Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has appointed Bruce Car, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer, effective January 6, 2020. Dr. Car succeeds Scott Biller, Ph.D., who will retire at the end of the year and remain a strategic advisor through 2020. Dr. Car spent 25 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and its legacy companies, working across all therapeutic areas and drug modalities, and serving most recently as the interim head, BMS drug discovery.

“Great science is the backbone of Agios and what allows us to make transformational medicines for patients. With Bruce on board, along with the support of our tremendous scientific leadership team, I’m certain that we will continue our legacy of uncovering biological breakthroughs and developing first-in-class therapies,” said Jackie Fouse, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Agios. “I want to thank Scott for contributions to our pipeline, people and culture over the last nine years. He has mentored, challenged and supported countless employees and led by example in his relentless focus on making a difference for patients.”

Dr. Car helped bring more than 200 drug candidates to clinical trials and 13 marketed drugs, during his tenure at BMS, including ELIQUIS, OPDIVO and FARXIGA. He held roles of increasing responsibility in drug discovery, covering all therapeutic areas, drug platforms and stages of discovery. Dr. Car also led the BMS R&D campus in Bangalore, India for six years across discovery and later established a translational medicine function at that site. In early 2017, he became the first head of the BMS translational medicine group, where he successfully built a cohesive function of over 300 scientists and specialists covering biomarkers through pharmaco-diagnostics.

“With more than two decades of broad drug discovery experience across BMS, Bruce is the ideal scientific leader to join Agios, and I have tremendous confidence in his ability to support and guide the research organization,” said Dr. Biller. “I want to thank my research colleagues for their hard work and tireless dedication to science in the service of patients. Our accomplishments as a team have been the pinnacle of my career.”