Hugh O’dowd
Oncology
Neon Therapeutics
United States of America
Biography
Neon Therapeutics’ chief executive officer, Hugh O’Dowd, joined the company in 2016, bringing more than 20 years of expertise in pharmaceutical leadership and moving important oncology therapies from clinical development through commercialization. Hugh joined Neon Therapeutics from Novartis Oncology, where he spent more than 20 years in a variety of leadership roles, including chief commercial officer and head of global strategy of Novartis Oncology. In this role, he was responsible for global commercialization for the oncology portfolio, including Global Brand Leadership, Health Economics and Pricing, Early Phase Commercial Development, Strategic Capabilities, Business Development, and Licensing and Global Sales Excellence. Hugh began his career in pharmaceuticals in 1992 at Glaxo in sales, and moved to Novartis in 1996. Following a career of increasing levels of responsibility in sales and marketing, he took a leading role in the commercialization of Gleevec, and assumed country- and region-level commercial leadership roles before overseeing the entirety of Novartis Oncology commercialization and strategy in 2011. Since 2015, Hugh was country president and general manager of Novartis in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Hugh holds a B.A. from Loyola University Chicago, and an MBA from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University Chicago.
Research Interest
Neon Therapeutics leads the neoantigen field in cancer immunotherapy by focusing on key scientific capabilities, including mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, T cell biology, peptide chemistry, personal manufacturing and immune monitoring.