Vice President, New Product Strategy

Akcea Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical development and commercialization company focused on helping patients living with serious and rare diseases. Our priority is to bring transformative medicines to patients by driving clinical program execution, understanding patient and physician needs, preparing the market, creating market access, and commercializing our products on a global basis. We are driven by the knowledge that patients depend on us. Akcea is commercializing TEGSEDI® (inotersen) and advancing a mature pipeline of novel drugs, including WAYLIVRA™ (volanesorsen), all with the potential to treat multiple diseases. TEGSEDI is approved in the U.S., E.U. and Canada. WAYLIVRA is under regulatory review for the treatment of familial chylomicronemia syndrome, or FCS, and is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of people with familial partial lipodystrophy, or FPL. Akcea is building the infrastructure to commercialize its drugs globally.

Akcea was established by Ionis Pharmaceuticals in late 2014 and was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in July 2017 under the symbol “AKCA.” Akcea is a global company headquartered in Boston, MA with offices in Carlsbad, CA and across the EU and Canada.

Vice President, New Product Strategy

The VP, New Product Strategy is a key role for Akcea Therapeutics and will be a major contributor in delivering on our strategy and supporting the development and commercialization of new products to benefit patients and create value for shareholders. Reporting to the CEO and as a key member of the Executive Council, he/ she will be responsible for designing and executing product and disease level strategies to advance medicines with multiple potential indications. He/she will also collaborate across the organization, externally and with our partners to build sound commercial assessments of potential new assets for Akcea.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Work closely with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and members of the executive team to drive Akcea’s corporate strategy and long-range plan based on the identification of opportunities for new product development.
• Inform the commercialization plan for potential new assets, particularly as it relates to resource needs and overall market opportunity (i.e. sales force sizing requirements, identification of target patient populations, KOLs, access strategy).
• Analyze target markets to determine current and future treatment paradigms, competitive landscape, unmet need, product positioning and value proposition.
• Act as commercial champion on program teams and lead commercial sub-teams to ensure that customer needs are incorporated into all development and life cycle management plans.
• Drive early brand message development, including collaboration with medical affairs/medical communications (publication plans, continuing medical education/ congress activities).
• In collaboration with internal advocacy partners, define and develop both professional and patient advocacy plans and establishing strong relationships with key stakeholders.
• Develop and execute early life-cycle management initiatives, including follow-on indication analyses and global expansion opportunities.
• Key partner in the evaluation of potential alliances for product candidates in collaboration with Business Development/ Alliance Management.
• Develop 1- and 5-year strategic commercialization plans for each new product candidate.
• Create commercial launch build-out plan, resources and timelines that align with overall strategic plans for individual products.
• Monitor competitive intelligence by keeping up to date on market trends, competitors and opportunities.
• Provide regular presentations in various company forums including company and Board of Directors meetings.

Qualifications

• Advanced scientific degree preferred. MBA a plus. Commercial / Marketing mindset & experience.
• A strong background in marketing and marketing analytics with the ability to apply learnings to strategy development.
• Experience in early product commercialization or pricing/market access desirable.
• Rare disease launch experience or major launch/new indication launch experience.
• Exceptional communication and influence skills, with the ability to inspire confidence and work successfully with varied audiences including industry partners, Board of Directors, fellow management and employees, with a strong executive presence.
• Entrepreneurial, collaborative, energetic self-starter with strong interpersonal and analytical skills and proven ability to work effectively with a CEO and other senior management as a strategic partner.
• Strong scientific orientation, ideally with rare/orphan therapeutics and can establish and maintain credibility with internal and external scientific and business experts.
• Ability to work strategically and collaboratively as a member of the management team.

We are an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We respect individual differences, embrace diversity throughout the organization, and value the unique strengths of each employee. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status.

Excellent salary and benefits package offered.

Please visit our website, http://www.akceatx.com, to apply for this position.

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. PRINCIPALS ONLY.