Celgene Loses its President and COO

This week biotech giant Celgene Corporation announced that it’s president and chief operating officer, Scott A. Smith, has decided to leave his position immediately.

In his place, CEO and chairman Mark J. Alles, who has had the position since 2016, will be taking over his responsibilities.

According to Celgene, there is a “resuffling” of its executive team in order to “enhance leadership focus.”

It’s only been a few weeks since Celgene announced that the FDA had given the company a Refusal to File letter regarding its New Drug Application (NDA) for ozanimod. Ozanimod is the company’s multiple sclerosis candidate.

According to the FDA, there were nonclinical and clinical pharmacology sections in the NDA that were inadequate to allow a complete review.

In the last three months, shares of the stock have dropped a little over 18%.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) and have not been compensated for this article.