Blueprint Medicines Appoints Jeffrey Albers as Chief Executive Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Blueprint Medicines (Blueprint), a leader in discovering highly selective kinase inhibitors for genomically defined cancer patients, today announced the appointment of Jeffrey Albers as chief executive officer (CEO). Mr. Albers joins Blueprint from Algeta ASA, where he served on the executive management team as U.S. president prior to the acquisition by Bayer. Mr. Albers succeeds Alexis Borisy, co-founder and interim CEO of Blueprint and Partner at Third Rock Ventures, who will remain an active member of the Board of Directors.

"Jeff's demonstrated excellence in commercial preparation and execution, business development and team building will be invaluable as we continue to grow Blueprint and advance our pipeline of highly selective kinase drugs into clinical development and ultimately the market," said Daniel Lynch, executive chairman of Blueprint. "While we look ahead to the Company's next phase, the Blueprint Board would like to thank Alexis for his many contributions to Blueprint's successes."

Mr. Albers brings more than 20 years of experience as a life sciences executive with a track record of leading fully integrated organizations, successfully launching products and achieving aggressive revenue targets. At Algeta, Mr. Albers oversaw the commercial and business functions during a period of exponential growth in staff and revenue. Before Algeta, Mr. Albers spent seven years at Genzyme, where he served most recently as vice president of the U.S. hematology & oncology business unit. Mr. Albers holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University. 

"Leading and growing the talented Blueprint team as we take two potential breakthrough product candidates into clinical trials while continuing to build a strong, sustainable pipeline is extremely exciting," said Mr. Albers. "I look forward to lending my experience from oncology and rare genetic diseases to accelerate Blueprint's progress toward discovering, developing and commercializing transformative medicines for genomically defined patients in need."

About Blueprint Medicines
Blueprint Medicines is a patient-driven oncology company developing highly selective kinase inhibitors for genomically defined cancer patients. Led by a management team and advisors with world-renowned expertise in cancer genomics, drug discovery and clinical oncology, Blueprint has developed a platform that combines genomics with a novel small molecule library of kinase inhibitors, enabling Blueprint to rapidly develop potent, highly selective compounds against clear genomic driver targets. Founded in 2011, Blueprint is privately held and initially backed by Third Rock Ventures and Fidelity BioSciences. For more information, please visit BlueprintMedicines.com.

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SOURCE Blueprint Medicines