Cellectar Biosciences Inc., a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted drugs for the treatment of cancer, announced Dr. Laurence Reilly will assume the role as interim chief medical officer, succeeding Dr. John Friend, who is stepping down for personal reasons but will stay on through mid-November to finalize the ongoing transition.
Reilly, who has successful track record of developing and advancing oncology clinical programs through regulatory approval, will oversee the Florham Park-based company’s clinical development programs and report to CEO James Caruso.
“We are delighted to welcome Laurence to our executive team and look forward to his leadership of our clinical development programs. His deep background in hematological oncology and experience leading global clinical development teams to successfully bring new therapies to patients will support Cellectar’s next phase of growth,” Caruso said.
Reilly has consulted for the company since early this year. Prior to joining Cellectar, he provided strategic consulting and due-diligence services to biotech companies, life science venture capital and private equity clients, alongside serving as chief strategy and development officer to a European-based medical device company.
Prior to founding his consulting practice, Reilly served as chief scientific officer and vice president at Avillion, a drug development company focused on the co-development and financing of pharmaceutical candidates, where he was responsible for clinical and strategic oversight of co-development programs and partnering with both large pharma and biotech, including Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
Reilly also previously served as a clinician at Pfizer and began his industry career at Lundbeck where he served as medical and scientific advisor overseeing investigator-initiated research, opinion leader interaction and new compound presentation.
