Jazz Pharmaceuticals is promoting Samantha Pearce, currently its senior vice president of Europe and international, to chief commercial officer as she takes the lead in running its commercial engine.
Educated in the U.K. and serving long stints at AstraZeneca and then Celgene, Pearce joined Jazz back in 2020 under her SVP role, in which she helped grow the Jazz brands across more than 50 countries. From Aug. 1, she will officially become the new CCO and be based out of the U.S., according to a release from the company.
This comes less than a year after another key executive change-up at Jazz, when Renée Galá, formerly chief financial officer, was promoted to become the company’s president and chief operating officer, effective last October.
A new CFO in the form of Lilly veteran Philip Johnson, meanwhile, took the reins back in March.
These executive shakeups come as the pharma has looked to find a smooth path after a bumpy year beset with trial hiccups and reports that it is seeking to divest assets or even sell off the company.
Those trial hiccups include pressing pause on a phase 1 sleep disorder med due to adverse events last November and, more recently, failing to hit statistical significance in a midstage test of suvecaltamide in essential tremor patients.
Meanwhile, reports last October claimed that the drugmaker is in talks with advisors over a possible sale, according to people with knowledge of the matter talking to Bloomberg.
This all comes amid a backdrop of a generic onslaught that is eroding sales of its key sleep disorder drug Xyrem. Just last year, revenue dropped 44% to $569.7 million, with that fall accelerating in Q4 to 57% to clock in at just $106.7 million for the period.
Total sales across Jazz hit $3.8 billion in 2023, up 5% despite the generic hit. There was also a 27% boost year over year from its combined growth drivers: newer sleep disorder drug Xywav, seizure treatment Epidiolex and blood cancer med Rylaze.
It will likely be these, and future pipeline catalysts that are heavily focused on a range of cancers and neuroscience meds, that Pearce will focus on, should the company remain intact and unsold.