John Reed is making the leap from Sanofi to Johnson & Johnson, where he is set to become the executive vice president of pharmaceuticals, R&D. The announcement came Monday afternoon, with the New Jersey-based company eager to welcome the experienced leader to their team.
Monday morning, Sanofi announced that John Reed, the company’s global head of R&D, was departing to pursue a new opportunity elsewhere. This comes as a surprise to many, given Reed’s long-term commitment to the company and his work in developing new treatments and medicines.
Paul Reed will take the reins of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) on April 3, replacing William Hait who has been leading the department in an interim capacity since August 2022. Reed will bring his considerable expertise to the position and will no doubt help to further J&J’s commitment to providing innovative treatments and cures to a global community.
Joaquin Duato, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, announced that the company has hired Paul Reed, a biomedical research veteran with over 35 years of experience, to bolster its Pharmaceuticals R&D division and “accelerate innovation and competitiveness”. This move is intended to help J&J tackle unmet medical needs for people around the globe.
Prior to Sanofi, Reed held a wealth of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He served as global head of Roche’s pharmaceutical research division, as well as CEO of an independent non-profit biomedical research institution in California. With his extensive knowledge, Reed is well-versed in the research and development of life-saving drugs.
Four Potential Approvals
Johnson & Johnson is preparing to see an exciting period of growth, with four potential drug approvals on the horizon in the United States. This marks a significant milestone in the company’s history, and could open up a world of possibilities for the healthcare giant.
In December 2022, the company submitted a Biological License Application to the FDA for talquetamab, an investigational, off-the-shelf bispecific T-cell engager with potential to revolutionize the treatment of multiple myeloma. This candidate is designed to target GPRC5D, a protein overexpressed on myeloma cells, and CD3, a protein crucial to T-cell activation, to help unleash the powerful immune system to fight this disease.
The MonumenTAL-1 study provided evidence to support Talquetamab’s BLA, with an impressive 74.1% overall response rate in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients given a 0.4-mg/kg weekly subcutaneous dose of the candidate. Patients treated with Talquetamab experienced a median duration of at least nine months, demonstrating the promise of Talquetamab as a potential therapy for multiple myeloma.
Johnson & Johnson is eagerly awaiting the FDA’s approval of their novel dual endothelin receptor antagonist, aprocitentan, which could revolutionize the treatment of hypertension. Developed in partnership with Swiss biotech Idorsia, the New Drug Application for aprocitentan was submitted to the FDA in December 2022, and if successful, it could provide millions of people with a much-needed alternative to traditional treatments.
Johnson & Johnson is eagerly anticipating the European Union’s potential approval of niraparib as a first-line treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer when used in combination with abiraterone acetate and prednisone. With an anticipated US regulatory submission in 2023, J&J hopes that this breakthrough therapy will revolutionize the treatment of this life-threatening condition.
J&J is looking forward to gaining approval for two of its top pharmaceuticals – Edurant (rilpivirine), an HIV therapeutic for children between the ages of 2 and 12, and Erleada (apalutamide) which will receive a tablet reduction indication for prostate cancer. These new indications promise to offer great benefit to those affected by these conditions.