Daiichi Sankyo Appoints Ken Keller as Chief Commercialization Officer to Accelerate Global Oncology and Specialty Medicine Growth
Daiichi Sankyo has announced the appointment of Ken Keller to the newly created position of Chief Commercialization Officer, marking a significant step in the company’s efforts to strengthen its global commercial organization and accelerate growth across its oncology and specialty medicine businesses. Keller will assume the new role effective April 1, 2027, and will lead a newly established, globally integrated Commercialization Unit designed to improve coordination, increase decision-making speed and optimize the allocation of commercial resources worldwide.
The organizational transformation is part of Daiichi Sankyo’s broader operational excellence strategy outlined in its new Five-Year Business Plan announced in May 2026. Under the plan, the company intends to centralize and reorganize its commercialization activities to create greater consistency across markets while improving how resources and investments are managed.
The initiative supports Daiichi Sankyo’s long-term ambition of becoming one of the world’s top five oncology companies by 2035. As the company continues to expand its innovative oncology portfolio and prepare for multiple upcoming product and indication launches, the new commercial structure is intended to provide the scale, coordination and capabilities necessary to support sustained international growth.
Keller will continue to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited. He will also remain Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., the company’s U.S. subsidiary.
Ken Keller Brings Extensive Commercial Leadership Experience
Keller joined Daiichi Sankyo in 2014 and has spent more than a decade helping develop the company’s commercial capabilities. For the past five years, he has served as Head of the Global Oncology Business, where he was responsible for strengthening Daiichi Sankyo’s commercial operations in the United States and Europe.
During his tenure, Keller played a central role in preparing and executing the launches of Enhertu® and Datroway®, two of the company’s leading DXd antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). These medicines have become important components of Daiichi Sankyo’s oncology strategy and have contributed significantly to the company’s transformation into a major global oncology player.
Keller also previously held a dual leadership role between 2016 and 2021, serving as President and CEO of American Regent, Inc., another Daiichi Sankyo subsidiary, while simultaneously leading the company’s U.S. business. His experience across commercial leadership, product launches and organizational development has positioned him to take on the expanded responsibilities of Chief Commercialization Officer.
Before joining Daiichi Sankyo, Keller spent approximately two decades at Amgen, where he held a series of increasingly senior positions involving global and commercial responsibilities. Among his roles was Vice President and General Manager of the Bone Health Business Unit. During his career at Amgen, he was involved in launching biological medicines across multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, bone health, nephrology and inflammatory diseases.
Keller also served as Chief Operating Officer at Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. In that position, he was responsible for global commercial operations as well as medical and clinical development, regulatory, quality and safety functions.
He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Loyola Marymount University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from St. John’s University.
Leadership Change Supports Daiichi Sankyo’s Long-Term Oncology Strategy
Hiroyuki Okuzawa, President and CEO of Daiichi Sankyo, highlighted Keller’s contribution to the company’s commercial transformation and emphasized his role in the successful launches of Enhertu and Datroway.
According to Okuzawa, Enhertu has established itself as one of the most successful antibody-drug conjugates based on the number of approved indications and revenue. The company believes Keller’s leadership helped establish the commercial infrastructure necessary to support the rapid expansion of its oncology portfolio.
His experience extends beyond oncology. During his time at Daiichi Sankyo, Keller has also contributed to bringing medicines such as Vanflyta®, Turalio® and Injectafer® to patients. These products demonstrate his experience across oncology, rare disease and supportive care, providing a broad commercial perspective as Daiichi Sankyo expands its specialty medicine operations.
Keller said the new position represents an important opportunity to contribute to Daiichi Sankyo’s continued transformation. He emphasized the company’s goal of becoming a global top five oncology company while maintaining a focus on scientific innovation, long-term patient impact and sustainable value creation.
Creation of a New Global Commercialization Unit
A central element of the organizational changes is the establishment of the new Commercialization Unit. The unit will bring together commercialization activities under a more integrated structure and reorganize resources into five regional businesses.
The five-region model has been designed to recognize the distinct characteristics of individual markets while also improving coordination and sharing of commercial capabilities across the company.
The new structure will include China, Europe, Japan/Asia and Pacific, Latin America and North America as separate regional businesses. Alongside these regions, Daiichi Sankyo is establishing or strengthening several global commercial functions intended to create consistent practices and support the company’s growing portfolio.
The new commercialization model is expected to improve global coordination, facilitate faster decisions and make resource allocation more effective. These capabilities will be particularly important as Daiichi Sankyo anticipates the potential launch of approximately 20 new indications across five medicines by 2030.
Regional Leadership Structure
In China, Yuichi Yomasu will lead commercialization activities. Yomasu currently serves as a Corporate Officer and Head of the ASCA Business Unit. He has spent approximately 32 years with Daiichi Sankyo and previously served as President of the company’s China affiliate from 2018 to 2022. His previous experience in the Chinese market is expected to support the company’s commercial expansion in the region.
Markus Kosch, MD, will become Head of the Europe Business. Kosch has led the European and Canada Oncology Business Division for the past five years. His new responsibilities will extend across both oncology and specialty medicines in Europe, bringing the two areas together under a broader regional commercial organization.
Nobuo Murakami will lead the Japan, Asia and Pacific Business. Murakami has built a career spanning approximately four decades at Daiichi Sankyo and currently serves as Senior Executive Officer and Head of Global Corporate Strategy and Chief Strategy Officer. His extensive experience in corporate strategy and international operations will support the company’s activities across these markets.
Marcelo Goncalves will lead the Latin America Business, covering Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Goncalves joined Daiichi Sankyo in 2011 and currently serves as President of the company’s Brazilian affiliate.
Kenji Shigeta will lead the North America Business, expanding his existing responsibility for the U.S. to include Canada. Shigeta became Head of the U.S. Oncology Business Division in April 2026 and has approximately 32 years of experience with Daiichi Sankyo. His previous positions have included leadership of Global Oncology Marketing.
Strengthening Global Commercial Functions
Beyond the regional structure, Daiichi Sankyo is also creating and reinforcing several global functions intended to support consistent commercial execution.
Oliver Appelhans will lead Global Commercial Excellence, a newly established function focused on standardizing commercial processes, reporting systems and operating practices across the company. Appelhans has approximately 20 years of experience with Daiichi Sankyo and currently leads the EU Specialty Business Unit.
Radha Ramkumar will lead Global Oncology Alliance Management. Appointed to the position in May 2026, Ramkumar brings more than 15 years of oncology development and program leadership experience at Daiichi Sankyo. She will continue overseeing the company’s two major global oncology alliances while also helping position Daiichi Sankyo for potential future collaborations.
Rich Jones will continue to lead Global Oncology Business Strategy and Analytics, a function he established five years ago. His responsibilities include global market research, forecasting, competitive intelligence and pipeline strategy, providing data-driven insights to support commercial decisions.
Dan Switzer will continue leading Global Oncology Marketing, Access and Pricing. He was appointed to the position in April 2026 after more than two decades at Daiichi Sankyo. Previously, he served as Head of the U.S. Oncology Business Division, where he helped transform the U.S. commercial and medical teams into an oncology-focused organization.
Ahmed Kotb, MD, will continue leading Global Oncology Medical Affairs. Kotb joined Daiichi Sankyo in January 2025 and is responsible for strengthening the company’s global medical strategy and engagement with the oncology medical community.
Manuel Reiberg will continue to lead the Global Specialty Business. He has more than 20 years of experience at Daiichi Sankyo across corporate strategy, business development and country management positions and was appointed to lead the Global Specialty Business in April 2025.
Preparing for the Next Phase of Growth
Daiichi Sankyo’s decision to centralize and reorganize commercialization comes as the company enters an important period of growth. Its oncology pipeline is expanding, while established products continue to generate opportunities through additional indications and geographic expansion.
The company’s DXd ADC platform, particularly Enhertu and Datroway, remains central to its oncology strategy. At the same time, Daiichi Sankyo is developing and commercializing medicines across additional specialty areas, increasing the need for a commercial organization capable of managing diverse products and markets.
The new structure is intended to bring greater alignment between regional execution and global strategy. By combining region-specific expertise with standardized global functions, Daiichi Sankyo aims to improve operational efficiency while ensuring that commercial decisions remain responsive to local market needs.
The appointment of Keller as Chief Commercialization Officer therefore represents a broader organizational transformation rather than simply a change in executive responsibilities. His expanded role will place him at the center of Daiichi Sankyo’s efforts to integrate its global commercial activities and prepare the organization for a growing number of product launches and indications.
As the company works toward its 2035 ambition of becoming a global top five oncology company, the new Commercialization Unit is expected to play a critical role in translating Daiichi Sankyo’s scientific innovation into broader patient access and sustainable business growth. The combination of experienced regional leaders, strengthened global commercial functions and centralized strategic oversight provides the foundation for the company’s next stage of international expansion.
With Keller leading the new organization from April 2027, Daiichi Sankyo is positioning its commercial operations to support an increasingly diversified pipeline and a growing global presence. The restructuring underscores the company’s commitment to operational excellence while maintaining its focus on innovation, scientific leadership and delivering medicines to patients worldwide.
About Daiichi Sankyo
Daiichi Sankyo (TSE: 4568) is a global healthcare company committed to becoming a trusted healthcare innovator, transforming the lives of people through its strength in science and technology. The company discovers and develops new standards of care to address diverse medical needs to fulfill its purpose of contributing to the enrichment of quality of life around the world. With a strategic focus on oncology, Daiichi Sankyo is advancing an industry-leading antibody drug conjugate portfolio along with identifying new breakthrough generating technologies to deliver practice-changing medicines to patients, healthcare professionals and society. For more information, please visit www.daiichisankyo.com.