PARIS, FRANCE, 1 September 2023 – Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY), a global specialty-driven biopharmaceutical company, announced today the appointment of Christelle Huguet as Executive Vice President, Head of Research and Development. She will succeed Howard Mayer, EVP and Head of R&D, who will leave Ipsen on September 22, following his decision to retire.
Christelle Huguet will serve on the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), reporting directly to Ipsen’s Chief Executive Officer, David Loew and immediately succeeding Howard upon his departure. Since joining Ipsen in May 2020 as Senior Vice President and Head of Research, External Innovation and Early Development (REED), she has built a lean and dynamic global REED organization supporting Ipsen’s three therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Disease and Neuroscience, from target to clinic.
“I am very pleased that Christelle will join Ipsen’s Executive Leadership team as we continue to successfully deliver on our strategic roadmap. Christelle’s deep experience, spanning discovery and development, will be essential to advance our pipeline and drive positive developments from external innovation. This experience, coupled with her passion and leadership style of developing people, will ensure a smooth transition as she assumes her new role,” said David Loew, CEO, Ipsen.
“I also want to thank Howard for his significant contributions to Ipsen. Over the last four years he built a strong R&D leadership team, which led a deep review of the pipeline, prioritized disease areas, and identified strategic programs and opportunities. Howard was also instrumental in Ipsen’s success from a Business Development and M&A perspective over the last several years, and he played a pivotal role in the acquisitions and integrations of Epizyme and Albireo into Ipsen. He has remained personally committed to bringing much-needed innovation to patients throughout his distinguished career.”
Christelle brings depth and expertise, with over 25 years of biotech and industry experience spanning drug discovery and development from the early phases of drug discovery to the identification and early clinical development of small molecules and biologics up to Phase IIb. Prior to joining Ipsen in, Christelle was Chief Scientific Officer for X-Chem Inc & ZebiAI Therapeutics, where she built an internal portfolio of oncology programs and implemented the use of advanced machine learning to DNA-encoded library data analysis. Prior to X-Chem, she was the head of internal research at Alexion, where she focused on rare diseases. Earlier in her career, she spent 18 years at Pfizer in a number of senior leadership roles in research and pre-clinical development, including CSO for GU disease, Global Head of PK, PD and Metabolism, and CSO for inflammation and immunology.
“I know firsthand that our R&D organization is committed to Ipsen’s ambitious innovation agenda,” said Christelle Huguet. “I’m honored to lead this talented team to continue to bring much-needed new medicines in Oncology, Rare Disease and Neuroscience, where we can make a meaningful impact for patients and society.”
Christelle studied in France, Germany and Switzerland, receiving a French University Diploma in Technology (DUT) in applied biology and biochemistry, and a European Engineering degree in biotechnology sciences. She received a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from the Institute Pasteur in France. Christelle will continue to be based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of Ipsen’s four global hubs, and will assume her new role from 22 September 2023.
ENDS
About Ipsen
Ipsen is a global, mid-sized biopharmaceutical company focused on transformative medicines in Oncology, Rare Disease and Neuroscience. With total sales of €3.0bn in FY 2022, Ipsen sells medicines in over 100 countries. Alongside its external-innovation strategy, the Company’s research and development efforts are focused on its innovative and differentiated technological platforms located in the heart of leading biotechnological and life-science hubs: Paris-Saclay, France; Oxford, U.K.; Cambridge, U.S.; Shanghai, China. Ipsen has around 5,300 colleagues worldwide and is listed in Paris (Euronext: IPN) and in the U.S. through a Sponsored Level I American Depositary Receipt program (ADR: IPSEY). For more information, visit ipsen.com
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