PharmaEssentia has hired Eric Vogel as its new U.S. Head of Commercialization, as it seeks to broaden the label of its rare blood cancer drug, Besremi, to a much wider market.
The drug was first approved by the FDA in 2021 for polycythemia vera, and PharmaEssentia is currently awaiting an agency decision by Aug. 30 for a hoped-for expansion in essential thrombocythemia (ET).
To help with a potential summer supplemental approval and later launch into this new and bigger U.S. market, Vogel is coming on board to help.
He has the right experience, having most recently served as Group Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Incyte. There, he oversaw the company's oncology and hematology portfolio, including commercial activities within the myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) market.
“We are very pleased to welcome Eric to PharmaEssentia,” said Ko-Chung Lin, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PharmaEssentia, in a statement.
“His deep expertise in hematology and the MPN market, combined with his strong track record of commercial execution, will be very valuable as we continue to advance the global growth of Besremi and prepare for the potential U.S. launch in ET.”
Polycythemia vera—where Besremi won its initial green light—is a rare, slow-growing blood cancer that causes bone marrow to make too many red blood cells. Essential thrombocythemia is also a rare, slow-growing blood cancer, but here the bone marrow produces too many platelets.
A follow-on ET indication would add a patient population of about 148,000 in the U.S, a much larger patient population than Besremi currently enjoys, given that PV is estimated to affect some 6,200 people each year in the U.S.