Healthcare Industry News: Elaprase
News Release - September 26, 2011
NPS Pharmaceuticals Appoints Eric Pauwels as Chief Commercial Officer
BEDMINSTER, N.J.--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)-- NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:NPSP ), a specialty pharmaceutical company developing innovative therapeutics for rare gastrointestinal and endocrine disorders, today announced the appointment of Eric Pauwels as senior vice president and chief commercial officer. Pauwels brings more than 25 years of global commercial experience to NPS Pharmaceuticals, having held management positions in top-tier U.S. and European biopharmaceutical companies.Pauwels was most recently the chief marketing officer at Accuray Incorporated, a premier radiation oncology company. Previously, Pauwels played a key leadership role in building commercial capabilities at Transkaryotic Therapies, an early stage biotechnology company acquired by Shire Pharmaceuticals. He remained at Shire from 2005 to 2010 to lead the worldwide commercial functions for its newly created Human Genetic Therapies division (Shire HGT) as senior vice president and chief commercial officer. During his tenure at Shire HGT, Pauwels successfully launched and led the commercial efforts for four orphan products for rare genetic diseases, Elaprase® for Hunter syndrome, Replagal® for Fabry disease, Firazyr® for hereditary angioedema, and Vpriv® for Gaucher disease.
“Eric’s global experience commercializing drugs for rare diseases makes him ideally suited to lead our commercial team,” said Francois Nader, MD, president and chief executive officer of NPS Pharmaceuticals. “At Shire HGT, Eric designed and built a world-class commercial organization and led its most successful orphan product launch to date. He brings the appreciation and understanding of the orphan drug landscape necessary to lead the launches of GATTEX and NPSP558.”
In addition to his launch experience in rare diseases, Pauwels has launched major products in the areas of cardiovascular disease, urology, gynecology, and central nervous system/neuroscience. Pauwels also brings more than 15 years of alliance-management experience to his new role, having managed collaborations with companies such as Abbott, Centocor, Dianippon-Sumitomo, Genzyme, GlaxoSmithKline, Organon, and Takeda.
“It is an honor to join Francois and the executive team at NPS Pharmaceuticals. I’m excited about the opportunity to build a premier orphan-drug business dedicated to serving patients who suffer from rare gastrointestinal and endocrinology disorders and helping them live better lives,” said Mr. Pauwels.
Prior to his tenure at Shire HGT, Pauwels held senior management positions with Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals as vice president global strategic marketing, cardiovascular diseases and men’s health. Previously, Pauwels held positions of increasing responsibility in the United States, China, France, and Belgium for Fournier Pharma and Johnson & Johnson.
About NPS Pharmaceuticals
NPS Pharmaceuticals is an outsourcing-based development company focused on bringing biopharmaceuticals to patients with rare disorders and few, if any, therapeutic options. The company is advancing two Phase 3 registration programs, GATTEX® (teduglutide) in short bowel syndrome (SBS) and NPSP558 (parathyroid hormone 1-84 [rDNA origin] injection) in hypoparathyroidism. NPS’ earlier stage pipeline includes two calcilytic compounds, NPSP790 and NPSP795, with potential application in rare disorders involving increased calcium receptor activity, such as autosomal dominant hypocalcemia with hypercalciuria (ADHH). NPS complements its proprietary programs with a royalty-based portfolio of products and product candidates that includes agreements with Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Nycomed, and Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical.
“NPS”, “NPS Pharmaceuticals”, and “GATTEX” are the company’s registered trademarks. All other trademarks, trade names or service marks appearing in this press release are the property of their respective owners.
Source: NPS Pharmaceuticals
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