NORTHBROOK, Ill., April 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas today announced three recent senior-level promotions within its Development organization. Joseph Fleishaker, Ph.D., FAAPS, FCP, was promoted to senior vice president and Head of Clinical Pharmacology and Exploratory Development (CPED); Susanne Gronen was promoted to senior vice president and Head of Data Sciences; and, Andrew Krivoshik, M.D., Ph.D., was promoted to vice president of Medical Science, Oncology.

"These promotions reinforce the strength of talent we have across the development organization at Astellas," said Bernhardt G. Zeiher, M.D., president, Development, Astellas. "I couldn't be more pleased that Joe, Susanne and Andrew will be leading critical parts of our global organization so we can deliver valuable medicines to patients."

In his new role, Fleishaker will report directly to Zeiher and be responsible for providing leadership of the clinical pharmacology and early development work across the global development portfolio. Gronen will also report directly to Zeiher and provide global leadership of the Data Sciences function, which includes biostatistics, data management, medical writing, statistical programming, and systems management. Krivoshik will report directly to Steven Benner, M.D., senior vice president and Therapeutic Area Head for Oncology. He will lead the medical group within the Oncology therapeutic area and be chiefly responsible for helping to advance Astellas' promising oncology pipeline, which includes numerous clinical programs in areas such as prostate cancer, leukemia, lung cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer, and gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, among others.

Fleishaker started his career at the Upjohn Company, which subsequently became Pharmacia, where he was involved in clinical pharmacology research. Since then, he has served in a number of leadership roles including, Head of Translational Medicine; Head of Pharmacokinetics, Dynamics, and Metabolism (PDM); and Head of Inflammation Clinical Research at Pfizer, promoting efficient exploratory development programs and the use of biomarkers for early decision-making. Fleishaker has worked across all phases of drug development and has contributed to projects in the central nervous system, infectious disease, cardiovascular, and inflammation therapeutic areas.

He received a doctorate degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Kentucky and a bachelor degree in pharmacy from Duquesne University. He has authored or co-authored more than 80 original research articles, review articles and book chapters and is a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

Fleishaker has served as Chairman of the Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism and Biomarker and Translational Tools Sections of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. He currently chairs both the Board of Trustees of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and the External Advisory Board of the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, and has been a member of the Corporate Advisory Board for the University of Washington College of Pharmacy.

Gronen has been with Astellas – and Yamanouchi, one of the original founding companies that merged to create Astellas - for more than 16 years. She has served in a variety of leadership roles across the company, including Biostatistics, Business Information Management and R&D Planning and Process Support. Most recently, Gronen led the Data Sciences function, where she was responsible for establishing global standards and best practices for all areas of data science. Prior to joining Astellas, Gronen worked for a global CRO were she held leadership positions in Biostatistics and Data Management.

She received a master degree in statistics from the University of Dortmund in Germany and a certificate in pharmaceutical medicine from Basel University in Switzerland.

Krivoshik previously served as an executive medical director in the Oncology therapeutic area at Astellas. Prior to joining Astellas, he was a senior medical director at Abbott and completed their professional Physician Development Program. As a clinical development physician, Krivoshik has led and managed global multidisciplinary teams, successfully implemented novel and innovative clinical trial designs, and functioned as a subject matter expert and primary author of clinical protocols, investigator brochures and regulatory submissions spanning the life cycle of clinical development including IND and NDA/MAA filings. 

He holds a bachelor degree in electrical engineering with honors from Princeton University, a medical degree from the University of Illinois (UIC) College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign, and a doctorate in biophysics and computational biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his clinical internship and residency training in pediatric and adolescent medicine at Mayo Clinic, and clinical pediatric hematology and oncology fellowship training at Duke University. Krivoshik is licensed in multiple jurisdictions as both a physician and professional engineer and has served as an invited speaker and session chair at many international scientific congresses. 

About Astellas Pharma Inc.
Astellas Pharma Inc., co-headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and Northbrook, Ill., is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceuticals. Astellas has approximately 18,000 employees worldwide. The organization is committed to becoming a global category leader in Urology, Immunology (including Transplantation) and Infectious diseases, Oncology, Neuroscience and Diabetes Mellitus (DM) Complications and Kidney diseases. For more information on Astellas Pharma Inc., please visit the company website at www.astellas.com/en.

SOURCE Astellas Pharma Inc.