The Board of Directors of Ipsen has appointed David Meek as Chief Executive, effective 18 July 2016.
Meek, an American, has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry where he held various global executive positions in major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Most recently, he was Executive Vice-President and President of the oncology division of Baxalta, which was recently acquired by Shire. Meek led the formation of the oncology division and rapidly created an innovative oncology portfolio through acquisitions and partnering deals.
Meek holds a BA in Management from the University of Cincinnati and started his career at Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceutica (1989–2004) where he held a variety of US senior sales and marketing positions across multiple therapeutic areas in primary care (gastroenterology, pain management, dermatology) and speciality care (oncology, neuroscience).
He then joined Novartis (2005–2012), where he served as the global business franchise head for the company’s respiratory and dermatology franchise in Basel, Switzerland; President and Chief Executive of the pharmaceutical division in Canada; and the head of oncology for Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, based in Milan, Italy. From 2012 to 2014, he was Chief Commercial Officer of Endocyte, an American biotechnology company.
Meek will be based at Ipsen’s headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. His mission is to ensure the continued growth and innovative pipeline development of the speciality and primary care businesses and to advance the international expansion of the Ipsen Group, especially in the US and China.