Christi Shaw, until Thursday morning the executive in charge of Eli Lilly’s drug division, will become the CEO of Kite Pharma, the unit of biotechnology giant Gilead that is focused on treatments that genetically engineer patients’ white blood cells to attack cancer.
Shaw said she was inspired to take the job because that type of treatment, known as CAR-T, is what she wants to focus on.
“I really felt like it touched my heart,” Shaw said in her first interview about the move. “And I’d like to get back to something that is transformational — an innovation that can cure cancer.”
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