Prime Therapeutics welcomes Joseph Leach, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer

EAGAN, Minn. – Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime), a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) serving more than 30 million members nationally, has named Joseph Leach, M.D., as senior vice president and chief medical officer (CMO). Dr. Leach brings over 20 years of experience as a clinician, researcher and health care leader to his role. He will lead the expansion of Prime’s specialty management capabilities and help shape the company’s total drug management strategy.

Dr. Leach will partner with Blue Plan medical directors and pharmacy leaders to drive adoption of specialty and total drug management solutions. Dr. Leach brings deep experience as a medical oncologist and researcher to help the company’s clients and members navigate an era when million-dollar curative therapies – many in the oncology space – are coming to market.

He has held numerous leadership roles including medical director of Virginia Piper Cancer Institute in Minneapolis, past president of the Minnesota Society of Clinical Oncology and principal investigator for the Metro-Minnesota Community Oncology Research Consortium.

Dr. Leach has also held national leadership positions in research including committee chair for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), which was one of the first publicly funded cooperative groups to perform multi-center clinical trials for cancer research. He was appointed to the NCI Thoracic Malignancy Steering Committee, an organization that directs the national research priorities and approves clinical trial concepts for lung cancer research.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Dr. Leach to Prime,” said Prime’s President and CEO, Ken Paulus. “Dr. Leach’s depth of experience in oncology therapy coupled with his devotion to patient-focused care will offer superb value to our clients and their members. He is highly respected in the medical world and I’m certain Dr. Leach is the best person to help us navigate the complex and important work associated with managing the cost and use of revolutionary new treatments for complex illnesses.”

“I’m delighted to join the team at Prime and to work with their Blue Plan clients to advance the company’s total drug management vision,” said Dr. Leach. “I hope that my perspective as a physician, working with patients fighting devastating illnesses like cancer, can help keep us focused on our most important mission.”

Dr. Leach holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He completed training in internal medicine and medical oncology at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City and is a board-certified medical oncologist.