UroGen appoints former Novartis cancer chief Barrett as CEO

Novartis’ former oncology CEO Liz Barrett has left to join little-known biotech, UroGen, to help bring its potential urothelial cancer drug to market. Barrett raised eyebrows last month when she announced her decision to leave Novartis after less than a year in charge of its oncology unit, but kept quiet about her new job. Now New York-based UroGen has revealed it has pulled off a coup and hired Barrett, an industry veteran with a proven track record launching cancer drugs. UroGen in November began a rolling filing of data from its UGN-101, a treatment for low-grade upper tract urothelial cancer.
The filing is expected to be complete in mid-2019 and UroGen is due to present topline data this month. UGN-101 is a sustained release hydrogel-based formulation of the chemotherapy drug mitomycin, which is intended to allow for a longer exposure of the active ingredient to urinary tract tissue. The aim is to enable treatment of tumors by means other than surgery.