Richard Wilson is currently Vice President of Program Management, Audentes Therapeutics. Richard was previously Senior Director in the Portfolio Product Development group at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc, a publicly traded rare disease biotech company in San Rafael. Richard has spent the last 25 years in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in a broad range of roles ranging from research project ideation to commercialization and investment strategy. He currently leads a cross-functional team charged with defining the global strategic plan for Palynziq, a new therapy for phenylketonuria, which was just recently approved by FDA. Prior to BioMarin, Richard has held positions of increasing responsibility in organizations including Glaxo Group Research (London, UK), Biochem Therapeutic (Montreal, Canada) and Theravance/Innoviva (South San Francisco, CA). He’s been involved in the commercialization of four new medicines during his career and has also lead R&D programs in cardiovascular disease, anti-infective therapy, respiratory disease, rheumatology, and urology.
Richard has also served in a variety of volunteer roles within his industry, serving as a start-up mentor for the California Life Science Institutes FAST program, and also participated in the Haas Startup Marketplace program, a joint initiative with the College of Chemistry.
Richard holds a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry from the University of Manchester in the UK, and an MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Richard is a passionate advocate for the mission of the Haas School of Business.
Richard first became involved with Haas as a student in the MBA for Executive program in 2014, where he was elected class president and has been an active alumnus ever since, serving as an ambassador and fundraiser for his class, and a mentor for those looking to explore careers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He’s delighted to be nominated for the Board of Directors of the Executive Education Program and looks forward to giving back to the school and playing a part in the governance of this exciting program. Go Bears!