No­var­tis’ CAR-T chief Azam is leav­ing, but phar­ma gi­ant de­nies any ‘re­treat’ is un­der­way

No­var­tis re­spond­ed to a re­port in End­points News this morn­ing which out­lines the com­pa­ny’s de­ci­sion to purge most of the ex­ec­u­tive team in­volved in its pi­o­neer­ing cell and gene ther­a­py unit. Ac­cord­ing to the com­pa­ny, the de­ci­sion to cut up to 120 staffers as it re­de­ployed most of the 400 staffers back in­to its on­col­o­gy di­vi­sion does not sig­ni­fy any kind of a “re­treat.”

No­var­tis is still on track to nab the first FDA OK for a CAR-T to treat pe­di­atric acute lym­phoblas­tic leukemia, as­serts a com­pa­ny state­ment. In ad­di­tion, the com­pa­ny said that Us­man “Oz” Azam, the glob­al chief for this unit, has de­cid­ed to leave the com­pa­ny, while oth­er team ex­ecs in­volved in the cut­back still have a chance to land new jobs at the phar­ma gi­ant.

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