CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Blueprint
Medicines (NASDAQ: BPMC), a leader in discovering and developing
highly selective investigational kinase medicines for patients with
genomically defined diseases, today announced the appointment of
Kathryn (Kate) Haviland as Chief
Business Officer. Ms. Haviland will join the executive
management team and will be responsible for Blueprint Medicines'
corporate strategy, business development, corporate communications
and investor relations functions.
"We are thrilled to welcome Kate to Blueprint Medicines. Kate
brings an impressive breadth of experience and leadership within
the biopharmaceutical industry. Her substantial background in
business development, commercial and strategic planning and program
management will be indispensable as we continue to explore the
depth of our pipeline of highly selective investigational kinase
medicines and discover additional applications for our novel target
discovery engine," said Jeff Albers,
Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Medicines. "We look forward to
her contributions as a member of our executive leadership team as
we seek to build Blueprint Medicines into a fully integrated
biopharmaceutical company capable of making a substantial
difference for patients."
Ms. Haviland joins Blueprint Medicines from Idera
Pharmaceuticals, where she served as Vice President, Rare Diseases
and Oncology Program Leadership. In this role, she oversaw all
aspects of the product development strategy for Idera
Pharmaceuticals' rare disease and oncology pipeline programs,
including preclinical research, manufacturing and drug supply,
regulatory affairs, clinical development and execution, and
commercial planning. Prior to joining Idera Pharmaceuticals, Ms.
Haviland was Head of Commercial Development at Sarepta
Therapeutics, where she was responsible for product development and
commercial planning and for cultivating relationships with key
opinion leaders and patient advocacy groups. In addition, Ms.
Haviland previously served as Executive Director of Commercial
Development at PTC Therapeutics and held corporate development and
project management roles at Genzyme. She holds a B.A. from
Wesleyan University with a double major
in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Economics and an M.B.A. from
Harvard Business School.
"It is a tremendous honor to join the team at Blueprint
Medicines," said Ms. Haviland. "With two Phase 1 clinical trials
underway, FDA authorization to begin a third clinical trial and
multiple discovery efforts, Blueprint Medicines is poised to
develop meaningful medicines for patients with genomically defined
diseases, and I am excited to lend my expertise to further advance
these efforts."
Blueprint Medicines also announced today that Anthony (Andy) Boral, M.D., Ph.D., has been
promoted to Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Boral joined Blueprint
Medicines in February 2015 as Senior
Vice President, Clinical Development, and has been instrumental in
building Blueprint Medicines clinical development organization and
advancing BLU-554 and BLU-285 into Phase 1 clinical trials. Prior
to joining Blueprint Medicines, Dr. Boral was Executive Director,
Oncology Clinical Research at the Novartis Institutes for
BioMedical Research, or Novartis, and also served as Deputy Site
Head for Novartis's Cambridge,
Massachusetts location. Prior to Novartis, he spent eight
years at Millennium Pharmaceuticals in roles of increasing
responsibility, eventually serving as Vice President of Oncology
Clinical Research. Dr. Boral holds his M.D. and Ph.D. in Molecular
Genetics from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed
his training in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital
and his fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Dana Farber/Partners
CancerCare program.
About Blueprint Medicines
Blueprint Medicines is developing a new generation of highly
selective and potent investigational kinase medicines to improve
the lives of patients with genomically defined diseases. The
Company's approach is rooted in a deep understanding of the genetic
blueprint of cancer and other diseases driven by the abnormal
activation of kinases. Blueprint Medicines is advancing three
programs in clinical development for subsets of patients with
gastrointestinal stromal tumors, hepatocellular carcinoma and
systemic mastocytosis, as well as multiple programs in research and
preclinical development. For more information, please visit
www.blueprintmedicines.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, as amended, including, without limitation, statements
regarding Blueprint Medicines' preclinical and clinical plans or
programs, the potential for Blueprint Medicines to develop
medicines that provide clinical benefit to patients and Blueprint
Medicines' strategy and business plans. The words "may," "will,"
"could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate,"
"intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential,"
"continue," "target" and similar expressions are intended to
identify forward-looking statements, although not all
forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any
forward-looking statements in this press release are based on
management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a
number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause
actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed
or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this
press release, including, without limitation, risks and
uncertainties related to the delay of any current or planned
clinical trials or the development of Blueprint Medicines' drug
product candidates, including BLU-285 and BLU-554; Blueprint
Medicines' advancement of multiple early-stage efforts; Blueprint
Medicines' ability to successfully demonstrate the efficacy and
safety of its drug product candidates; the preclinical and clinical
results for Blueprint Medicines' drug product candidates, which may
not support further development of such drug product candidates;
and actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the
initiation, timing and progress of clinical trials. These and other
risks and uncertainties are described in greater detail in the
section entitled "Risk Factors" in Blueprint Medicines' Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, as filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 9,
2015, and other filings that Blueprint Medicines may make
with the SEC in the future. Any forward-looking statements
contained in this press release represent Blueprint Medicines'
views only as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as
representing its views as of any subsequent date. Blueprint
Medicines explicitly disclaims any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE Blueprint Medicines