AstraZeneca Taps Controversial Former MSK CMO Jose Baselga to Head Oncology R&D

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Chief Medical Officer José Baselga, who resigned from the cancer center in September under a cloud, has been tapped as the new head of oncology research and discovery at AstraZeneca. In the company’s announcement this morning, AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot called Baselga am “outstanding scientific leader in oncology.” He said that Baselga’s research and clinical achievements “have led to the development of several innovative medicines” and called him an “international thought leader in cancer care and clinical research.” “José’s expertise adds further scientific and leadership excellence to our already strong team and will help us to continue building a world-class R&D unit for Oncology,” Soriot said.
In a statement this morning, Baselga called his role with AstraZeneca a dream job. Baselga resigned from his role at MSK in September after reports surfaced that he failed to disclose his vast financial ties to various pharmaceutical companies in journal articles he published. Baselga has held advisory roles with several pharmaceutical giants, such as Roche and Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he served on that company’s board of directors. At Genentech, the Roche subsidiary, he played a key role in the development of Herceptin, the noted breast cancer treatment. In all, Baselga was revealed to have financial relationships with more than a dozen pharma companies, according to the reports co-authored by The New York Times and ProPublica.