Synopsis: 

Kate Haviland is the CEO of Blueprint Medicines, a global precision therapy company that creates life-changing medicines for people with cancer and blood disorders. Applying an approach that is both precise and agile, they create medicines that selectively target genetic drivers, with the goal of staying one step ahead across stages of disease. Kate discusses beginning her career at Genzyme before joining Blueprint Medicines, and what the transition to becoming CEO was like after having held various different roles at Blueprint. She also talks about how personalized medicine is transforming patient care, and the company’s focus on applying precision medicine to cancer and hematologic diseases. Finally, she dives into how the current environment informs how she approaches leading a publicly traded biotech and her perspective on partnerships.

Interested in learning more? Check out their recent approval here: https://rb.gy/4126e

Biography: 
Kate brings an impressive breadth of experience and leadership within the biopharmaceutical industry, as well as a substantial background in business development, commercial and strategic planning, and program management. Since April 2022, Kate has served as Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Medicines. Kate joined Blueprint in 2016 as Chief Business Officer and later served as Chief Operating Officer, where she served as the founding chair of the portfolio management team, formed and executed business development strategy, drove global capital investment plans, and played a key role in capital market financings. In addition, she worked to drive the transformative growth of the company and support its evolution into a fully integrated business by developing and providing ongoing management of critical functions, including portfolio strategy, corporate development, commercial strategy, international, technical operations, corporate affairs, and information systems. Prior to joining Blueprint Medicines, Kate held leadership roles focused on building emerging, high-growth companies and advancing the development of innovative therapies in oncology and rare diseases as Vice President, Rare Diseases and Oncology Program Leadership at Idera Pharmaceuticals, Head of Commercial Development at Sarepta Therapeutics, Executive Director of Commercial Development at PTC Therapeutics, and roles in both corporate development and project management at Genzyme. She holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University with a double major in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Economics and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Kate currently serves as chair of the board of directors at Fulcrum Therapeutics and is a member of the audit and compensation committees.

Pioneering precision therapies for cancer & blood disorders, Kate Haviland, CEO, Blueprint Medicines

BUFFALO, NY- July 24, 2024 – A new #research paper was #published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on July 22, 2024, entitled, “Prevalence and impact of the KIT M541L variant in patients with mastocytosis.”

Activating mutations in KIT, particularly D816V, have been associated with mastocytosis. Additionally, expression of heterozygous KIT M541L has been primarily reported in patients with pediatric mastocytosis.

In this new study, researchers Luisa N. Dominguez Aldama, Eric Karlins, Xiaoping Sun, Daniel Veltri, Hirsh D. Komarow, Irina Maric, Dean D. Metcalfe, and Melody C. Carter from the National Institutes of Health examined the prevalence of this variant in pediatric and adult patients with mastocytosis (n = 100) compared to ancestry-matched 1000 genomes controls (n = 500) and patients with idiopathic anaphylaxis (n = 23). They then compared clinical symptoms and laboratory data on patients with systemic and cutaneous mastocytosis and bone marrow histopathology on a matched cohort with and without the KIT M541L variant. 

“We found a significant association between KIT M541L genotype and the diagnosis of mastocytosis.”

Overall, the KIT M541L variant was identified in 19 individuals; the majority were diagnosed with systemic mastocytosis (89.4%) with an associated KIT D816V mutation. There were no significant differences in peripheral blood parameters between groups. Patients with mastocytosis carrying the KIT M541L variant did not demonstrate significant differences in symptomatology compared to a matched reference cohort (n = 13/81) without KIT M541L. In patients with idiopathic anaphylaxis, no significant associations were observed. 

“To our knowledge, this is the first case/control study to show a significant genetic association with mastocytosis at the KIT M541L locus.”

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28614

Correspondence to - Melody C. Carter - mcarter@niaid.nih.gov

Video short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpiBbSfkTX4

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Keywords - cancer, mastocytosis, KIT M541L, KIT D816V, adults, pediatrics

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Oncotarget

Prevalence and Impact of the KIT M541L Variant in Patients with Mastocytosis

Oncotarget is a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal. Papers are published continuously within yearly volumes in their final and complete form and then quickly released to Pubmed.

Oncotarget is now indexed by MEDLINE, PubMed and PMC/PubMed.

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New tracks tagged #mastocytosis