Executive management team changes at Mirati

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Mirati Therapeutics has made several changes to the executive management team as the company continues to accelerate the development of its KRAS and sitravatinib programs through registrational trials and prepares for commercialization.

Daniel R. Faga was appointed as executive VP, chief operating officer. He reports directly to Charles M. Baum, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO. Faga is responsible for a broad range of operational areas including but not limited to corporate strategy, finance, legal, program management, and investor relations and corporate affairs. He was formerly the chief business officer at Spark Therapeutics Inc. Faga earned a B.S. in engineering from Cornell University and an M.B.A. in healthcare management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Benjamin J. Hickey is now executive VP, chief commercial officer and is reporting directly to Dr. Baum. His responsibilities include all aspects of global launch readiness and brand strategy such as sales and marketing, pricing and access, medical affairs, forecasting and analytics, portfolio planning and patient advocacy. In his most recent position, Hickey was senior VP and chief commercial officer at Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. He received his B.S. in management and his M.B.A. from St. John’s University in New York.

Vickie S. Reed was promoted to senior VP, finance and chief accounting officer. Reed has been with Mirati for six years and has worked in roles of increasing responsibility during that time. She is a certified public accountant (Colorado) and received a B.S. in accounting from the University of Colorado Denver.

Jessica M. Corson was promoted to VP, business development. Corson has been with Mirati for seven years and has worked in roles of increasing responsibility. She holds a B.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego and an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

“Mirati is entering the next stage of drug development as our novel therapies, which we believe will address critical unmet needs for cancer patients,” Dr. Baum says. “I am very pleased to welcome Dan and Ben to Mirati and believe that they will be instrumental in our success as we enter a pivotal phase in the company’s growth and move toward becoming a global, commercial-ready biopharmaceutical company. Dan brings strong leadership, business and operational experience in executing long-range strategic plans to the team while Ben will build our commercial capability and help us bring much needed therapies like sitravatinib to patients whose tumors no longer respond to immunotherapy and to patients who have the potential to benefit from our other programs, that target specific types of KRAS mutations where no approved targeted therapies are available. Both are accomplished executives with proven expertise who will be instrumental as we continue to build our pipeline of first- and best-in-class programs.

“I’d also like to congratulate Vickie Reed and Jessica Corson on their promotion to senior leadership positions. They have been important to Mirati’s development and embody the culture and values that have led to our success,” Dr. Baum says.
Chris LeMasters, chief business officer, and Jamie Donadio, chief financial officer, have left the Mirati to pursue other opportunities. Donadio remains at Mirati in a temporary consulting role as the transitions are completed.

Mirati is a San Diego-based clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to advancing novel therapeutics that extend the lives of patients by directly addressing the genetic and immunological drivers of cancer.