Biocom California Gains New Board Members

Biocom California has welcomed a half-dozen new members to its Board of Directors and Board of Governors.

“California’s life science industry has truly shown the world its value over the past tumultuous year, which is reflected in our new board members: a talented, diverse group of people who have each contributed to the state’s leadership and will ensure that Biocom California will continue to meet the always-evolving needs of our members,” said Joe Panetta, president and CEO of Biocom California. “I look forward to adding these new voices to our governance structure and am confident that their perspective will guide our strategic programs creatively and capably.”

The association representing the California life science industry recently announced that Enoch Kariuki, PharmD, chief financial officer of VelosBio; Bernard Parker, managing director of Caligen Bio LLC; and Eric Dube, Ph.D., president and CEO of Travere Therapeutics, have been added to its board of directors, and Sabrina Martucci Johnson, president and CEO of Daré Biosciences, was appointed as the board’s vice chair of industry. Biocom also added Natalie Hosea, Ph.D., site head and head of DMPK at Takeda California, to its board of governors to replace David Weitz, former head of Takeda California. Concurrent with other updates to its boards, Richard Pascoe, president and CEO of Histogen, was elected to the role of chairman of the board of directors and Carin Canale-Theakston, CEO of Canale Communications, was re-elected as the board of directors’ vice chair.
  
Dr. Kariuki served as the chief financial officer at VelosBio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that was acquired by Merck & Co., in a deal announced in November 2020. He also serves on the board of directors for Imago Biosciences. He has over a decade of experience in healthcare strategy, life sciences investment banking, venture capital and business development.
 
Parker is managing director at Caligen Bio, LLC, a healthcare advisory and consulting company. He is a biopharmaceuticals senior executive with more than 20 years of corporate strategy, commercialization, corporate development, portfolio/product strategy and international enterprise leadership experience. Parker has held influential leadership positions at various companies, including roles based in the United States, Switzerland, and Germany spanning a range of drug modalities, therapeutic areas and indications, including genetically-defined rare diseases/orphan disorders.
 
Dr. Dube is the president, chief executive officer and a director of Travere Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to identify, develop and deliver life-changing therapies to people living with rare disease. At Travere Therapeutics, he oversees a global team dedicated to advancing the company’s promising pipeline featuring innovative product candidates for rare kidney, liver and metabolic disorders. With leadership experience across the United States, Europe and Japan, Dr. Dube draws upon significant expertise in managing commercial, operations, market access, medical and business development functions. He leads with a commitment to patients, integrating their perspective into all aspects of the company’s operations.
 
Johnson founded Daré Biosciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to the advancement of innovative products for women’s health, and currently serves as its president and chief executive officer. She began her career in the biotechnology industry as a research scientist, and before founding Daré, she held COO, CFO, and commercial roles in the biotech and life science industry. She currently serves on industry and non-profit boards in addition to Daré and Biocom California.
 
Dr. Hosea currently leads the Takeda California research facility as well as the department of drug metabolism & pharmacokinetics (DMPK) at the San Diego site. She also leads the development DMPK team in Takeda’s Boston site since 2017, focusing on the drug discovery and development of both small molecule and biological therapeutics in neuroscience and gastrointestinal disease areas from new target through registration and life cycle management.