ADC Therapeutics SA (NYSE: ADCT) today announced the appointment of Kristen Harrington-Smith as Chief Commercial Officer, effective November 17, 2022. The Company also announced the appointment of Peter Graham as Chief Legal Officer, effective November 1, 2022. Both Ms. Harrington-Smith and Mr. Graham will serve on the Company’s leadership team.
“We are delighted to welcome Kristen to ADC Therapeutics. She has an extraordinary commercial background in the DLBCL landscape having led the commercial teams for serious hematological diseases, including major launches of innovative cell therapy products. We have complete conviction that Kristen is the right leader to maximize the potential of ZYNLONTA and take our commercial organization to the next level,” said Ameet Mallik, Chief Executive Officer of ADC Therapeutics. “We would like to sincerely thank Jennifer Herron for her strong dedication and her many contributions to the Company, including building the commercial organization and the launch of ZYNLONTA. We are pleased that Jennifer will stay at the Company through mid-December to ensure a smooth transition.”
Ms. Harrington-Smith is a seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, she has served as Chief Commercial Officer of Immunogen where she has been responsible for building the commercial organization and preparing for the launch of its first commercial product. Prior to that, she served as Vice President and Head, US Hematology at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where she led the teams responsible for a portfolio of therapies in both malignant and non-malignant hematologic diseases including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, and myelodysplastic syndrome. In previous roles of increasing seniority at Novartis, Ms. Harrington-Smith was Vice President and Head, US CAR-T, responsible for the commercial launch of Kymriah, the first CAR-T cell therapy for both DLBCL and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, building the management, sales, marketing, and market access teams, and supporting the launch of Gilenya for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Ms. Harrington-Smith received an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina and a BA from Williams College.
“ADC Therapeutics is a long-standing innovative leader in the ADC space with a robust pipeline, and I am thrilled to join the company at this exciting time of growth,” said Ms. Harrington-Smith. “ZYNLONTA is well-positioned in the DLBCL market, and I have great confidence in its future growth prospect in the third-line setting as well as the potential to expand and serve the unmet medical needs in earlier line DLBCL patients.”
Peter Graham appointed as Chief Legal Officer
“Peter’s extensive global experience will be vital as our ADCs progress toward regulatory, commercial and collaboration milestones,” said Mr. Mallik. “I’m pleased to welcome Peter to our team and look forward to leveraging his deep legal and transactional expertise around our broad ADC technology platform and capabilities.”
Mr. Graham is a senior legal executive with over 25 years of legal, compliance and executive management experience primarily in publicly traded biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies. From 2015 until its sale to Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. in 2022, Mr. Graham served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Human Resources and Secretary for Antares Pharma, Inc., a commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical and combination product company. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Global Human Resources at Delcath Systems, Inc., a combination products company focused on cancers of the liver. Earlier in his career, Mr. Graham held various legal and compliance executive leadership roles at ACIST Medical Systems, Inc., E-Z-EM, Inc., and AngioDynamics, Inc. Mr. Graham received his J.D. from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his BA in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“ADC Therapeutics has demonstrated impressive progress and growth thanks to its talented team and rich pipeline of promising ADCs,” said Mr. Graham. “I am excited to join such a dynamic team and look forward to supporting the Company’s strategy with effective legal counsel and bringing hope to patients and families affected by cancer.”