LEO Pharma, Catherine Mazzacco
LEO Pharma’s long-serving CEO, Gitte Aabo, will step down from the position after 11 years in the role and 27 years with the company. Catherine Mazzacco will take his place and is set to join the company as its president and CEO as of August 1, 2019.
Mazzacco will leave her current position as SVP of global commercial operations at GE Healthcare’s Biopharma business, with this side of the GE business set to join Danaher in a $21bn (€18.6bn) deal in the near future.
Mazzacco had only recent joined the GE Healthcare business, being in the role for one year and a half, after joining from Abbot. She had spent close to 16 years at the latter company, ending her time as VP of global commercial operations for Abbott’s vision division.
According to the company, the decision for a change of leadership came from Aabo, as the company pivots towards becoming a market leader in the dermatology space – making a number of investments recently to bolster its portfolio in the area.
Catherine Mazzacco said, “I am very impressed by what the people at LEO Pharma have accomplished and the high reputation LEO Pharma enjoys among patients and physicians. This is a great foundation to build on in the coming years, with the expansion of LEO Pharma’s innovative portfolio ahead of us.”
According to the company, the long-term goal moving towards 2025 is to reach 125 million dermatology patients, with plans to achieve this by furthering broadening its portfolio through oral, topical and biologics treatments.