Experience29+ Years
LevelCXO

Executive Overview

James is the Chief Business Officer and EVP at BioMarin. Prior to this he was the Global Head of Pharma Partnering and a member of the Corporate Executive Committee at Roche after being Senior Vice President of Genentech Partnering. Prior to this, he was President and CEO of Arete Therapeutics as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors and former CEO of Cytokinetics, a company he co-founded in August 1997. He currently sits on Cytokinetics' scientific advisory board. Prior to Cytokinetics, he held faculty positions at the University of California, San Francisco and Harvard Medical School. He served on the Board of Directors of HopeLab, a not-for-profit organization developing innovative technologies for the management of cancer, obesity and other diseases. He is a former member of Dean’s Council of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and served on the advisory board of the California Institute of Quantitative Biosciences. He received an M.D. from Queen’s University and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California, San Francisco. His continued interests are in identifying,completing and managing drug discovery and development alliances that focus on novel targets and approaches to managing serious medical illness. In particular, he is interested in approaches that take into consideration the complexity and variation inherent in the human biological processes and putting the drug discovery process in an evolutionary context.

Career Timeline

Professional employment history
  • Oct 2024–Present· 2 yrs
    • Executive Vice President and Chief Business OfficerCurrent
      Oct 2024–Present
  • Oct 2024–Present· 2 yrs
    • Vice Chairman of the BoardCurrent
      Oct 2024–Present
  • 1997–Present· 29 yrs 9 mos
    • Member, Scientific Advisory BoardCurrent
      1998–Present
    • Founder, President and CEO
      1997–2006
  • Mar 2019–Jun 2024· 5 yrs 3 mos
    • Board of Directors
      Mar 2019–Jun 2024
  • Aug 2018–Sep 2024· 6 yrs 1 mo
    • Global Head, EVP, Roche Pharma Partnering
      Aug 2018–Sep 2024
  • Nov 2015–Dec 2016· 1 yr 1 mo
    • Member, Board of Directors
      Nov 2015–Dec 2016
  • 2011–Dec 2013· 2 yrs 11 mos
    • Council Member
      2011–Dec 2013
  • Mar 2010–Jul 2018· 8 yrs 4 mos
    • Senior Vice President, Genentech Partnering
      Mar 2010–Jul 2018
  • 2008–2010· 2 yrs
    • President and CEO
      2008–2010
  • 2005–Dec 2016· 11 yrs 11 mos
    • Member, Board of Directors
      2005–Dec 2016

Education

Post-doctoral Fellow

Biochemistry

Stanford University

Ph.D.

Neuroscience

University of California, San Francisco

M.Sc.

Biology

Caltech

Residency

Neurology

Harvard Medical School

M.D.

Queen's University

Executive Relationship Map

Reports To
James Sabry
Vice Chair & President
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Technology Officer
Chief Operating Officer

Executive Network Preview

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