PALO ALTO, Calif.—Affymax has named nephrologist Andrew T. Blair, MD, as the biopharmaceutical company’s new vice president of Medical Affairs.
"Andrew joins Affymax at a pivotal point in our company's journey and his expertise will be invaluable to building a world-class Medical Affairs organization and supporting the successful launch of peginesatide," said John Orwin, CEO of Affymax. "He brings a formidable background in oversight of development, regulatory management, and commercialization of drugs specific to renal disease."
Prior to joining Affymax, Blair was vice president of Clinical Research for Proteon Therapeutics. In that position he served as the clinical lead in the planning, design, implementation, and ongoing management of a development program for the treatment of vascular access in patients with chronic kidney disease and of peripheral arterial disease.
Previously, Blair was vice president of Clinical Research at Genzyme Corporation. While at Genzyme he led critical clinical initiatives for the Renal business unit, including: clinical trial activity for Renagel, Renvela and Hectorol; the successful filing for the approval of the Renvela NDA; and the largest interventional outcome study in hemodialysis patients. He also led the U.S./Europe biomedical regulatory affairs and U.S. Renal Medical Affairs group. Before that, he served as medical director for the end-stage Renal Disease Program at the University of Texas Medical Branch. About Affymax, Inc.
Affymax's product candidate, Hematide/peginesatide, recently completed Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic renal failure.
