Gilead Sciences has nabbed Amgen’s leading research exec Flavius Martin, M.D., to run its R&D organization.
Martin joins as vice president of research and will report directly to Gilead’s chairman and CEO Daniel O’Day. He will start running Gilead’s entire research business from April 12, taking over from Bill Lee, Ph.D., who is retiring from Gilead after three decades at the pharma.
Martin comes on board after serving at Amgen, where he most recently served as VP of research biology, leading discovery for oncology, inflammation and cardiometabolic research. He was also the site head for Amgen in South San Francisco and has also served stints as a scientist and leader at Roche’s Genentech unit.
“Flavius brings decades of experience in early drug discovery research and identification of promising therapeutic candidates,” said O’Day. “He has deep scientific expertise across therapeutic areas and has led the creation of high-quality portfolios in prior roles. I am delighted to welcome him to Gilead as we continue to expand and diversify our portfolio of new medicines.”
This comes amid a shuffle in staffers and focus for Gilead’s R&D, starting a few years back when it spent nearly $13 billion on cancer cell therapy biotech Kite Pharma to boost its languishing oncology pipeline and spent a few more billion on collabs and bolt-ons to further boost these inroads.
Back in 2018, it also lost Norbert Bischofberger, Ph.D., who had formerly held the EVP of research role as well as chief scientific officer and was too a long-serving member of the Gilead team. He later moved over to run a new biotech startup.
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The company hasn’t forgotten its virology R&D roots, boosted last year by the emergency approval of its repurposed Ebola drug remdesivir, the first drug to be authorized against COVID-19, and is still making M&A plays in virology, including its December to deal to buy up German virology biotech MYR, nabbing a European-approved hepatitis D therapy in the process.
This also comes in the same week that Diana Brainard, M.D., the primary person who helped develop remdesivir into a COVID treatment, also left the company, though not to retire but run rival virology startup AlloVir.
“Gilead has outstanding research and clinical development programs across Virology, Immunology and Oncology, and I am tremendously excited to be joining an organization with such a deep and talented scientific core,” said Martin.
“Throughout my career, I have been focused on translating scientific discoveries into the development of potential new therapies with the goal of helping people with unmet medical needs. I look forward to pursuing this mission together with the talented team at Gilead.”
Lee leaves Gilead after starting at the company all the way back in 1991. “Bill’s contributions over three decades have allowed Gilead to bring important new medicines to patients around the world,” said O’Day. “I am grateful to Bill for the high bar he has set for Gilead’s research organization and the commitment he demonstrated pursuing scientific advancements that transformed care for people with serious diseases.”