Incyte CEO Hervé Hoppenot ‘motivated’ by move to downtown Wilmington

As Wilmington becomes a more widely acknowledged biotech hub, Incyte will have much to do with it.

The biopharmaceutical company headquartered at Augustine Cutoff, an expansion of the old Wanamaker building two miles north of downtown, started in Wilmington 24 years ago. Since then, it’s grown into a global organization with 2,600 employees in 20 countries. 

Now, it’s set to have an even bigger economic impact on the city, as it expands into three of the six Bracebridge buildings downtown. Incyte’s research and development teams will remain at the Augustine Cuttoff location, while all other departments will move to the downtown location when renovations are finished in 2026.

“’I’m very motivated by this idea of going downtown,” said Hervé Hoppenot, the chairman and CEO of Incyte. He spoke at the September DelawareBio BioBreakfast on Thursday and recently won the 2024 Pete du Pont Freedom Award for making an impact on economic growth and private sector innovation in Delaware.

The sold-out BioBreakfast drew the state’s life sciences community, as well as members of the economic development ecosystem for networking, coffee and Hoppenot’s presentation before the start of the work day. 

Incyte focuses on cancer treatments, and more recently expanded into other areas as its researchers have made unexpected discoveries. Most notably, the company has moved into the dermatology area, including recent dermatology acquisitions. 

Recent research and development unintentionally developed an effective treatment for the autoimmune skin discoloration disorder vitiligo, a condition that had no FDA-approved treatment at the time. Incyte’s Opzelura was FDA approved in 2019.

“It may sound a little less important than cancer, but frankly, vitiligo is a big problem for many people, and we are really committed to serving it,” Hoppenot said.  

When it comes to cancer research, Hoppenot foresees more advances from all over the world coming in the next few years. 

“Our industry has a profound geopolitical impact,” Hoppenot said. “It’s really important.” 

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