BeyondSpring Appoints Gregg Russo as Senior Vice President, Human Resources
NEW YORK, Nov. 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (NASDAQ: BYSI), a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative immuno-oncology cancer therapies, today announced that the Company has appointed Gregg Russo as Senior Vice President, Human Resources, effectively immediately.
“We are excited to Bring Mr. Russo on board as we move closer toward regulatory approval and potential commercialization of our lead compound, Plinabulin, for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and chemotherapy-induced neutropenia,” said Dr. Lan Huang, BeyondSpring’s CEO. “Mr. Russo is an expert at driving HR transformation during times of significant change for companies and has successfully led strong HR teams within start up, scale up and large pharmaceutical organizations. We will look to Mr. Russo’s extensive expertise in the space to help us recruit the best, most passionate talent across our corporate and clinical operations to take the Company forward and upward.”
Mr. Russo joins BeyondSpring with more than 20 years of biotech and pharmaceutical senior human resources leadership experience. Most recently he served as Head of Human Resources at Chugai Pharma USA, a Roche company. He had partnered with the C-suite to enhance business values, practices and the workplace culture. This included implementing best practices for U.S., European and Asian business norms for a start-up translational clinical research group.
Additionally, Mr. Russo played a critical lead role at Daiichi Sankyo where he was the founding head of the human resources function responsible for helping grow the company from a start up to over 3,000 employees and nearly $3 billion in revenue during his 14-year tenure. Prior to Chugai, Mr. Russo served as Business Development Partner at ExxPharma Therapeutics LLC and Human Resource Lead at Neostem. In addition to running his own HR consultancy business, HR STRATEGI, he received his Master of Arts degree in organizational communication from the State University of New York, Buffalo.
“As BeyondSpring is on the cusp of spearheading a fundamental change in how we think about and approach traditional cancer treatment today, I am eager to assist management in further expanding its team so that the Company can solidify its footprint as a leader and pioneer in the industry,” added Mr. Russo. “A company is only as strong as its talented employees, and I have made it my mission to work with management to recruit and retain the most innovative minds in medicine today – and cultivate additional leadership along the way – to propel BeyondSpring forward through the remainder of 2019 and beyond.”
About BeyondSpring
BeyondSpring is a global, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative immuno-oncology cancer therapies. BeyondSpring’s lead asset, first in class agent Plinabulin, is in a Phase 3 global clinical trial as a direct anticancer agent in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and two Phase 3 clinical programs in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN). BeyondSpring has strong R&D capabilities with a robust pipeline in addition to Plinabulin, including three immuno-oncology assets and a drug discovery platform using the ubiquitination degradation pathway. The Company also has a seasoned management team with many years of experience bringing drugs to the global market.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements that are not historical facts. Words such as "will," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "believe," "design," "may," "future," "estimate," "predict," "objective," "goal," or variations thereof and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on BeyondSpring's current knowledge and its present beliefs and expectations regarding possible future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors including, but not limited to, difficulties raising the anticipated amount needed to finance the Company's future operations on terms acceptable to the Company, if at all, unexpected results of clinical trials, delays or denial in regulatory approval process, results that do not meet our expectations regarding the potential safety, the ultimate efficacy or clinical utility of our product candidates, increased competition in the market, and other risks described in BeyondSpring’s most recent Form 20-F on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this release and BeyondSpring undertakes no obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as otherwise required by law.
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