Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd (NYSE: BHVN) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has named Thomas J Lynch, Jr, MD, as chairman of the board at Kleo Pharmaceuticals, it was reported yesterday.

Dr Lynch has more than 30 years of medical, management and leadership experience, including more than 23 years at Massachusetts General Hospital where he served as chairman and CEO of Massachusetts General Physicians Organization and as a member of the board from 2015 to 2017. He earlier served as the director of Yale Cancer Center and was a professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine from 2009 to 2015. He has also served as the physician in chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital, Yale-New Haven, since 2009. In 2013, he was elected to the board of directors at Bristol-Myers Squibb and later named chief scientific officer in 2017.

Additionally, Dr Lynch is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. He is on the editorial boards of the journal, Clinical Cancer Research, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. He has published more than 100 original scientific papers and authored or co-authored more than 90 review articles and book chapters.

Vlad Coric, MD, CEO of Biohaven, said, 'Tom is a world-renowned oncologist and clinical researcher who has devoted his career to advancing cancer therapies. His deep clinical and industry experience will be an important asset to Kleo as the team transitions the company's pipeline into the clinic. Kleo continues to make great progress advancing its pipeline of synthetic compounds that recruits the immune system to destroy cancer cells, and Tom's leadership will be key to the company's strategic development and growth.'