AVEO Oncology announced the appointment of John H. Johnson to the Company’s Board of Directors. Johnson brings to AVEO over three decades of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries, having held commercial and executive management roles at leading global corporations that have a focus on oncology, including Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly & Company, ImClone Systems, Dendreon and Pfizer.
“It is a pleasure to welcome John as a member of our Board of Directors,” said Michael Bailey, president and chief executive officer of AVEO. “His deep experience at numerous leading oncology-focused companies will be invaluable in our effort to unlock the full potential of our lead program, tivozanib, along with our other product candidates. In the near term, we look forward to several key milestones, including top-line results from the TIVO-3 trial of tivozanib in third-line refractory renal cell carcinoma and data from the Phase 2 portion of the TiNivo combination trial of tivozanib with nivolumab.”
Johnson currently serves on the boards of Melinta Therapeutics, Portola Pharmaceuticals, and Histogenics Corporation, and he is chairman of Strongbridge Biopharma. Johnson is expected to serve as lead independent director at Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, through the closing of its acquisition by Mallinckrodt, as announced December 26, 2017. He previously served as chairman of Tranzyme Pharma, Inc. and on the board of BioNJ. Johnson also previously served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Dendreon Corporation and as chief executive officer and on the board of Savient Pharmaceuticals. Prior to these roles, he served as president of Eli Lilly & Company's Global Oncology Unit following the company's 2008 acquisition of ImClone Systems Incorporated, where he served as chief executive officer and on ImClone’s board. Prior to ImClone, Johnson served as the company group chairman of biopharmaceuticals within Johnson & Johnson, where he was responsible for the Johnson & Johnson Biotechnology, Immunology and Oncology commercial businesses. Prior to that role, he held several executive positions at Johnson & Johnson, Parkstone Medical Information Systems, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Corporation and Pfizer.