{"id":47676,"date":"2026-04-12T07:34:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/47676\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T07:34:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:34:48","slug":"gilead-hires-roches-pharma-chief-daniel-oday-as-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/47676\/","title":{"rendered":"Gilead hires Roche’s pharma chief Daniel O’Day as CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roche executive Daniel O\u2019Day is to take the helm at Gilead after John Milligan steps down as CEO at the end of this year, the company has announced.<\/p>\n

Currently CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals since 2012, O\u2019Day was previously leader of Roche\u2019s Diagnostics division and has a career spanning three decades in the industry.<\/p>\n

The move makes sense for Gilead, which is looking to expand its presence in the oncology market where O\u2019Day has a vast amount of experience, as revenues from hepatitis C drugs dwindle.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Day won\u2019t be starting in his new role until 1 March next year, so in the two months after Milligan steps down, Gilead\u2019s chief patient officer Gregg Alton will be interim CEO.<\/p>\n

After joining\u00a0Roche Pharmaceuticals\u00a0in 1987, O\u2019Day held various positions in\u00a0the United States\u00a0before moving to\u00a0Roche\u00a0headquarters in\u00a0Switzerland\u00a0in 1998.<\/p>\n

During his time in\u00a0Switzerland, he held leadership roles in global marketing and lifecycle management.<\/p>\n

In 2001, he moved to\u00a0Tokyo\u00a0to become head of corporate planning for\u00a0Roche Pharmaceuticals\u00a0in\u00a0Japan\u00a0and later moved to\u00a0Denmark\u00a0to serve as general manager.<\/p>\n

He became president of Roche Molecular Diagnostics in\u00a0California\u00a0in 2006 and subsequently returned to\u00a0Roche\u00a0headquarters to lead the diagnostics division before assuming his current position.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Day has overseen a period when Roche\u2019s pharma division has been enjoying revenues of around $50 billion annually, with a substantial slice of that income coming from three cancer blockbuster drugs \u2013 Avastin, Herceptin, and MabThera\/Rituxan.<\/p>\n

But these are threatened by competition from cheaper biosimilars as they lose patent protection, and although the company has been getting new drugs approved it remains to be seen whether they will recoup the annual revenues of around $21 billion that these three drugs generate.<\/p>\n

Gilead also has its own troubles \u2013 it has made billions from drugs based around its Sovaldi hepatitis C medicine but revenues are sliding as more and more patients get cured, as well as due to competition from rival companies.<\/p>\n

The company is looking to build revenues with a treatment for other liver disease drugs and cancer drugs, including CAR-T cell therapies that came from its $11.9 billion acquisition of Kite Therapeutics last year.<\/p>\n

The interim CEO Alton is seen as a reliable caretaker with experience in legal, medical affairs, and having also served as general counsel.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel
Daniel O’Day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

O\u2019Day said: \u201cI have long admired Gilead for its work to develop medicines that have fundamentally changed the way HIV and viral hepatitis are treated. The company has successfully grown into a global organisation, providing access to people around the world, while maintaining its focus on innovative science.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether with the board, leadership team and Gilead\u2019s 11,000 employees, I look forward to building on this in ways that I believe will \u2013 in keeping with Gilead\u2019s mission \u2013 transform the lives of millions of individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

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