Jazz Pharmaceuticals taps Thomas Riga, who led $2bn in deals, as Chief Business Officer
Jazz Pharmaceuticals appointed Thomas Riga as Chief Business Officer effective January 1, 2026, leveraging his 25 years of biotech experience. Riga, who joined via the April 2025 Chimerix acquisition, directed Modeyso™'s H3K27M-mutant glioma approval and launch and completed $2 billion in transactions over five years.
1. Presentation of HERIZON-GEA-01 Phase III Data
On June 4, 2026, Jazz Pharmaceuticals unveiled detailed results from its pivotal HERIZON-GEA-01 trial evaluating zanidatamab plus standard chemotherapy, with or without the PD-1 inhibitor tislelizumab, in first-line HER2-positive gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma patients. The data were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium and showed a robust improvement in progression-free survival versus chemotherapy alone. The study enrolled more than 500 patients across 120 sites globally, with the combination arm demonstrating a median progression-free survival benefit of approximately 4.5 months over control, translating to a hazard ratio near 0.60 (p<0.001). Safety profiles were consistent with prior studies, with manageable rates of grade 3/4 adverse events in the combination cohorts.
2. Next Steps Toward Regulatory Filings and Commercial Preparation
Based on the positive efficacy and safety readouts, Jazz plans to submit applications to both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency in the second half of 2026. The company has already initiated manufacturing scale-up, securing supply capacity to support a potential launch in early 2027. Internal modeling projects peak annual zanidatamab revenues in HER2-positive gastric cancer could exceed $1.2 billion, assuming approval and capture of a one-third share of the addressable 50,000-patient annual market in North America and Europe.
3. Strengthening Corporate Development with Thomas Riga
On January 1, 2026, Jazz appointed Thomas Riga as Chief Business Officer, leveraging his 25 years of pharmaceutical leadership and track record of executing more than $2 billion in strategic transactions over the past five years. Mr. Riga previously served as Chief Operating and Commercial Officer at Chimerix, where he led the regulatory approval and U.S. launch of Modeyso™ for H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma, a condition affecting approximately 2,000 children and young adults annually. At Jazz, he will oversee deal sourcing, alliance management and M&A execution, bolstering the company’s ability to in-license or acquire late-stage assets that complement its growing oncology and neuroscience franchises.