Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that its board of directors has appointed Ludwig N. Hantson, Ph.D., as chief executive officer and member of the board, effective immediately. Hantson most recently served as president and CEO of Baxalta, a spin-off as a public company from Baxter, and a global leader in the development of therapies for orphan and underserved diseases in hematology, immunology and oncology.

Hantson brings to Alexion a strong record of developing diverse rare disease pipelines and commercializing innovative and life-transformative therapies at industry-leading companies.

He succeeds David R. Brennan, who has led the company as interim CEO since December 2016. Brennan will remain on the board and, as the company previously announced, the board expects to appoint Brennan as chairman at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for May 10.

As CEO of Baxalta, Hantson led the creation of a successful biopharmaceutical company that delivered significant revenue growth, an innovative research and development center with a pipeline of 20 new product candidates, and several new product launches globally. Prior to Baxalta, Hantson was president of Baxter BioScience, a $6 billion global business unit of Baxter where he added 25 new molecular entities and biologics license applications, and launched 13 new products.

Prior to his roles at Baxalta and Baxter BioScience, Hantson held several leadership roles during his decade-long tenure at Novartis from 2001-2010, including CEO of Novartis Pharma North America, CEO of Novartis Europe, and president of Novartis Pharma Canada. He began his career at Smith & Nephew and subsequently served in increasing roles of responsibility in marketing, and research and development at Johnson & Johnson from 1988-2001.

Hantson received his Ph.D. in motor rehabilitation and physical therapy, Master’s degree in physical education, and a certification in high secondary education, all from the University of Louvain in Belgium.

(Source: Business Wire)