Final study results of KEYTRUDA® plus LENVIMA®

Dr. Kirk Shepard, CMO, SVP, & Head of Global Medical Affairs, Oncology Business Group at Eisai Inc, discusses the final study results from the KEYNOTE-146/Study 111 presented at the 2019 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, evaluating KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) plus LENVIMA (lenvatinib) combination for the treatment of advanced endometrial cancer.  Merck and Eisai known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, are in collaboration for the worldwide co-development and co-commercialization of LENVIMA.

Kirk Shepard, MD, serves as Chief Medical Officer, Senior Vice President, & Head of Global Medical Affairs for the Oncology Business Group at Eisai Inc. Dr. Shepard creates and oversees Eisai’s global oncology medical strategies.  Dr.Shepard, who has over 30 years of experience in the oncology field, leads the company’s Global Oncology Medical Affairs function. He is responsible for the overall strategic and operational leadership of the Oncology Business Group’s medical affairs activities, including the global strategic life cycle management of Eisai’s existing oncology portfolio of commercialized products, real-world evidence trials, investigator-initiated trials, and the company’s continued medical education and medical information programs. He is the medical leader and expert resource to the Medical Affairs teams globally and other cross-functional stakeholders ensuring effective portfolio and resource optimization.  Prior to joining Eisai, Dr. Shepard served as Senior Vice President & Head, GlobalMedical Affairs at Shire Pharmaceuticals following the company’s acquisition of Baxalta US, Inc. (formerly Bioscience Baxter Healthcare Corporation) in June 2016. During his four-plus year tenure with Shire and Baxalta, Dr. Shepard was in charge of leading the life cycle management of the company’s oncology, neurology, hemophilia, hematology and immunology products, as well as biosimilars. Prior to Baxalta, Dr. Shepard served as Senior Vice President, Global Medical Affairs at Takeda Pharmaceuticals International for over four years. Dr. Shepard began his pharmaceutical career with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals (formerly Roxane Labs, Inc.), where he spent 17 years in roles at the vice president and senior vice president level.    Over the course of his career, Dr. Shepard has had more than 50 medical publications in journals and books. He served as President of the Medical Affairs Professional Society from 2016-2017. In 2015, PharmaVOICE named him one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Dr.Shepard received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Cincinnati Medical School, and then completed an internal medicine residency at Case Western Reserve University and both an oncology and hematology fellowship at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. He later served as a staff physician in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a role in which he supervised numerous studies in oncology and symptom control. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University, played Varsity Football, and received the Cornell National Scholar Award.