Board of Directors

Jean-Jacques Bienaimé joined our Board in May 2005, at the same time that he became our Chief Executive Officer, and was named Chair of the Board in June 2015. From November 2002 to April 2005, Mr. Bienaimé served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of Genencor, a biotechnology company focused on industrial bioproducts and targeted cancer biotherapeutics. From 1998 to late 2002, Mr. Bienaimé served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Sangstat Medical Corporation, an immunology-focused biotechnology company, becoming President in 1998 and Chief Executive Officer in 1999. From 1992 to 1998, Mr. Bienaimé held several senior management positions at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceuticals (now Sanofi-Aventis), culminating in the position of Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Business Development. Earlier in his career, Mr. Bienaimé worked at Genentech, Inc. where he was involved in the launch of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) for the treatment of heart attacks. Mr. Bienaimé currently serves on the board of Incyte Corporation, a public biotechnology company, and he is a member of the boards of Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), both industry trade associations. From 2013 to 2018, Mr. Bienaimé served on the board of Vital Therapies, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company until it was merged into Immunic, Inc. in April 2019. Mr. Bienaimé received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in economics from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris.

Mr. Alles served as Chief Executive Officer of Celgene Corporation, a global biopharmaceutical company, from March 2016 and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from February 2018 until its acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb Company in November 2019. Prior to these roles, he served as Celgene’s President and Chief Operating Officer from August 2014 to February 2016 and as its Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President, Hematology & Oncology from December 2012 to July 2014. Mr. Alles first joined Celgene in 2004 and served in a number of commercial management positions of increasing responsibility at the company. Before joining Celgene, he held senior commercial management roles at Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Rhône-Poulenc Rorer) from 1993 to 2004. He is currently Chairman of Turning Point Therapeutics, Inc., a public oncology company, and also serves on the boards of Antengene Corporation Limited and Syros Pharmaceuticals, Inc., both public biopharmaceutical companies. Mr. Alles received a bachelor’s degree from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania and served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps.

Elizabeth McKee Anderson joined our Board in July 2019 and serves as the Chair of the Compensation Committee. Ms. Anderson held various senior leadership positions at Johnson & Johnson between 2003 and her retirement in 2014. She most recently served as Worldwide Vice President, Infectious Disease and Vaccines for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company, where she directed the commercial development of an extensive portfolio of antivirals and vaccines with responsibility for global strategic marketing, market access, and global analytics for that division. Prior to Johnson & Johnson, Ms. Anderson served as the Vice President and General Manager of Wyeth Lederle Vaccines from 1997 to 2002. She also previously worked at Rhone Poulenc Rorer and the American Red Cross. Ms. Anderson currently serves on the boards of GlaxoSmithKline plc, Insmed, Inc. and Revolution Medicines, Inc., public biopharmaceutical companies. She formerly served on the boards of Bavarian Nordic A/S, from April 2017 to August 2022, and Huntsworth PLC, a public healthcare and communications company, through December 31, 2019. She also serves on the board of Aro Biotherapeutics Company, a private biopharmaceutical company, is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Wistar Institute, a non-profit biomedical research organization, and is the Principal of PureSight Advisory, LLC. She holds a B.S. in Engineering from Rutgers University and an M.B.A. from Loyola University Maryland.

Willard Dere, M.D., joined our Board in July 2016 and serves as the Chair of the Science and Technology Committee. Since November 2014, he has served as the Professor of Internal Medicine, B. Lue and Hope S. Bettilyon Presidential Endowed Chair in Internal Medicine for Diabetes Research, Executive Director of Personalized Health, and Co-Principal Investigator of the Center for Clinical & Translational Science at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center. He also serves as the Associate Vice President for Research of Health Sciences at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center. Prior to re-joining academia in November 2014, Dr. Dere was in the biopharmaceutical industry for 25 years. From 2003 until his retirement in 2014, Dr. Dere held multiple roles at Amgen, Inc., a biotechnology company, including serving as head of global development and either the international or corporate chief medical officer from December 2004 to October 2014. He began his career at Eli Lilly in 1989, and held a number of different global roles in clinical pharmacology, regulatory affairs, and both early-stage translational, and late-stage clinical research. He currently serves on the boards of three public biopharmaceutical companies: Mersana Therapeutics, Inc., Radius Health, Inc., and Seres Therapeutics, Inc., and in December 2017 he concluded his board service at Ocera Therapeutics, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company, before its acquisition by Mallinckrodt PLC. Since 2014, he has served on the scientific advisory board of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Dere received a B.A. and an M.D. from the University of California, Davis. He trained in internal medicine at the University of Utah and in endocrinology/metabolism at the University of California at San Francisco.

Elaine J. Heron, Ph.D., joined our Board in July 2002 and serves as the Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. From February 2009 until October 2015, Dr. Heron served as Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a private drug development company acquired by Pfizer Inc. in April 2021. She currently serves on the boards of Palvella Therapeutics, Inc., a private clinical-stage therapeutics company, Visgenx, Inc., a private early-stage therapeutics company, and Watershed Medical, Inc., a private early-stage therapeutics company. From July 2001 to October 2008, Dr. Heron was Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Labcyte Inc., a private biotechnology company. Before joining Labcyte Inc., she spent six years in positions of increasing responsibility at the Applied Biosystems Group of Applera Corporation, a biotechnology company, including the position of General Manager and Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Dr. Heron earned a B.S. in chemistry with highest distinction and a Ph.D. in analytical biochemistry from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University.

Dr. Maykin Ho, Ph.D. joined our board in February 2021. She serves on the boards of Agios Pharmaceuticals, a public pharmaceutical company, FibroGen, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company, Neumora Therapeutics, Inc., a private biotechnology company, and Parexel, a private biopharmaceutical services company. Dr. Ho also serves on the boards of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the Institute for Protein Innovation. Dr. Ho is also a venture partner of Qiming Venture Partners and a member of the Biotech Advisory Panel of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. She is a retired partner of the Goldman Sachs Group where she served as senior biotechnology analyst, co-head of global healthcare investment research, and advisory director for healthcare investment banking. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Dr. Ho held various managerial positions in licensing, strategic planning, marketing and research at DuPont-Merck Pharmaceuticals and DuPont de Nemours & Company. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School and a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. Dr. Ho received a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology and a B.S. from the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center.

Robert J. Hombach joined our Board in September 2017 and serves as the Chair of the Audit Committee. He served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer of Baxalta Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company spun out in June 2015 from Baxter International Inc., a public pharmaceutical company, until it was acquired by Shire PLC in June 2016. He served as Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Baxter from July 2010 until the spin-off in June 2015. From 2007 to 2011, he also served as Treasurer of Baxter and from 2004 to 2007, he was Vice President of Finance, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Prior to that, he served in a number of finance positions of increasing responsibility in the corporate planning, manufacturing, operations and treasury areas at Baxter. Mr. Hombach currently serves on the boards of Aptinyx Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company, and CarMax, Inc., a public company. Previously, he served on the board of Naurex, Inc., a private pharmaceutical company acquired by Allergan in 2015. Mr. Hombach earned an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and a B.S. in Finance cum laude from the University of Colorado.

Bryan Lawlis, Ph.D., joined our Board in June 2007. From August 2011 to September 2017 he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Itero Biopharmaceuticals, LLC, a private holding company that held the assets of Itero Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a private biotechnology company. Dr. Lawlis co-founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Itero Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2006 until it discontinued operations in August 2011. Dr. Lawlis served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Aradigm Corporation, a pharmaceutical company, from August 2004 to August 2006, and served on its board from February 2005 to August 2006, continuing in both capacities until August 2006. Dr. Lawlis previously served as Aradigm’s President and Chief Operating Officer from June 2003 to August 2004 and its Chief Operating Officer from November 2001 to June 2003. Prior to his time at Aradigm, Dr. Lawlis co-founded Covance Biotechnology Services, a contract biopharmaceutical manufacturing operation, and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from 1996 to 1999, and as its Chairman from 1999 to 2001, when it was sold to Diosynth RTP, Inc., a division of Akzo Nobel, NV. From 1981 to 1996, Dr. Lawlis was employed at Genencor, Inc., a biotechnology company, and Genentech, Inc. His last position at Genentech, Inc. was Vice President of Process Sciences. Dr. Lawlis serves on the boards of two public biopharmaceutical companies, Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc. and Geron Corporation. He previously served on the board of Sutro Biopharma, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company, from January 2004 until June 2019. Dr. Lawlis holds board positions at two private companies, AbSci, LLC and Reform Biologics LLC, and he serves as an advisor to Phoenix Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focusing on manufacturing technologies and material sciences technologies. He also serves on the Manufacturing Advisory Board of Allakos, Inc. and he advises W.L. Gore and Associates. Dr. Lawlis holds a B.A. in microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Washington State University.

Richard A. Meier joined our Board in December 2006 and has served as our Lead Independent Director since June 2015. Since November 2019, Mr. Meier has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Intersect ENT, Inc., a public medical technology company. Mr. Meier served as President-International and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Owens & Minor, Inc., a global healthcare services company, from July 2015 to July 2018, and was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Owens & Minor, Inc. from March 2013 to July 2015. Prior to joining Owens & Minor, Mr. Meier was an Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at TeleFlex, Incorporated, a global medical device company from January 2010 through March 2012. Mr. Meier served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Advanced Medical Optics, a global ophthalmic medical device company that was acquired by Abbott in February 2009, from November 2007 to May 2009. Beginning in April 2002 through November 2007, Mr. Meier served continuously as Advanced Medical Optics’ Chief Financial Officer, while serving in a variety of additional senior operating roles including Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Advanced Medical Optics, Mr. Meier was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Bausch Health Companies, Inc. (BHC) (formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), from October 1999 to April 2002, and Senior Vice President & Treasurer from May 1998 to October 1999. Before joining BHC, Mr. Meier was an executive with the investment banking firm of Schroder & Co. Inc. in New York, from 1996. Prior to Mr. Meier’s experience at Schroder & Co., he held various financial and banking positions at Salomon Smith Barney, Manufacturers Hanover Corporation, Australian Capital Equity, and Greyhound Lines, Inc. Mr. Meier is a member of the Supervisory Board of Syntellix AG, a private medical technology company, and he was a Director of Staar Surgical Inc., an ophthalmic medical device company, from 2009 through June 2016, where he also served on the Governance, Compensation and Audit Committees. Mr. Meier holds a B.A. in economics from Princeton University.

David E.I. Pyott, M.D. (Hon.), joined our Board in January 2016. From 1998 to March 2015, Dr. Pyott served as Chief Executive Officer of Allergan, Inc., a global pharmaceutical company. Prior to Allergan, Dr. Pyott served as the Head of the Novartis Nutrition Division and as a member of the Executive Committee of Switzerland-based Novartis AG. Dr. Pyott serves on the boards of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a public biotechnology company and Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company, and he is a member of the Supervisory Board of Royal Philips in the Netherlands, a public diversified health and technology company. Dr. Pyott serves as Chairman of Bioniz Therapeutics, Inc., a private biotechnology company. He is Deputy Chairman of the Governing Board of the London Business School, is a member of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology and President of the Ophthalmology Foundation. Dr. Pyott formerly served as Lead Director at Avery Dennison Corporation, a public global labeling and packaging materials company, through April 23, 2020. Dr. Pyott holds a Diploma in International and European Law from the Europa Institute at the University of Amsterdam, an Honorary Degree in Medicine and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the London Business School.

Dennis J. Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., joined our Board in March 2014. Dr. Slamon has served as director of Clinical/ Translational Research at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center since June 1995 and has served as leader of the Revlon/UCLA Women’s Cancer Research Program at UCLA since its establishment in 1991. Since May 1996, Dr. Slamon has been a professor of medicine and Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the UCLA Department of Medicine and executive vice chair for research for UCLA’s Department of Medicine. He also serves as director of the medical advisory board for the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, a research and fund-raising organization that promotes advances in the treatment of colorectal cancer, and he is member of the board of Translational Research in Oncology, a global, non-profit, academic clinical research organization. Dr. Slamon was awarded the 2019 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for the development of a breast cancer drug. A 1970 B.A. honors graduate in biology from Washington & Jefferson College and a 1975 graduate of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Dr. Slamon earned his Ph.D. in cell biology that same year. He completed his internship and residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics, becoming chief resident in 1978. One year later, he became a fellow in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at UCLA where he currently serves on the faculty of medicine.