Amgen Strengthens Focus on Oncology Pipeline
Amgen Names David R. Parkinson to New Role in Research and Development Organization
Amgen announced that David R. Parkinson, M.D., formerly vice president and head of Global Clinical oncology, will assume a new role as vice president, Oncology Development and Commercialization. In this new position, Parkinson will join Amgen's most senior executives as a member of the Pipeline Steering Committee, and will develop strategic approaches to the development and commercialization of new therapeutics. In addition, Parkinson will represent Amgen in a number of settings, including as a liaison with government and regulatory agencies on policy level discussions, and in interactions with patient advocacy groups, extramural cooperative groups directing clinical trials, and the financial community. Parkinson will report to Roger M. Perlmutter, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president, Research and Development.
Amgen's Oncology Therapeutic Area has grown significantly over the past two years under Parkinson's leadership. To support that growth, Amgen is dividing the Oncology Therapeutic Area into two groups--Supportive Care and Therapeutics, each with a separate leader and dedicated focus. Roy Baynes, M.D., Ph.D., previously senior director, Medical Affairs--Oncology TA, has been promoted to vice president, Oncology--Supportive Care, and David Chang, M.D., Ph.D., previously director, Medical Sciences, has been promoted to senior director, Oncology--Therapeutics.
Parkinson joined Amgen in 2003 as vice president and head of Global Clinical Oncology. Prior to joining Amgen, Parkinson was global head, Translational Development at Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation. In addition, he was a member of its Oncology Business Unit Executive Committee. A native of Canada, Parkinson received his medical degree from the University of Toronto. He pursued clinical training at the Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University, and at Tufts - New England Medical Center, where he was an assistant professor and an attending physician. Before joining Novartis, Parkinson spent two years at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and then joined the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program at the National Cancer Institute, where he also served as a member of the Biologics Evaluation Committee at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Baynes received his medical degree and a doctorate in Philosophy from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Before joining Amgen in 2002, Baynes was the Charles Martin Professor of Cancer Research and director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program, the Stem Cell Biology Program, the JP McCarthy Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Bank and the Hematological Malignancies Multidisciplinary Clinic at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, an NCI designated comprehensive cancer center, at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.
Chang obtained his undergraduate degree in Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his medical degree and doctorate in Biophysics at Stanford University in California. Prior to joining Amgen in 2002, Chang was an associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine.
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