The Poland-based generic drugmaker hired Chagnaud – an ex Lupin, Teva and Merck KgaA executive – last week citing his experience in both small molecule generic drugs and biosimilars as the driver for the appointment.
Spokeswoman Magdalena Rzeszotalska told us the firm’s new chief has "over 20 years’ experience in building and leading generics companies in Europe and ex-CIS countries and will contribute strongly to the future growth of Polpharma Groups generics companies.
She added that he has "excellent skills and long-term experience in both the respiratory products and biosimilars fields, which are new growth areas for our Group.”
This echoed comments by Jerzy Starak, chair of Polpharma’s supervisory board, who said: the company’s “strategic goal is to become a regional leader and grow outside of our current boundaries.
“We are impressed by the extensive experience of Mr Chagnaud, gained in international companies such as Merck Generics, Teva and Lupin, where his achievements included building regional strategies and transforming organizations to meet new challenges.
Biosimilars
The appointment comes weeks after Polpharma announced it had hired a key member of the Sandoz team that launched Zarxio (filgrastim-sndz) – a biosimilar version of Amgen’s white blood cell booster Neupogen - in the US.
Polpharma has increased its interest in biosimilars this year, beginning in June when it secured a seven-year, €45m ($49m) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to fund the development of copycat biologics and improve access to medicines across Europe.
A month later the Kraków-headquartered firm has forged a partnership with Boston, Massachusetts-based Epirus Biopharmaceuticals.
The collaboration will focus on the clinical and regulatory development of several of the former firm’s biosimilar products for the EU, the Middle-East, CIS, Russia and Turkey.