Full Name
Elizabeth Garner
Job Title
Chief Medical Officer
Company
Obseva
Speaker Bio
Elizabeth Garner is Chief Medical Officer at ObsEva, a Swiss women’s health specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Geneva. With over a decade of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Garner has wide expertise in drug development, including clinical trial design and conduct, regulatory and FDA Advisory Committee strategy, support of commercial launch planning, medical affairs, and pharmacovigilance. As a member of ObsEva’s Executive Committee, she provides strategic leadership on the Company’s overall development strategy and frequently represents ObsEva to investor, Key Opinion Leader (KOL), and other key stakeholders.
From 2014 to 2019, Dr. Garner was Chief Medical Officer of Agile Therapeutics, located in Princeton, NJ. She played a crucial role during Agile’s 2014 Initial Public Offering and was instrumental in the Company’s Investor Relations, Communications, and Business Development strategies. Dr. Garner led the clinical development of Twirla®, Agile’s low-dose contraceptive patch, took the Company through an FDA dispute resolution process, and was the presenter and moderator for Agile’s successful FDA Advisory Committee meeting in October 2019, which led to FDA approval of Twirla® in February, 2020. She also led pre-launch activities, including commercial support, medical affairs, KOL development, and the pharmacovigilance and Medical Information programs.
Prior to her position at Agile, Dr. Garner was Vice President of Medical Affairs, Preventive Care at Myriad Genetics, where she managed the women’s health research, publication, and KOL development programs, provided medical and scientific input on Myriad’s marketing and new product strategies, served as its media spokesperson, and directed an experienced team of Field Medical Specialists. Before that, she was Senior Director at Abbott Laboratories, where she oversaw all clinical aspects of the global Phase 3 endometriosis development program for elagolix, which was FDA-approved in 2018.
From 2007 to 2011, Dr. Garner was Associate Director then Director of Clinical Research at Merck Research Laboratories. As a leader on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine program she was instrumental in achieving successful outcomes on important regulatory submissions. Dr. Garner also served as chair of the Gardasil®9 HPV vaccine program Product Development Team, leading scientific, regulatory, global access and medical affairs strategies. Dr. Garner was the presenter and moderator for the successful 2010 FDA Gardasil® Advisory Committee Meeting. She also had substantial involvement in commercialization strategy and KOL development, and participated in due diligence on infectious disease and women’s health products.
Dr. Garner received joint M.D. and M.P.H degrees from Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. She was trained in obstetrics and gynecology at Brigham and Women’s/Massachusetts General Hospitals and completed a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at Brigham and Women’s/Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Prior to entering the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Garner focused on academic clinical practice, basic science research in ovarian cancer, and teaching and mentorship of fellows, residents, and medical students at Harvard Medical School. She is an author on numerous peer-reviewed scientific papers.
Dr. Garner is a member of the Board of Directors of Kezar Life Sciences, a publicly traded company focused on the development of new therapies targeting protein homeostasis for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. She serves on the board’s audit and clinical strategy & execution committees. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Drug Information Association (DIA), a member-driven volunteer organization for global healthcare product development; she serves on the audit committee. She is on the Board of Directors and is Chair of the finance committee of the American Medical Women’s Association, a professional organization which functions at the local, national, and international level to advance women in medicine. Dr. Garner also serves on the Board of the Executive Women of New Jersey and was a 2018 honoree at its Salute to the Policy Makers gala, which recognizes executive women leaders across all industries. She is also on the Board of CorStone, a global non-profit organization focused on resilience in youth. Dr. Garner was a 2019 awardee of the PharmaVoice 100 Most Inspiring Individuals in the life sciences industry.
From 2014 to 2019, Dr. Garner was Chief Medical Officer of Agile Therapeutics, located in Princeton, NJ. She played a crucial role during Agile’s 2014 Initial Public Offering and was instrumental in the Company’s Investor Relations, Communications, and Business Development strategies. Dr. Garner led the clinical development of Twirla®, Agile’s low-dose contraceptive patch, took the Company through an FDA dispute resolution process, and was the presenter and moderator for Agile’s successful FDA Advisory Committee meeting in October 2019, which led to FDA approval of Twirla® in February, 2020. She also led pre-launch activities, including commercial support, medical affairs, KOL development, and the pharmacovigilance and Medical Information programs.
Prior to her position at Agile, Dr. Garner was Vice President of Medical Affairs, Preventive Care at Myriad Genetics, where she managed the women’s health research, publication, and KOL development programs, provided medical and scientific input on Myriad’s marketing and new product strategies, served as its media spokesperson, and directed an experienced team of Field Medical Specialists. Before that, she was Senior Director at Abbott Laboratories, where she oversaw all clinical aspects of the global Phase 3 endometriosis development program for elagolix, which was FDA-approved in 2018.
From 2007 to 2011, Dr. Garner was Associate Director then Director of Clinical Research at Merck Research Laboratories. As a leader on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine program she was instrumental in achieving successful outcomes on important regulatory submissions. Dr. Garner also served as chair of the Gardasil®9 HPV vaccine program Product Development Team, leading scientific, regulatory, global access and medical affairs strategies. Dr. Garner was the presenter and moderator for the successful 2010 FDA Gardasil® Advisory Committee Meeting. She also had substantial involvement in commercialization strategy and KOL development, and participated in due diligence on infectious disease and women’s health products.
Dr. Garner received joint M.D. and M.P.H degrees from Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. She was trained in obstetrics and gynecology at Brigham and Women’s/Massachusetts General Hospitals and completed a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at Brigham and Women’s/Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Prior to entering the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Garner focused on academic clinical practice, basic science research in ovarian cancer, and teaching and mentorship of fellows, residents, and medical students at Harvard Medical School. She is an author on numerous peer-reviewed scientific papers.
Dr. Garner is a member of the Board of Directors of Kezar Life Sciences, a publicly traded company focused on the development of new therapies targeting protein homeostasis for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. She serves on the board’s audit and clinical strategy & execution committees. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Drug Information Association (DIA), a member-driven volunteer organization for global healthcare product development; she serves on the audit committee. She is on the Board of Directors and is Chair of the finance committee of the American Medical Women’s Association, a professional organization which functions at the local, national, and international level to advance women in medicine. Dr. Garner also serves on the Board of the Executive Women of New Jersey and was a 2018 honoree at its Salute to the Policy Makers gala, which recognizes executive women leaders across all industries. She is also on the Board of CorStone, a global non-profit organization focused on resilience in youth. Dr. Garner was a 2019 awardee of the PharmaVoice 100 Most Inspiring Individuals in the life sciences industry.
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