Harmony Biosciences has named Adam Zaeske its next chief commercial officer, luring the Takeda veteran back from Europe to lead a push to turn Wakix into a blockbuster and prepare to launch other drugs.
Zaeske spent 20 years at Takeda, ultimately rising to the title of head of central, south and eastern Europe. That role put Zaeske in charge of a $2 billion business that employs almost 900 people across 25 countries, and he oversaw three consecutive years of double-digit growth during his time in the position. Now, the executive is preparing to apply lessons learned at Takeda to a very different commercial organization.
Wakix, a treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness in narcolepsy patients, is Pennsylvania-based Harmony’s only commercial product. The biotech reported net revenue of $714.7 million last year and is aiming to pocket up to $860 million this year, establishing a trajectory that could lead to blockbuster sales.
Until now, Jeffrey Dierks was tasked with overseeing that growth, during a six-year stint as Harmony’s chief commercial officer. Harmony announced Monday that Dierks is “voluntarily stepping down for personal reasons” and will pass the reins to Zaeske at the end of March.
As well as working to maintain the growth of Wakix, Zaeske will oversee preparations to launch other medicines. Harmony’s road map through 2028 includes potential approvals for two new formulations of the active ingredient in Wakix and for a synthetic cannabidiol devoid of THC. The approvals could give the company growth drivers ahead of generic competition to Wakix, which could arrive in 2030 or earlier.
Harmony CEO Jeffrey Dayno, M.D., outlined plans for the anticipated launches at a Leerink event earlier this month, telling analysts how the company could use its Wakix infrastructure to support its new drugs.
“We have ... a proven commercial model with a single patient hub, closed pharmacy distribution system. We have the ability to utilize that infrastructure. These are not large sales forces. A lot of this is a centers of excellence model,” Dayno said. “We could potentially go to market with these new indications in a very cost-effective manner, utilizing our commercial model, the infrastructure.”
Bioprojet Pharma brought Wakix to market in Europe, leaving Harmony focused on the U.S. However, Harmony has global rights to some of its other assets and has discussed bringing them to market in the European Union.