Nektar Therapeutics has appointed John Northcott to the newly-created position of senior vice president and chief commercial officer. John will also serve as a member of the Executive Committee reporting to president and chief executive officer, Howard W. Robin.

Mr. Northcott has extensive commercial experience, including both pre-launch planning and on-market commercialization in oncology and other therapeutic areas. Most recently, he served as chief commercial officer of Pharmacyclics from 2015 to 2019. During this time, he led all commercial functions for Imbruvica, including marketing, sales, analytics, commercial operations, and market access. Under Mr. Northcott’s leadership, Imbruvica grew to become a major blockbuster in the field of Hematology. Mr. Northcott also held commercial roles in both U.S. and Global marketing for Avastinwith Genentech and the Roche Group.

“We are excited to welcome John as we look forward to key milestones in our bempegaldesleukin (bempeg) program over the next 18 months and as we continue to build our team for the future,” said Howard Robin. “John is a talented commercial leader with extensive experience building and managing top-tier commercial organizations, qualities that will be essential for Nektar as we prepare for the next stage of our growth.”