California, US-based Nektar Therapeutics has appointed Jeff Ajer as its independent director to the company’s board of directors, following his 25 years’ of biotechnology and industry experience.
Ajer’s expertise includes driving commercial operations within rare diseases and speciality medicines and he joins the group from BioMarin, where he served as an executive vice president and chief commercial officer.
There he worked on establishing BioMarin’s global footprint and commercial infrastructure and has played a leadership role in the launches and growth strategies for brands including Brineura, Vimizim, Kuvan and Naglazyme.
He said: “I am honoured to join Nektar’s board during an exciting time in the company’s evolution and growth.
“Over the course of my career, I have had the great pleasure of shaping the growth strategies for various commercial brands across a variety of disease state, and I look forward to leveraging these experiences for Nektar as a new board member.”
Prior to BioMarin, Ajer served as vice president, global transplant operations at Genzyme Corporation, and has held roles in sales, marketing and operations at SangStat Medical Corporation and ICN Pharmaceuticals.
Howard Robin, president and CEO, Nektar Therapeutics, said: “Jeff’s extensive leadership experience within rapidly growing biotechnology companies is a great addition to our board as we continue to build Nektar’s wholly-owned pipeline of innovative drug candidates.
“This appointment adds to the existing expertise of our highly-respected board members as they guide Nektar toward continued growth and success.”