The pharma firm Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has announced the appointment of AstraZeneca’s Mark Mallon as their new CEO.

The board of directors of Ironwood has appointed chief executive officers (CEOs) of the two companies, effective at the time of Ironwood’s planned separation which is on track to be completed in the first half of 2019.

Mark Mallon will become CEO and a director of Ironwood, a gastrointestinal (GI) healthcare company. Mallon is joining Ironwood effective immediately as executive senior advisor, working closely with Peter Hecht, founding CEO of Ironwood, through the separation. Peter Hecht will become CEO and a director of Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc. (Cyclerion), the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) biotechnology business focused on the development of five sGC stimulators targeting the treatment of serious and orphan diseases.

A 24-year career at AstraZeneca

Mallon joins Ironwood following a 24-year career at AstraZeneca where he held a variety of senior executive positions. He most recently served as a member of its executive committee, reporting to the CEO, as executive vice president of global product and portfolio strategy leading global marketing, commercial operations, pricing and market access, medical affairs and corporate affairs for AstraZeneca’s $18 billion pharmaceutical business. Mallon has a strong track record of success building industry-leading businesses in the U.S. and globally. Prior to his most recent role, he launched AstraZeneca’s emerging market strategy and led its multi-billion-dollar international business, including in China where AstraZeneca was the second largest and fastest growing multinational pharmaceutical company. In his leadership roles at AstraZeneca, including president of AstraZenecaChina, chief operating officer of AstraZeneca Japan, vice president of U.S. sales and marketing operations and president of AstraZeneca Italy, Mallon delivered several best-in-class new product launches. He is also widely renowned for building leading GI franchises, earned from his time leading the U.S. commercial and drug development programs for all AstraZeneca GI products. Mallon has a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. in marketing and finance from the Wharton School of Business.

“I am deeply honored to join Ironwood at this critical moment and to work with the team to build a leading GI franchise, which begins with accelerating the commercial success to-date with LINZESS and advancing our late-stage, first-in-category development candidates for persistent GERD and intestinal pain towards the market,” said Mr. Mallon. “Peter and the team have done a tremendous job building Ironwood over these past 20 years. The new Ironwood team now has an opportunity to build on this strong foundation to drive further growth and innovation within the GI market and to deliver a profitable business focused on bringing differentiated GI therapies to patients. Peter and I are already working together with the team toward a smooth transition and to launch this exciting new company.”

Photo of Mark Mallon: AstraZeneca