Latest News Shire Names Snisarenko to Succeed Dempsey as Head of U.S. Ophthalmics Franchise By Staff Wednesday, June 21, 2017 12:15 AM John Snisarenko. LEXINGTON, Mass.—Shire announced this week that John Snisarenko has been named group vice president and head of ophthalmics U.S. franchise. He succeeds Robert Dempsey, who has taken on a leadership role on Shire’s global business and has the new title of vice president and head of global ophthalmics. Snisarenko brings 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries, many in ophthalmics leadership positions, to his new role at Shire. He has a proven track record in taking programs from development to successful commercialization, and helping businesses achieve high growth, according to Shire’s announcement.Most recently, Snisarenko was vice president of sales and marketing for the rheumatology franchise at Genentech USA, where he worked on the blockbuster drugs Actemra and Rituxan. Prior to that, he led sales and marketing for Genentech’s USA ophthalmology franchise and was part of the team that re-launched the vision for Genentech’s U.S. ophthalmology franchise, introduced the “Commitment to Retina” initiative, and worked on the blockbuster product Lucentis. Earlier in his career at Novartis Pharma Canada, Snisarenko led the integration of the ophthalmology business from CIBA Vision to Novartis Pharma. He also helped shape Novartis’ long-term strategy and vision in ophthalmics, and lead the Canadian launch of the unit’s first bio-pharmaceutical medicine, Visudyne. “I am joining Shire on the eve of the first anniversary of the ophthalmics franchise first marketed product, Xiidra, whose market performance has exceeded expectations,” Snisarenko said in the announcement. “I look forward to continuing to build on the successes of the ophthalmics franchise, including advancing our pipeline and footprint in the eyecare space.”