BioMarin is bringing prominent dealmaker James Sabry onto its executive team, along with Amgen rare disease veteran Greg Friberg.
Hank FuchsSabry will start on Oct. 7 as chief business officer, following a 14-year run at Roche and Genentech. Friberg is succeeding 15-year BioMarin exec Hank Fuchs as chief R&D officer, as Fuchs prepares to retire. Fuchs will keep an advisory role at BioMarin through early March.
Brinda Balakrishnan, BioMarin’s current chief corporate strategy and business development officer, will also leave the company on Oct. 1.
The shakeup comes as BioMarin scales back its launch plans for the closely-watched hemophilia A gene therapy Roctavian and deploys an “evolved corporate vision and strategy,” CEO Alexander Hardy said on the company’s recent second-quarter earnings call.
That involves reducing direct Roctavian expenses following a rough first year on the market. Hardy stressed that “a launch like this takes time,” according to an AlphaSense transcript, adding that he expects the drug to be profitable by the end of 2025.
Alexander HardyMeanwhile, Sabry will be on the hunt for “important and appropriately sized transactions that support our already strong outlook,” Hardy said in a news release on Wednesday. Hardy is a fellow Genentech veteran, having served as CEO for about four years.
He recognized Sabry as “one of the industry’s most astute dealmakers,” with 1,200 deals under his belt, plus experience as CEO of Arete Therapeutics and Cytokinetics.
Friberg was at Amgen for 18 years, most recently serving as VP of global medical affairs in rare disease. He’ll soon be responsible for BioMarin’s R&D team, from discovery to global regulatory and medical affairs.