Eli Lil­ly vet Ker­ry Blan­chard takes the helm at one of Chi­na's top deal­mak­ers, steer­ing to­ward first ap­provals

As Big Phar­ma op­er­a­tions in Chi­na con­tin­ue to bleed tal­ent to lo­cal biotech star­tups, an Eli Lil­ly vet is tak­ing on his first CEO role at one of the com­pa­nies hon­ing the mod­el of in-li­cens­ing late-stage West­ern drugs and tai­lor-mak­ing de­vel­op­ment pro­grams for the Chi­nese mar­ket.

Ever­est Med­i­cines has kept a rel­a­tive­ly low pro­file, but in its two-plus years of ex­is­tence it’s earned a spot as one of the top deal­mak­ers, mak­ing a splash last April by pay­ing a record $60 mil­lion up­front for Im­munomedics’ breast can­cer drug. Ker­ry Blan­chard is now tasked with steer­ing its eight as­sets to Chi­na ap­provals, with four reg­is­tra­tion tri­als un­der­way and two more planned lat­er this year.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER