Amgen Exec Named to New VP Post at California Stem Cell Agency

The California stem cell agency today named Ellen Feigal, an executive at Amgen, Inc., to the new position of vice president for research and development.

Feigal(left) with Claire Pomeroy, dean of
 the  UC Davis School of Medicine in 2007
 at an awards ceremony involving Feigal.
 Pomeroy is also a member of the
CIRM board of directors.

She will begin work at the $3 billion research enterprise Jan. 31, leaving her current post as executive medical director for global development at Amgen, which is based in Thousand Oaks, Ca., north of Los Angeles.

Feigal will fill a position that has been vacant since the summer of 2009, basically the No. 2 spot at CIRM. CIRM President Alan Trounson created the post in the wake of the departure of Marie Csete as chief scientific officer. The VP position replaces the chief scientific officer position.

The vice president's position has a salary range that runs from $286,000 to $529,100. It is the same range as for chairman or president of CIRM. In response to a query, Don Gibbons, the agency's chief of communications, said Feigal would be paid $332.000.

CIRM's press release said,

"Feigal will report to Trounson and will work closely with other CIRM executives to build and manage the pre-clinical and clinical programs, both within California and with CIRM’s international collaborators, as well as interactions with the NIH, FDA and other regulatory bodies. She will also manage the assembly and oversight of CIRM’s clinical advisory committee that will assess project progress, milestones and go/no-go decisions. A key aspect of her portfolio will be working with the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and investment sectors as well as academia to enable and enhance development of clinical applications from CIRM’s science portfolio."

Trounson said,

“As CIRM matured and moved more of its resources into translational and clinical science, we saw the need to formalize a role for a vice president for research and development, and Ellen’s career trajectory and experience fill our vision for that role perfectly."

The CIRM press release said,

"Feigal distinguished herself in many positions in academia, the federal government, non-profit research organizations, small pharma and large biotech companies. She has focused on assessing novel therapies, training young investigators in how to assess novel therapies, and in building partnerships and coalitions to enhance translational research. In her position at Amgen she also led the scientific/clinical interface with patient advocacy organizations and formalized the company’s policy on expanded access to therapies for those with limited or no treatment options."

The news release continued,

"In addition to her work at Amgen, Feigal currently serves as Adjunct Professor and Director of the American Course on Drug Development and Regulatory Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. The course, developed under her leadership in collaboration with the FDA, UCSF’s Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, its Center for Drug Development Sciences and the European Center of Pharmaceutical Medicine at the University of Basel, was launched in 2007. It is taught over two years, with six sessions, each four days in length in Washington, D.C. and a separate parallel course in San Francisco. Feigal will step down as course director and adjunct professor as she takes on this new position at CIRM."

In 2007, Feigal received UC Davis Health System's first-ever "Transformational Leadership Award," which honors someone who has “enhanced the profession, improved the welfare of the general public, provided for personal distinction and brought honor to our university.”

UC Davis said,

"Her collaborative work with organizations such as the Food and Drug Administration, National Cancer Institute, Translational Genomics Institute and Critical Path Institute are helping to cut through red tape and bring life-saving drugs to patients as quickly and safely as possible."