Astellas has expanded its oncology clinical development leadership team at its Northbrook, Illinois site in the US with the appointments of Dr Steven Benner and Dr Anne Keating.
Dr Benner joins the Japanese pharmaceutical firm as senior vice president and therapeutic area head for oncology, with a remit to oversee Astellas’ global oncology development, which includes clinical programmes in breast cancer, leukaemia, lung cancer and prostate cancer.
He brings senior leadership experience in clinical development, compliance and licensing from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cell Therapeutics, OncoMed Pharmaceuticals and PDL BioPharma, as well as academic experience from the University of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Meanwhile, Dr Keating becomes vice president of clinical science for oncology within Astellas’ Development organisation.
In her new role, Dr Keating will be responsible for the leadership and strategic direction of all phases of the company’s global clinical science oncology programmes, and will drive operational best practice in the design and execution of projects across the unit’s portfolio.
She first joined Astellas in 2004 as director of clinical operations and most recently served as an executive director and global development project leader for oncology, during which time she oversaw the clinical development programme for Astellas’ NSCLC candidate, ASP8273.
Dr Bernhardt Zeiher, president of Development at Astellas, said: “Astellas couldn’t be more pleased to have Steven and Anne help lead us on our journey to becoming a global oncology leader.
“They have diverse experience across all areas of development and I know they will provide the strategic oversight to help us continue to address the evolving needs of our patients.”