Jonathan Dickinson joins Ariad from BMS

Ariad Pharmaceuticals has appointed Bristol-Myers Squibb's (BMS) Jonathan Dickinson as general manager of its European business.

He joins at an important time for Ariad in Europe as it prepares to launch its chronic myeloid leukaemia treatment Iclusig (ponatinib), pending approval from the European Commission (EC).

Dickinson (pictured) will lead the company's commercialisation efforts for the drug, which was granted accelerated assessment in September 2012 due to the high unmet medical need of its prospective patient population.

He has previous experience in the commercialisation of cancer drugs, serving for the past three years as BMS' European brand lead for Yervoy (ipilimumab).

The drug made $786m worldwide during 2012 following approvals to treat adult patients with metastatic melanoma who have received prior therapy.

Dickinson's time at BMS followed a 13-year period at Roche, where he worked in both the US and Europe and held several senior positions, including lifecycle leader for Xeloda (capecitabine).

Prior to joining Roche in 1997, he served at Novartis in several product management roles in oncology.

“Jonathan is a proven leader with broad commercial and general management experience promoting several of the most highly regarded oncology medicines available today,” said Dr Harvey Berger, chairman and CEO of ARIAD.

“His knowledge of the evolving European market and his success in commercialising important cancer medicines throughout Europe and globally will serve us well as we prepare for anticipated approval and commercialisation of Iclusig in the EU this year.”