Everest Medicines Appoints Kerry Blanchard, M.D., Ph.D., as Director and Chief Executive Officer
February 20 2020 - 5:30AM
Everest Medicines, a biopharmaceutical company focused on
developing and commercializing transformative pharmaceutical
products that address critical unmet medical needs for patients in
Greater China and other parts of Asia, today announced that the
company’s Board of Directors has appointed Kerry Blanchard, M.D.,
Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer. He will also join the company’s
Board of Directors. Dr. Blanchard will be based in the company’s
Shanghai office.
“Dr. Blanchard brings a depth of scientific and
clinical experience from academia, global big pharma and Chinese
biotech that will be a perfect complement to the business expertise
of Everest Medicines’ founding team,” said Wei Fu, Chairman of the
Board of Everest Medicines. “As we look forward to the company’s
growth trajectory under Dr. Blanchard, we thank Sean Cao for his
contributions to Everest Medicines at a critical growth period and
we will benefit from his continued contribution as a senior
advisor.”
Everest Medicines was founded in 2017 and has
built world class capabilities in business development, clinical
operations and regulatory affairs; and is building an integrated
commercial platform. The company has a portfolio of eight
late-stage, first-in-class or best-in-class drug candidates in four
major therapeutic areas: oncology, immunology, cardio-renal
disease, and infectious disease. Everest Medicines initiated four
registrational trials in 2019 and intends to initiate at least two
more registrational trials as well as expects to submit the first
NDA this year.
“Dr. Blanchard is a seasoned leader with
extensive experience managing discovery, clinical and regulatory
operations and bringing cross functional teams together to achieve
outstanding results. He understands all aspects of our corporate
strategy and what we must do in order to continue to be successful
moving forward,” said Sean Cao. “With Dr. Blanchard as CEO,
supported by Everest Medicines’ excellent and tenured leadership
team, we are well positioned to capitalize on significant market
opportunities. I look forward to continue to support the company as
a senior advisor.”
“I am honored to join a company that has built
such a solid foundation for innovative drug development and look
forward to leading the company through this next phase of growth as
we initiate multiple registrational trials in different therapeutic
areas, expand our workforce, enhance our capabilities and prepare
for commercial readiness,” said Dr. Blanchard. “China’s importance
to global pharmaceutical development continues to rise and I will
work with the Board to explore strategic opportunities outside of
our traditional focus of licensing regional rights to late-stage
programs.”
Dr. Blanchard’s career spans three decades of
diverse leadership roles across North America and has lived
and worked in China for 10 years. In November 2019, Dr. Blanchard
was appointed as Operating Partner of CBC Group, a healthcare
private equity firm and one of the leading investors in Everest
Medicines. Prior to joining CBC Group, Dr. Blanchard was Chief
Science Officer at Innovent Biologics, where he oversaw the NDA
preparation and submission for the company’s PD1 antibody,
sintilimab, which was approved in late 2018 and launched in China
in 2019. At Innovent, Dr. Blanchard also led the partnership
efforts with Incyte to develop three small molecule oncology assets
for Greater China.
Previously, Dr. Blanchard was the Senior Vice
President of Lilly China Drug Development and External Innovation,
where he led a team of 400 employees to build and implement
clinical plans for assets that spanned from clinical trial phase 1
to 4 across all therapeutic areas. He also built and executed the
company’s external partnership drug development portfolio model in
China. He positioned Lilly to capitalize on the positive changes in
the Chinese regulatory environment to expand the China innovation
ecosystem.
About Everest MedicinesEverest
Medicines is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and
commercializing transformative pharmaceutical products that address
critical unmet medical needs for patients in Greater China and
other Asian markets. The management team of Everest Medicines has
deep expertise and an extensive track record of high-quality
clinical development, regulatory affairs, CMC, business development
and operations both in China and with leading global pharmaceutical
companies. For more information, please visit its website
at www.everestmedicines.com.
For further information, please contact:
Everest MedicinesMedia in US and Europe: Mark Corbae Senior Vice
President Westwicke PR (203) 682-8288 mark.corbae@icrinc.com Media
in China: Edmond Lococo Senior Vice President ICR Asia +86 (10)
6583-7510 edmond.lococo@icrinc.com