LEO Pharma has embarked on an ambitious strategy towards 2025 and has during recent years succeeded in building a robust R&D pipeline and a significantly expanded global footprint. The next phase in the company’s strategy is to prepare the launch of a number of innovative therapies, and the Board of Directors and Gitte Aabo have jointly concluded that this is the right time to make a leadership change to continue the successful path of LEO Pharma. 
 

Olivier Bohuon, Chairman of LEO Pharma Board of Directors, commented: “I would like to thank Gitte Aabo for having done a tremendous job in developing LEO Pharma from a small European company into a global leader in medical dermatology, regarded as a frontrunner in patient centricity. Her contribution to the continued success of the company has been truly impressive.”  
 

Gitte Aabo said: “Our focus on helping people achieve healthy skin and our 2025 strategy have set LEO Pharma on a new trajectory. This is the right time to hand over to a successor who will oversee the coming product launches and secure the long-term success of LEO Pharma. I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to help patients during my career at LEO Pharma, and for having worked with such great people. I am proud of what we have achieved together and of the company I pass on to my successor.”  
 

LEO Pharma’s Board of Directors has appointed Catherine Mazzacco as new President and CEO from August 1, 2019. Catherine Mazzacco is an accomplished executive with more than 25 years of experience in international business management, strategy, marketing and sales in the pharmaceutical and life-science industry, including in launching and expanding biologics in immunology. Her wealth of professional and business experience includes positions as head of Global Commercial Operations for GE Healthcare’s BioPharma division, and, before that, numerous leadership positions at Abbott in the pharmaceutical, diagnostic and medical devices divisions.

Catherine Mazzacco has lived in the United States since 2011. She received her engineering degree from the Université de Technologie de Compiègne (France). She plans to relocate from Boston to Denmark in connection to her new position.  
 

Olivier Bohuon commented: “I am very excited that we have been able to attract Catherine Mazzacco as new CEO of LEO Pharma. With her experience in immunology and running highly successful global commercial organizations in the life sciences, she is the right person to lead LEO Pharma through this coming phase of expanding its innovative portfolio and consolidating LEO Pharma’s leadership in medical dermatology.”  
 

Catherine Mazzacco said: “I am truly honored to be asked to lead LEO Pharma. This is a company with a strong heritage and an even stronger future. I am very impressed by what the people at LEO Pharma have accomplished and the high reputation LEO Pharma enjoys among patients and physicians. This is a great foundation to build on in the coming years, with the expansion of LEO Pharma’s innovative portfolio ahead of us.”   

LEO Pharma, a global leader in medical dermatology Dermatology is rapidly changing. In recent years, scientific advances in bio-technology and immunology have led to a number of completely new treatments and new research in a field that is often neglected. This will fundamentally change the lives of millions of people who do not have the right treatment options for their skin diseases today. Towards 2025, LEO Pharma’s ambition is to increase its focus on R&D, innovation, strategic partnerships and acquisitions, with the aims of broadening the portfolio of innovative treatment offerings comprising oral, biologic and topical treatments, and investing in treatments for rare skin diseases.