Moderna is smack in the middle of a very high-profile product launch—its COVID-19 vaccine, second to market in the U.S., but the biotech’s first-ever rollout. And now, it’s tapped veteran Amgen executive Corinne Le Goff to spearhead that effort as chief commercial officer.
Le Goff jumped to Moderna from her role as senior VP and president of Amgen’s U.S. business. A pharmacist by training, she’s credited with overseeing Amgen’s Otezla integration after the company acquired the drug from Celgene in 2019 and boosting sales of cholesterol med Repatha and migraine launch Aimovig. At Amgen six years, she also served as head of its European region responsible for 48 markets.
But her full resume reads like a Big Pharma card catalog. Before Amgen, she held leadership roles overseeing product portfolios at Roche, Sanofi, Merck & Co. and Pfizer, across a variety of therapeutic areas including oncology, neurology and immunology.
Moderna will lean on her extensive experience developing and leading global pharma teams as it moves to launch its COVID-19 vaccine—and shepherds other pipeline projects toward approval.
“Corinne is joining us at an important time as we launch our COVID-19 vaccine, prepare to start the Phase 3 study of our CMV vaccine and pivot to a commercial-stage company,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel, said in a press release, adding that her impressive track record “will position Moderna well as we continue building a best-in-class commercial team.”
While Moderna created its COVID-19 mRNA-based vaccine, conducted clinical testing, submitted its vaccine to the FDA and won emergency authorizations in less than a year, the vaccine rollout and marketing is new territory. Le Goff and the commercial team will be key to that success.
Moderna debuted its first consumer campaign late last month, touting its 10 years of experience and mRNA technology as its “modern approach to medicine.”
Le Goff will start on January 19. She said she is “delighted” to join Moderna as it launches its vaccine and transforms to a commercial-stage company from R&D-focused biotech. “The Moderna technology is game-changing,” she said, “and will undoubtedly disrupt the traditional biotechnology world and in time lead to life-altering therapies.”
by Beth Snyder Bulik
Source: fiercepharma.com
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