Basel, 08 March 2018
Changes to the Roche Enlarged Corporate Executive Committee
Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced that John C. Reed (1958), MD, PhD, Head of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) since 2013, has decided to leave Roche for personal reasons and will return to the United States effective 2 April 2018. William Pao (1967), MD, PhD, currently Global Head of the Oncology Discovery and Translational Area for pRED, has been appointed the new Head of Roche pRED and will become a member of the enlarged Corporate Executive Committee. He will be based in Basel and assume his new role on 2 April 2018.
Commenting on the appointment, Roche’s CEO Severin Schwan said: “I am delighted with the appointment of one of our most distinguished scientific leaders, William Pao, currently Global Head of the Oncology Discovery and Translational Area for pRED. Since joining Roche in 2014, William has been instrumental in the build-up of cancer immunotherapy and molecular targeted therapies.” Schwan further: “I am thankful to have had John Reed with Roche over the past five years, and for all his many valuable contributions. I wish John all the best for his future.”
William Pao joined Roche in 2014 in his current role. He is an American citizen, earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard, and his MD and PhD from Yale University. Following his residency training in Internal Medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical School, he completed his medical oncology and postdoctoral fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) prior to becoming a member of the MSKCC faculty. Before joining Roche, he simultaneously held key positions of Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Vanderbilt University, and Director of Personalized Cancer Medicine at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. William is recognized for his groundbreaking work in translational medicine, mechanistic and clinical studies of targeted cancer therapeutics, and for his leadership in cancer genomics and personalized medicine. His laboratory work identified new molecular mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance of lung cancers to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and yielded important insights into a molecular understanding of lung cancer and other malignancies.
He is the author of multiple scientific and medical publications, has served as an advisor to numerous professional associations including the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and has served on the editorial boards of prestigious medical research journals including Cancer Discovery, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. William also co-founded MyCancerGenome, an internationally-recognised online tool to enable a genetically informed approach to cancer medicine. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2011 and the Association of American Physicians in 2017.
About Roche
Roche is a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives. The combined strengths of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics under one roof have made Roche the leader in personalised healthcare – a strategy that aims to fit the right treatment to each patient in the best way possible.
Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and diseases of the central nervous system. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management.
Founded in 1896, Roche continues to search for better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases and make a sustainable contribution to society. The company also aims to improve patient access to medical innovations by working with all relevant stakeholders. Thirty medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and cancer medicines. Roche has been recognised as the Group Leader in sustainability within the Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences Industry nine years in a row by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI).
The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2017 employed about 94,000 people worldwide. In 2017, Roche invested CHF 10.4 billion in R&D and posted sales of CHF 53.3 billion. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information, please visit www.roche.com.