Medical Device Link.

KEYNOTE

Return to Article: Keynote Panel Discussion: Healthcare’s Big Picture

Robert B. Chess is chairman of the board for Nektar Therapeutics (San Carlos, CA), where he also served as interim president and chief executive officer from March 2006 to January 2007. Chess has served as the executive chairman of the company’s board since April 1999, and as a director since May 1992. He served as cochief executive officer from August 1998 to April 2000, as president from December 1991 to August 1998, and as chief executive officer from May 1992 to August 1998. From September 1990 until October 1991, he was an associate deputy director in the White House office of policy development.

 

In September 2003, Peyton Anderson became founding CEO of Affinergy Inc. (Durham, NC), a Duke University spinout commercializing peptide linkers as drug-delivery systems and coatings for medical devices. Prior to Affinergy, Anderson was founding CEO of SciQuest, which went from concept in 1995 through initial public offering in 1999 while raising more than $175 million in capital.

Thomas L. Gutshall is a cofounder of Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA) and has served as chairman of the board since August 1996. From August 1996 until April 2002 he also served as chief executive officer.

Gutshall was previously president and chief operating officer of CV Therapeutics from January 1995 to August 1996. From 1989 to 1994 he was executive vice president and a member of the pharmaceutical executive committee at Syntex Corp. Gutshall currently serves as a director of CV Therapeutics, Metrika Inc., and Satoris Corp.

 

William Hunter, MD, is president, CEO, and cofounder of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (Vancouver). He has led Angiotech through significant corporate milestones, from its initial rounds of private and public financings, to product commercialization and profitability.

Active in a variety of business and scientific organizations, Hunter serves as the chair of the board for Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and as a director on the boards of Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corp., Cardiome Pharma Corp., and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.

 

Howard B. Rosen is vice president for commercial strategy at Gilead Sciences Inc. (Foster City, CA), which he joined in October 2004. Prior to joining Gilead, Rosen was president of ALZA Corp., where he was responsible for all aspects of managing ALZA as an independent 1000-person operating company within the Johnson & Johnson family of companies.

Prior to joining ALZA, Rosen managed the West Coast practice of Integral Inc., was director of corporate development at GenPharm International Inc., and was a consultant in the San Francisco office of McKinsey & Co.