Agios Appoints Scott Biller, Ph.D., Industry Leader and Drug Developer, as Chief Scientific Officer

Agios Pharmaceuticals, the leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in the rapidly emerging field of cancer metabolism, today announced the appointment of Scott Biller, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Biller joins Agios from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where he was Vice President and Head of Global Discovery Chemistry at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR).
"Scott is a world-class drug hunter who will help us achieve our vision of discovering and developing transformative medicines that target dysregulated metabolic enzymes," said David Schenkein, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, Agios. "Scott's breadth of experience and record of leadership in the industry makes him the ideal candidate to shape and lead our research initiatives, and I'm tremendously excited to welcome him to Agios."
"Agios has established the leading effort in cancer metabolism, driven by a unique culture of scientific leadership and technological innovation," said Dr. Biller. "I am convinced that we can make dramatic improvements in patient outcomes by mapping and targeting the metabolism of cancer cells. I look forward to working with the exceptional team of scientists at Agios and with the broad network of academic leaders that are collaborating with Agios on this important work."
Dr. Biller has more than 25 years of drug discovery and development experience. While at Novartis, he was responsible for the world-wide discovery chemistry functions at NIBR, including medicinal, combinatorial and computational chemistry, as well as the research metabolism and pharmacokinetics group. He joined NIBR in 2003 and played a key role in building the new research organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as reinventing the Novartis culture of innovation globally.
Prior to Novartis, Dr. Biller held the positions of Vice President, Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization at the Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) Pharmaceutical Research Institute, and Executive Director of Drug Discovery Chemistry for the BMS research site in Lawrenceville, NJ, where he was responsible for overseeing the research efforts for oncology, immunology, inflammation and pulmonary diseases. Among his other key leadership positions at BMS, Dr. Biller was the Executive Director of Metabolic Diseases Chemistry, with responsibility for discovery programs in hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and endocrine dysfunctions of the aging population. Under his leadership, his team delivered numerous clinical candidates, including the marketed DPP4 inhibitor Onglyza (saxigliptin) for Type 2 diabetes, and two molecules currently in Phase III trials (the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin for Type 2 diabetes and the MTP inhibitor lomitapide for hyperlipidemia). He has co-authored over 90 papers and patents, and has been invited to deliver scientific lectures around the world.

**Published in "Business Wire"