New global head of business development for CANbridge

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CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative drug candidates to treat underserved medical conditions, has appointed Carrie Ann Cook to the position of senior VP/global head of business development.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, company executives say Cook has deep international business development experience across multiple markets and disease areas. She came to CANbridge directly from Takeda Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Mass., where she was senior director, Center for External Innovation, Rare Disease, leading research and development transactions for the rare disease franchise. 

Prior to Takeda, Cook was head of global business development and licensing, MS, medical devices, and global health at EMD Serono Inc. in Billerica, Mass., where she directed global business development in multiple indications; and global business development director, neurology and rheumatology at Merck Serono SA in Geneva, Switzerland, where she led licensing initiatives for the neurology and autoimmune business units.

Before then, Cook held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in business development and marketing, including strategic marketing director, Pre-PoC and BD&L, respiratory at Novartis Pharma AG, in Basel, Switzerland; manager business development, Europe at Baxter Healthcare SA in Wallisellen, Switzerland and manager business intelligence, Europe, also at Baxter.

“Carrie’s extensive international business development experience and excellent strategic track record make her a standout,” says James Xue, Ph.D., founder, chairman and CEO, CANbridge. “She is ideal to lead the CANbridge global business development team as we advance as a world-class biopharmaceutical company driven by a rare disease-focused strategy.”

Cook holds a master’s of business administration from INSEAD, in France and Singapore, where she was a Forte Fellow, and a bachelor of arts in biotechnology from Duke University in Durham, N.C., from which she graduated cum laude.