EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, developing a range of novel therapies for central nervous system (CNS) diseases, has named Deborah Dunsire, M.D., president and chief executive officer. She also joins the company's board of directors. Dunsire brings more than 25 years of scientific, clinical, operational and commercial experience and biological and pharmaceutical industry leadership to EnVivo.

Dunsire was president and chief executive officer of Millennium Pharmaceuticals from 2005 to 2013. She focused on R&D, driving the development pipeline, fostering a culture of employee engagement and increasing the commercial mindset across the organization to enhance the commercial success of marketed products. The company was acquired by Takeda Pharmaceutical in 2008 for $8.8 billion and became Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company.

"Deborah's ability to build a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company with an award-winning culture of innovation and successfully commercialize late-stage programs while developing a leading research pipeline is unparalleled," said Stephen Knight, M.D., chairman of the EnVivo board of directors and president of Fidelity Biosciences. "She joins EnVivo at a transformative point in the company's evolution, as our lead product, EVP-6124, is in phase III clinical trials in schizophrenia and will enter a phase III clinical trial in Alzheimer's disease later this year.”

"CNS diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, take a toll on patients, families and the healthcare system," said Dunsire. "EnVivo's late-stage lead product candidate and broad pipeline of promising clinical programs present an opportunity to develop new therapies with the potential to make a dramatic impact on patients' lives."

Prior to Millennium, Dunsire led the Novartis U.S. oncology business, playing a role in the development and launch of a number of products. Over 10 years, she increased North American oncology revenues from $50 million to more than $2.2 billion. She served on the U.S. Pharmaceutical Executive Committee at Novartis. Dunsire currently is a board member of Allergan, BIO, the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital Research Advisory Council, CancerCare in New York and the Gabrielle's Angels Foundation for Cancer Research.

She has received awards including the 2001 American Cancer Society Excalibur Award, the 2009 Healthcare Businesswomen's Association's "Woman of the Year," the 2011 MassBIO Innovator Award and the 2013 Boston CEO Conference Lifetime Achievement award.