Meet the Man Who Was Just Named Genentech's New CEO

December 15, 2016
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

South San Francisco, Calif. – Genentech announced that Ian Clark, its chief executive officer, will retire on January 1, 2017. He will be replaced by Bill Anderson.

Anderson, 50, has been with the company for 10 years. His most recent position was head of North American commercial operations. Prior to taking on that job in July 2016, he was global product strategy chief for the parent company, Roche . He joined Genentech in 2006 as vice president of immunology sales and marketing. He also directed the company’s bio-oncology business unit.

Before joining Genentech, Anderson held several leadership positions at Biogen , with the most recent position vice president and general manager of the Neurology Business Unit. Before that, he was vice president of Finance, Business Planning.

Anderson received a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas in Austin, and a master of science degree in management and chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .

“Bill is an outstanding leader with a deep understanding of the company and proven expertise in bringing medicines to people with serious diseases,” said Daniel O’Day, the chief executive officer of Roche’s pharmaceutical division, in a statement. “We are confident that he will nurture Genentech’s unique culture and build upon a legacy of pursuing groundbreaking science to find the next breakthroughs for patients.”

Ian Clark has been chief executive officer of Genentech, as well as its head of Global Product Strategy, since January 2010. From August 2005 to December 2005, he was the company’s senior vice president of Commercial Operations, and the executive vice president of Commercial Operations since December 2005.

Before joining Genentech, Clark was president of Novartis Canada from 2001 to 2003, and was chief operating officer for Novartis United Kingdom from 1999 to 2001. Prior to joining Novartis , Clark held positions in sales, marketing and business development at Ivax Pharma and Sanofi-Synthelabo in the U.K.

Under his leadership, Genentech launched 15 new drugs. The San Francisco Business Times also adds, “But just as importantly, Clark added stability in the wake of Roche’s 2009 buyout of Genentech, which saw key leaders such as CEO Art Levinson and product development president Susan Desmond-Hellmann depart.”

Just last week, Genentech received a ranking in Glassdoor’s annual “50 Best Places to Work” list. Genentech ranked 32. The only other biopharma company on the top 50 list was Johnson & Johnson , which ranked 26. Glassdoor, an online job reviewer website, selects winners based on anonymous reviews that employees of various companies submit. The site requested basic information and reviews, and Glassdoor utilized an algorithm that “considers the quality, quantity, and consistency of reviews.”

The number one spot went to Bain & Company, receiving 4.6 stars, followed by Facebook with 4.5. J&J received 4.3. Genentech received 4.2.

Genentech also ranked 22 in 2016 for Highest Rated CEOs, 34 in 2016 for Best Places to Work, where it has also been on the list in 2009 (#17), 2011 (#44), 2014 (#25), 2015 (#17) and 2016 (#34).