Basel, April 19, 2018 -
Novartis announced today the appointment of John Tsai, M.D. as Head
of Global Drug Development (GDD) and Chief Medical Officer. Dr.
Tsai will join Novartis on May 1, 2018, and will be based in Basel,
Switzerland. He will report to Vas Narasimhan, M.D., CEO of
Novartis and will become a member of the Executive Committee of
Novartis (ECN). He succeeds Dr. Narasimhan who became CEO of
Novartis on February 1, 2018. Dr. Rob Kowalski, who led GDD ad
interim since February 1, 2018, will resume his responsibilities as
Head of Global Regulatory Affairs for GDD.
Dr. Tsai has been Chief Medical Officer and Senior
Vice President of Global Medical at Amgen Inc., since May 2017 and
oversees all clinical and medical functions across multiple sites
worldwide. At Novartis, he will be responsible for advancing the
company's industry-leading pipeline of innovative medicines and
biosimilars. Dr. Tsai will also lead the GDD organization's ongoing
transformation embracing the power of advanced data sciences and
digital technologies to create a more agile model for drug
development.
"I am delighted to welcome John to Novartis," said
Dr. Narasimhan. "As we continue to reimagine drug development, his
expertise across multiple therapeutic areas, including
cardiovascular, oncology and neuroscience combined with his
background in electrical engineering will be a source of great
strength for Novartis. John has a great track record in nurturing
talent across clinical development, medical affairs and development
operations and shares our commitment to build an empowered and
inspired organization. I also want to express my sincere gratitude
to Rob Kowalski for his excellent ad interim leadership of the GDD
organization."
Dr. Tsai said: "I feel honored to have the
opportunity to lead the Novartis Global Drug Development
organization and do my part in bringing forward the company's
strong pipeline of medicines that address some of humanity's
biggest health challenges. I am also excited to work with my
colleagues at Novartis to pioneer novel paradigms for drug
development with data and digital technologies at the
core."
Prior to joining Amgen, Dr. Tsai spent eleven
years with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), where he served as Global
Head of Clinical Development for marketed products and global
clinical operations. He also played a leadership role in advancing
the company's late-stage pipeline across multiple therapeutic areas
including cardiovascular, oncology and neuroscience. As the
company's Chief Medical Officer, Europe and prior to that, as Head
of U.S. Medical and Vice President of Cardiovascular Medical,
Dr.Tsai played a critical role in driving multiple transformation
initiatives within the development and medical organizations.
Before joining BMS, he was a cardiovascular group leader at
Pfizer where he led the strategy development and execution of over
26 pivotal trials for a major cardiovascular medicine. He started
his career at GE as an electrical engineer before returning to
school to study medicine.
Dr. Tsai holds a medical degree from the
University of Louisville School of Medicine and a Bachelor of
Science in Electrical Engineering from Washington University in St.
Louis. He completed his residency at Kaiser Permanente in San
Francisco, California, where he then served as a physician in
internal medicine, Chief Resident and as a member of the hospital's
faculty.
Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified
by words such as "will," "pipeline," "ongoing," "to create,"
"continue," "commitment," "opportunity," "excited," "to pioneer,"
or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions
regarding potential new products, potential new indications for
existing products, or regarding potential future revenues from any
such products express or regarding potential future sales or
earnings of the Novartis Group. You should not place undue reliance
on these statements. Such forward looking statements are based on
our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and
are subject to significant known and unknown risks and
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materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect,
actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the
forward looking statements. There can be no guarantee that any new
products will be approved for sale in any market, or that any new
indications will be approved for any existing products in any
market, or that any approvals which are obtained will be obtained
at any particular time, or that any such products will achieve any
particular revenue levels. Nor can there be any guarantee Novartis
will be commercially successful in the future, or achieve any
particular financial results. In particular, our expectations could
be affected by, among other things: regulatory actions or delays or
government regulation generally; the potential that the strategic
benefits, synergies or opportunities expected from the significant
reorganizations of recent years may not be realized or may take
longer to realize than expected; the uncertainties inherent in the
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key products; safety, quality or manufacturing issues; global
trends toward health care cost containment, including government,
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other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form
20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of
this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Novartis
Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the
evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel,
Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet
these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and
biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading
positions globally in each of these areas. In 2017, the Group
achieved net sales of USD 49.1 billion, while R&D throughout
the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group
companies employ approximately 124,000 full-time-equivalent
associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155
countries around the world. For more information, please visit
http://www.novartis.com.
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