Blackstone Life Sciences Expands Team of Biopharmaceutical, Medical Technology, and Diagnostics Experts with Appointments of Dr. Olivier Brandicourt, Dr. Omar Ishrak, Dr. Francois Nader, and Kim Popovits as Senior Advisors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blackstone Life Sciences, the life sciences business of Blackstone (NYSE:BX), today announced the appointments of Dr. Olivier Brandicourt, former CEO of Sanofi, Dr. Omar Ishrak, former Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, Dr. Francois Nader, former CEO of NPS Pharma, and Kim Popovits, former CEO of Genomic Health, as Senior Advisors. Drs. Brandicourt, Ishrak and Nader and Ms. Popovits are widely respected leaders committed to advancing innovative technologies, medicines, diagnostics and monitoring systems to patients. Collectively, they have helped advance 32 innovative products to patients.

Dr. Nicholas Galakatos, Global Head of Blackstone Life Sciences, said: “We are very fortunate to have such an experienced group join as advisors. Our team has worked with this group on a number of projects and their expertise across the life sciences sector will add immense value to our efforts as we seek to develop more breakthrough products to address important unmet medical needs.”

• Dr. Brandicourt served as CEO of both Sanofi S.A. and Bayer HealthCare AG and held executive roles at Pfizer.
• Dr. Ishrak was Chairman and CEO of Medtronic. Prior to Medtronic, he was president and CEO of GE Healthcare Systems.
• Dr. Nader served as CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals and currently serves as Chairman of Talaris and Acceleron, and as board member of Moderna and Alexion.
• Ms. Popovits was Chairman and CEO of Genomic Health, an industry leader in cancer diagnostics. Prior to Genomic Health, she was head of Sales and Marketing at Genentech.

Dr. Brandicourt served as CEO and a director of Sanofi from 2015 to 2019. He also served as CEO and chair of Bayer HealthCare AG from 2013 to 2015. Prior to Bayer, he was President and General Manager of several global business units at Pfizer, including Specialty Care, Primary Care and Emerging Markets and Established Products. Dr. Brandicourt currently serves on the board of directors of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Dewpoint Therapeutics.

Dr. Ishrak served as Chairman and CEO of Medtronic from 2011 to 2020. He currently serves as the Chairman of the board of Intel, and also serves on the board of directors of the Cleveland Clinic and Cargill. His contributions to medical technology were recognized by his election to the National Academy of Engineering.

Dr. Nader served as President and CEO of NPS Pharma from 2008 until 2015 when Shire (now part of Takeda) acquired the company. He led NPS’ transformation into a leading, commercial stage biotechnology company focused on innovative new medicines to treat rare diseases. Prior to NPS, Dr. Nader was head of Medical & Regulatory Affairs, North America at Aventis (currently Sanofi). Dr. Nader currently serves as Chairman of the board of directors of Acceleron Pharma and Talaris Therapeutics and is a director of Moderna and Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

Ms. Popovits spent nearly 20 years at Genomic Health, including serving as Chairman of the Board, CEO and President. During Ms. Popovits’ leadership, Genomic Health became an industry leader in genomic-based diagnostic tests, resulting in an acquisition by Exact Sciences in 2019. Prior to Genomic Health, Ms. Popovits led Genentech’s commercial organization, launching 14 new therapies. Ms. Popovits is a director of 10x Genomics, Talis, and Kiniksa.

About Blackstone Life Sciences

Blackstone Life Sciences (BXLS) is a private, global investment platform with capabilities to invest across the life-cycle of companies and products within the key life science sectors. By combining scale investments and hands-on operational leadership, Blackstone Life Sciences helps bring to market promising new medicines that improve patients’ lives.