Astellas promotes two into informatics, medical affairs roles

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Astellas has promoted two executives into new roles. Nate Crisel is now VP, Real World Informatics & Analytics (RWI), at Astellas, reporting to Chikashi Takeda, chief financial officer. Gary Thal, M.D., has been promoted to VP, Specialty, Medical Affairs, Americas, reporting to Shontelle Dodson, PharmD., senior VP, Medical Affairs, Americas.

Crisel will continue to be responsible for overseeing the RWI division, a central function accountable for expanding efficient, effective and compliant use of healthcare data across the entire Astellas value chain.

 

Gary Thal, M.D., has been promoted to vice president, Specialty, Medical Affairs, Americas at Astellas. (PRNewsfoto/Astellas Pharma US, Inc.)

In his new role, Dr. Thal assumes overall responsibility for the strategic direction of the Specialty product portfolio within the Medical Affairs, Americas organization, including continued medical support of in-line products, late-stage development compounds and ongoing business support across the region.

Before joining Astellas, Dr. Thal served as VP, Medical Affairs Research, at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. He also held leadership positions in medical affairs at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in Princeton, N.J., and DuPont Pharmaceuticals in Wilmington, Del.

Nate Crisel has been promoted to vice president, Real World Informatics & Analytics at Astellas. (PRNewsfoto/Astellas)

Before joining Astellas in 2008, Crisel served as an analytical chemist and pharmaceutical development project manager at Eli Lilly and Co. After Lilly, he held roles ranging from business development and executive leadership at biotech start-ups, including Embedded Concepts LLC and Tracera LLC.

“Nate’s background at Astellas includes roles in New Product Analysis and nearly four years at our Tokyo headquarters in Product and Portfolio Strategy and Corporate Planning divisions,” Takeda says. “It was in his role in Corporate Planning where he initiated the idea of having the RWI Center of Excellence. He then proceeded to build the organization from scratch to its current state.”

Crisel received a master of business administration in finance and entrepreneurship from Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management and a bachelor of science in chemistry from Indiana University.

“Since joining Astellas in 2012, Gary has been integral in the building and leading a team of medical directors, medical science liaisons and Health Economic and Outcomes Research (HEOR) specialists across the cardiovascular, anti-infective and immunology/transplant therapeutic areas,” Dr. Dodson says. “With Gary’s leadership, we plan to continue to support our internal and external partners to translate insights into strategies to further define value of Astellas’ products to patients.”

Dr. Thal received a bachelor of arts from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He earned his doctor of medicine from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. Later, Dr. Thal earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill.