WILMINGTON — Hervé Hoppenot, president and CEO of Delaware’s pioneering biopharmaceutical company Incyte who has helped guide the company to new heights, has been named the 2024 Pete du Pont Freedom Award honoree.
This award is presented each year by the Pete du Pont Freedom Foundation to an individual or an organization that has championed a successful idea that has led to economic growth or brought innovation to the private sector. In the past, the award has been given to national names, but also includes Delawareans such as Vance Kershner, Carol Ammon, Mike Castle and leaders at the former MBNA.
Hoppenot joined Incyte a decade ago after leaving his job as the head of Swiss-American pharmaceutical giant Novartis’ oncology program. At the time, Incyte had big plans for the next decade for investment in research and development as well as team development. Under his leadership, Incyte has grown in leaps and bounds, tripling its clinical candidates and expanding its research into new therapeutic areas in hard-to-treat diseases. At the same time, revenue increased by nearly 600%.
Incyte has also expanded its footprint with clinical development and commercial presence in North America, Europe and Asia. To date, Incyte has 2,500 employees, 1,200 of which are based in northern Delaware and Chadds Ford, Pa.
Earlier this year, Hoppenot announced that Incyte will be investing millions of rehabilitation dollars in two former buildings located at the Bank of America’s downtown Wilmington campus right off of Rodney Square. With the support of $14.8 millions of state taxpayer-backed grants, Incyte is expected to open the offices in 2026. State and city officials have high hopes that relocating Incyte’s 400 employees from its oncology, dermatology and corporate offices will help revitalize Wilmington’s business district.
“Under Hervé’s exceptional leadership, Incyte exemplifies everything that the Pete du Pont Freedom Award is about,” Thère du Pont, chair of the PDFF, said in a statement announcing the selection. “We are thrilled to present this honor to a company that is innovating industries, driving economic growth in Delaware, and improving outcomes for individuals all over the world.”
Named after the late former Governor Pete du Pont, who ushered in a wave of economic revitalization, fiscal restraint and bipartisan cooperation in the state in the 1980s, the award is deemed a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit.
The award will be formally presented to Hoppenot during a ceremony at Hotel du Pont on Oct. 22. Tickets are on sale now.
“I am honored to be receiving the Pete du Pont Freedom Award on behalf of Incyte. Our mission to ‘solve on,’ is driven by our relentless pursuit to find answers for patients by following the science,” Hoppenot said in a statement. “This award reaffirms our commitment to pioneering progress and recognizes the collective experience, passion and perseverance of our entire team.”
