Vifor Pharma Appoints Lee Heeson as President International and Member of the Executive Committee

Vifor Pharma today announced the appointment of Lee Heeson as President International and member of the Executive Committee as of February 1^st, 2020.

Lee Heeson joins Vifor Pharma from Celgene, where he was President, Worldwide Markets, responsible for the Inflammation & Immunology (I&I) franchise in all ex-US markets. In his most recent position, Lee Heeson led the execution and geographic expansion for psoriasis drug Otezla, the launch preparation for investigational immunomodulatory drug Ozanimod and represented ex-US commercialization on the I&I Executive Committee. Prior to that, Lee held positions at Galderma, Schering-Plough, Allergan and Lorex Synthelabo (now Sanofi), working across multiple therapeutic areas and geographies, including Europe, Latin America, the United States and Japan.

He received a Chartered Institute of Marketing Diploma from Plymouth Business School and a BA (Hons) of International Business from Sheffield Hallam University, both in the UK.

Etienne Jornod, Executive Chairman of Vifor Pharma comments; “We are delighted that Lee Heeson joins Vifor Pharma. He brings in a wealth of commercial experience from leading successful franchises, general managers, medical affairs and market access teams across the US, EMEA and Japan to further successfully drive and execute our launch capabilities globally.”

Vifor Pharma Group is a global pharmaceuticals company headquartered in Switzerland. It aims to become the global leader in iron deficiency, nephrology and cardio-renal therapies. The company is the partner of choice for pharmaceuticals and innovative patient-focused solutions. Vifor Pharma Group strives to help patients around the world with severe and chronic diseases lead better, healthier lives. The company develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products for precision patient care. Vifor Pharma Group holds a leading position in all its core business activities and consists of the following companies: Vifor Pharma; Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma (a joint company with Fresenius Medical Care); Relypsa; and OM Pharma. Vifor Pharma Group is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX Swiss Exchange, VIFN, ISIN: CH0364749348).