Eisai Inc., the U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd., has made two appointments to expand its Alzheimer’s disease business with renowned experts in the neuroscience field. Dr. Harald Hampel joins the company as vice president, Global Medical Affairs and Dr. Michael Irizarry was named vice president, Clinical Research. Both executives will work on advancing the company’s pipeline of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia compounds.
 
“The additions of Dr. Hampel and Dr. Irizarry are a very important step as Eisai continues to break through in its quest to develop the first disease-modifying therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s disease,” said Lynn Kramer, chief clinical officer and chief medical officer, Neurology Business Group at Eisai. “Every day, the number of patients diagnosed with AD and dementia continues to grow with little hope for them, their caregivers and families. Through the efforts of our talented employees and our commitment to our human health care mission, we are confident that we can someday offer a complete treatment regimen that is preventative, pre-emptive, restorative and regenerative.” 

Dr. Hampel will be responsible for creating and overseeing the company’s global AD/dementia medical strategies. He will also oversee investigator-initiated trials, Phase IIIb/IV projects, and the company’s continued medical education and medical information programs. Dr. Hampel has 25 years clinical trial experience in AD and related neurodegenerative diseases, has published over 600 scientific publications and has won multiple awards for his research. Dr. Hampel most recently served as full professor and excellence chair, Scientific Director at the Institute for Memory and Alzheimer’s Disease, European Center of Excellence in Neurodegenerative Disease at Sorbonne University in Paris, France.  

Dr. Irizarry, who joined Eisai in 2018 as vice president, Clinical Research for the company’s Epilepsy and Sleep/Wake therapeutic areas, will assume a new role with responsibility for the clinical development and overall strategy of the company’s AD-related neurosciences portfolio. After spending 12 years as a researcher at the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Dr. Irizarry moved to the pharmaceutical industry in 2006, where he has held leadership positions in the neuroscience area at Eli Lilly and in epidemiology at GlaxoSmithKline.