As Global Oncology Therapeutic Area Head for Johnson & Johnson, Yusri Elsayed, M.D., M.H.SC, Ph.D. is responsible for the discovery, development and life cycle advancement of the company’s robust oncology pipeline and portfolio. He leads a global team of scientists that bring together expertise in small molecules, advanced biologics, cell therapies, vaccine platforms, translational research, diagnostics, and immuno-oncology.
Discovery and development of new medicines for cancers is fast-paced and complex and therefore, Yusri and his team built a comprehensive approach that focus on an end-to-end internal capabilities, as well as robust external innovation strategy to advance science and novel therapeutics in core disease areas, including hematologic malignancies, prostate cancer, bladder cancers, immuno-oncology, and lung cancer. The combination of these efforts has led to many successful oncology partnerships in the past across the life sciences ecosystem and continues to distinguish Johnson 7 Johnson as a partner of choice.
Prior to his appointment as Global Oncology Therapeutic Area Head, Yusri led the Hematologic Malignancies Disease Area within Johnson & Johnson Research & Development since 2013. In this role, he had responsibility for creating and executing the scientific strategy to advance internal and externally sourced discovery and development programs. Together with his team, Yusri is recognized for building an industry-leading hematologic malignancies portfolio that has been foundational for scientific innovation and has achieved many noteworthy milestones, including multiple U.S. Food and Drug Administration Breakthrough Therapy Designations and major product approvals for several first-in-class transformational therapies such as IMBRUVICA® (ibrutinib), DARZALEX®, CARVYKTI, TECVALI and TALVEY.
Yusri joined Johnson & Johnson in 2005 as Medical Director. Since then, he has held positions of increasing responsibility in the Oncology Therapeutic Area, including Medical Leader for YONDELIS® (trabectedin), VELCADE® (bortezomib) and several early clinical development programs. Yusri played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Hematologic Malignancies DAS.
Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Yusri led early development studies of oncology drugs, including small molecules and monoclonal antibodies, at Bristol Myers Squibb.
Prior to transitioning to the pharmaceutical industry, Yusri served as Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. There he led numerous clinical research programs as a principal investigator and authored several publications. He also had the privilege of caring for many oncology patients during this time. Yusri completed his clinical fellowship training in Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute and in Hematology at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology and Hematology. Yusri also earned a master’s degree in clinical research from Duke University and a doctorate from Kyushu University in Japan.