Kite Pharma has announced the appointment of Chris Nowers as its head of Europe. Nowers will be based in London. In his new role, Nowers will oversee European commercial operations to build awareness in the region of Kite’s growing pipeline portfolio of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy product candidates and prepare for the potential launch of the company’s lead product candidate, KTE-C19.

“The addition of Chris Nowers to our executive team will be instrumental to Kite as we expand our global footprint,” said Arie Belldegrun, M.D., FACS, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Kite. “The breadth of Chris’ commercial experience in global immuno-oncology is impressive, and makes him well-qualified to propel our pipeline of CAR-T and TCR therapy candidates to treat both blood-based and solid cancers into international markets.”

A seasoned executive with 30 years of commercial leadership experience in pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostics companies, Nowers brings a track record of successfully driving differentiated strategies for product commercialization across therapeutic areas in a competitive global landscape.

“Kite is a truly innovative company at the cusp of transforming the paradigm of cancer treatment, and I am honored to play a role in bringing what could potentially be life-changing therapies to patients around the world,” said Nowers. “I look forward to working with such a dynamic and passionate team to advance our presence in Europe and continue our efforts in developing novel approaches in engineered cell therapy.”

Prior to joining Kite, Nowers held senior commercial leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb, including head of Immuno-oncology and Hematology in France, where he led the successful launch of Opdivo (nivolumab), and as vice president of Global Commercialization for Yervoy (ipilimumab), where he led the global commercial launch. Previously, Nowers was vice president of Sales and Marketing at Genomic Health, and chief executive officer of Avantogen Oncology, a company developing early-stage cancer therapeutics. Nowers also served 11 years at Amgen in a variety of commercial leadership roles, including global commercial leader for Neurology and European director for Oncology and Hematology.