Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced today that John Elicker, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations, will retire from the company March 31, 2020.
Kathryn Metcalfe, currently Chief Communications Officer of CVS Health, has been appointed Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, effective January 6, 2020. Tim Power has been appointed Vice President and Head of Investor Relations, effective March 31, 2020 upon Elicker’s retirement.
“On behalf of the company, I want to thank John for his leadership and the important contributions he’s made in his many years with Bristol-Myers Squibb,” said Giovanni Caforio, Chairman and Chief Executive officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb. “He has contributed to developing and executing our company strategy and has built a strong Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations team well positioned to continue to engage stakeholders around our company strategy, the performance of our business and our patient-focused mission.
“Kathryn is an accomplished and respected communications leader and I look forward to her leadership of the company’s communications at a time of growth and change for Bristol-Myers Squibb,” said Caforio. “She will play an important role on the leadership team as we engage with a broad range of stakeholders around our business, the promise of our pipeline and the exciting opportunities we are pursuing for patients.
“Tim is highly qualified to lead our Investor Relations team and I look forward to his leadership during an important time for the company,” he continued, “Tim has been instrumental in the company’s strategic positioning and communicating our financial, strategic, operational and business goals to investors and other key stakeholders.”
Metcalfe will report to Caforio and will sit on the Bristol-Myers Squibb leadership team. She will be responsible for leading the company’s strategic communications across stakeholder groups, including internal/external, global advocacy, state and federal government affairs and global policy.
Power will continue to report to Elicker until his retirement in March 2020, at which time Power will report to David Elkins, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Power will lead all communications and engagement with the investment community.
Metcalfe joins Bristol-Myers Squibb from CVS Health, where she led communications following CVS’ acquisition of Aetna, where she was chief communications officer. At CVS Health, Metcalfe oversaw all strategic communications, internal and external, including reputation, and crisis management. Prior to CVS, Metcalfe held several senior Communications roles, including the Chief Communications Officer at Deloitte, and senior roles at Novartis and Pfizer as well as leadership roles at biotech and healthcare communications firms.
Source: Bristol-Myers Squibb
In 2017, Sanofi partnered with the Lebanon, New Hampshire-based ImmuNext to develop an antibody for autoimmune diseases like lupus and multiple sclerosis, which included giving Sanofi a worldwide license to develop frexalimab. The agreement involved milestone payments upto $500 million.
Global manufacturer for the pharmaceutical, biotech and nutraceutical markets, Lonza has announced that it has acquired Synaffix, a biotech company focused on the commercialisation of its clinical stage technology platform for the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
In its hunt for the new head of its pharmaceutical systems business—which makes syringes, self-injection systems and other drug delivery devices for 70% of the top 100 drugmakers in the world, according to the company—BD landed on a candidate with plenty of experience among that customer group.
