Roche

Karen Lackey has been named vice president and head of medicinal chemistry at Roche. Based out of the company’s Nutley facility, Ms. Lackey will be responsible for small molecule drug discovery in oncology, virology and inflammation. She will also oversee the Nutley Discovery Chemistry Management Team and be a member of the Global Chemistry Leadership Team. She reports to Hans-Joachim Boehm, Ph.D., global head of chemistry at Roche.

“Karen’s appointment reinforces Roche’s continuing commitment to innovation and to being at the forefront of medical discovery,” said Dr. Boehm. “Her extensive experience and knowledge of the industry will serve Roche well as we address the challenge of bringing new medicines to patients with unmet medical needs.”

Ms. Lackey joins the company from GlaxoSmithKline where she served as vice president, discovery medicine chemistry. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing more than 150 GSK chemists in both the UK and U.S. as well as extensive external resources in China, India, Europe, and the U.S. Additionally, she served as a member of the GSK Molecular Discovery Executive Team and was responsible for the entire early stage research portfolio.