antibody therapies for viral diseases. Prior to Theraclone, she held the role of senior vice president and chief medical officer at ZymoGenetics where she was responsible for the oversight of the company’s clinical portfolio, encompassing programs in oncology, virology and immunology that led to the company’s acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Ramos also led significant clinical research and development initiatives while at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche Global Development. Previously, Dr. Ramos held faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School, the University of Florida, Yale University and the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Ramos began her medical career as an academic transplant nephrologist following completion of medical and subspecialty training at Tufts University and Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
Kim Graham
Mr. Graham joins Global Blood Therapeutics as senior vice president, development with more than 35 years of leadership experience in the life science and pharmaceutical industries. Previously, Mr. Graham served as chief executive officer of Innomab, Inc., a consultancy he founded to assist biopharma companies in their pursuit of early drug development and clinical research. Prior to founding Innomab, Mr. Graham held senior leadership roles with Cambridge Antibody Technology, Inc., Roche Bioscience, Genencor International and Syntex, where he managed U.S. and international development programs for new clinical entities. He also currently serves as a member of the board of directors of AbGenomics International, Inc.
John Schembri
Mr. Schembri brings to his role of vice president, finance and administration more than 25 years of experience as a finance executive in the biotechnology industry. Mr. Schembri served as chief financial officer of BiPar Sciences, which was acquired by Sanofi-Aventis for $500 million. Prior to that, Mr. Schembri led the finance team at Sirna Therapeutics, which was acquired by Merck & Co. for $1.1 billion. He also served a key role in the $2 billion sale and integration of COR Therapeutics to Millennium Pharmaceuticals in 2001.
About Global Blood Therapeutics
Global Blood Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, orally-available therapeutics for chronic blood diseases. The company is addressing severe, non-malignant blood-based diseases for which there are currently no effective cures and only limited therapeutic options. Global Blood Therapeutics is focused on the critical need for therapeutics that address the underlying causes of blood diseases, not just the symptoms. The company’s extensive drug discovery capabilities — combining world-class medicinal chemistry with deep expertise in blood biology — are driving its product pipeline of mechanism-based therapeutics, including programs in sickle cell disease and hereditary angioedema. Global Blood Therapeutics is a private company launched in 2012 by Third Rock Ventures with an experienced leadership team and renowned scientific founders. For more information, please visit www.globalbloodtx.com.
Contacts
Pure Communications
Alicia Gronneberg, 910-239-5036
alicia@purecommunicationsinc.com
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