Anas Younes: Transforming outcomes for people living with Blood Cancer

Anas Younes, Senior VP, Global Head of Hematology (Early and Late Stage), Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“As we wrap up the year, I want to express my thanks to our Hematology R&D team at AstraZeneca for their dedication and hard work in aiming to transform outcomes for people living with Blood Cancer.

I’m incredibly proud of the strides we’ve made this year.

We welcomed over 70 talented individuals to our world-class team, growing our community to 300+ experts across 8 countries.

Key appointments include:

• Lisa Drew, Head of Small Molecule Discovery, Hematology R&D.
• Bruno Medeiros, Executive Medical Director – Global Head of Leukemia Strategy.
• Yasuhiro Oki, Global Clinical Head of Lymphoma.
• Margie Li, Global Clinical Head and Product Leader, Cell Therapy.

We’ve also established a dedicated pediatric working team to address the unique hematology needs of children and ensure consistent, high-quality care and advanced collaborations focussing on target identification, early disease interception and overcoming resistance mechanisms.

A key highlight this year includes our acquisition of Gracell, bringing in new expertise and a dual-targeting autologous CAR-T therapy that is being explored for its potential in multiple myeloma across all stages of disease, including earlier in the care journey.

Reflective of our unwavering commitment to patients is the remarkable growth of our portfolio and clinical trials since 2023:

• Expanded our clinical investigation portfolio, now spanning antibody drug conjugates, T-cell engagers, cell therapies and epigenetic modulators.
• Pioneering strategies to evaluate ctDNA and minimal residual disease as exploratory endpoints in the clinic, which are now recognized by recent FDA approvals as meaningful measures in multiple myeloma trials.
• Engagement with clinical trial investigators through site visits in Australia, Europe, Asia and Brazil to accelerate research and develop therapies in our hematology R&D pipeline.

Finally, at EHA and ASH, we showcased pioneering data demonstrating the breadth of our pipeline, including advancements in T-cell engagers and cell therapies that can activate new immune responses against cancer.

These innovations have the potential to address unmet needs across a range of blood cancers, supporting our Ambition 2030 commitment to delivering transformative therapies.

These accomplishments reflect our team’s dedication and steadfast commitment to improving patients’ lives.

Here’s to an even more impactful 2025 as we push the boundaries of innovation in hematology.

Wishing you all a joyful holiday season and a healthy, happy new year.”

Anas Younes is the Senior Vice President and Global Head of Hematology (Early and Late Stage) Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca. Prior to working for AstraZeneca, he was the Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), New York, NY, and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX. His interests include HL, NHL, developing novel targeted therapies for lymphoma, identification of biomarkers for treatment, and participation in clinical trials.

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