Thomas G. Wiggans | Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Prior to founding Dermira in 2010, Tom was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Peplin, Inc., acquired in 2009 by LEO Pharma A/S. In 1994, he joined Connetics Corporation as its first Chief Executive Officer, and served in that capacity until to 2006 when Connetics was acquired by Stiefel Laboratories, now a GSK company. During his tenure Connetics grew into one of the premier dermatology companies in the U.S., with five marketed products and approximately $200 million in revenue. Prior to Connetics, Tom spent twelve years with the Ares-Serono Group in various management positions including President of its U.S. pharmaceutical operations and Managing Director of its U.K. pharmaceutical operations. He began his career with Eli Lilly and Company.
Tom also serves as the Chairman of the Biotechnology Institute, a non-profit educational organization, and Chairman of the Board of Excaliard Pharmaceuticals. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Sangamo BioSciences, Somaxon Pharmaceuticals and Lithera, Inc. Tom received his B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Kansas, and his M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.
Eugene A. Bauer, MD | Founder & Chief Medical Officer
Gene is co-founder, Director and Chief Medical Officer of Dermira. Most recently, Gene was a Director and Chief Medical Officer of Peplin, Inc., which was acquired by LEO Pharma A/S in 2009. He was also a co-founder of Connetics, a publicly-traded biotechnology company that was acquired by Stiefel Laboratories, now a GSK company, in 2006.
Gene is the Lucy Becker Professor, Emeritus, in the School of Medicine at Stanford University, a position he has held since 2002. He served as Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine from 1995 to 2001 and served as Chair of the Department of Dermatology at the Stanford University School of Medicine from 1988 to 1995. During his tenure as department chair, Gene also served as Program Director of the Stanford University General Clinical Research Center (GCRC), where he oversaw the federal and industry-sponsored research carried out in the GCRC. In addition, Gene is a member of the board of directors of Medgenics, Inc., Arbor Vita Corp., Dr. Tattoff, Inc., First Wave Technologies, Inc., Patient Safety Technologies, Inc., and MediSync Bioservices.
Agnes Chan, Ph.D. | Vice President, Preclinical Development
Agnes brings over 16 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience, holding senior leadership roles in new product development and clinical development. Most recently, Agnes served as Senior Director Project Management at QLT, managing all development activities including manufacturing, preclinical, clinical, regulatory affairs and market research for new compounds. Agnes also served as Director of Clinical Research, leading Phase 1/2 and Phase 2 clinical development activities. She received her Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of British Columbia and completed her postdoctoral training at the Ontario Cancer Institute.
Chris Griffith | Founder & Vice President, Corporate Development & Strategy
Chris co-founded Dermira with Gene Bauer and Tom Wiggans in 2010 and is responsible for the company’s corporate strategy and business development activities. Prior to joining Dermira, Chris spent several years in corporate development, strategy and investment management roles at Gilead Sciences, Genentech and Bay City Capital, where he participated in the development of corporate, commercial and research & development strategies across a wide range of businesses and therapeutic areas and the execution of numerous partnership, financing and investment transactions representing committed capital in excess of $2.8 billion. Chris received BS and MS degrees in biological sciences from Stanford University and an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School.
David Hunt, Ph.D. | Vice President, Research & Chief Scientific Officer
David Hunt has over 20 years of preclinical biotechnology research and development experience. His scientific vision and leadership led to the creation and advancement of innovative dermatology research programs at QLT through the exploitation of the company’s photodynamic therapy (PDT) platform technology as well as the generation and testing of novel, small-molecule inhibitors. Research studies led by David uncovered fundamental mechanisms of the cellular action of PDT. His broad understanding of cell biology, immunology, and disease mechanisms attained in over thirty-five years of industrial and academic research has fostered cutting-edge research programs for acne, skin inflammation and pigmentation. He is an author of over 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications, several book chapters and a large number of granted patents. He received his Ph.D. (Microbiology & Immunology) from the University of British Columbia and holds an adjunct professorship in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at this school.
Delphine Imbert, Ph.D. | Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Delphine joined Dermira in November 2011 with over 17 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to Dermira, Delphine served as Vice President of Pharmaceutical R&D at Anacor Pharmaceuticals with previous experience at ALZA Corporation (a member of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies) and Cellegy Pharmaceuticals. Her scope of responsibilities have included leading efforts in transdermal and topical formulation development, product development, analytical development, clinical supplies, and related CMC filings from early to late stage development. She has also worked in multiple therapeutic areas including: onychomycosis, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, acne, CNS, and various infectious and neglected diseases.
Delphine has a M.S. in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris, a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Cincinnati, and was a NIH postdoctoral scholar at the University of California San Francisco. Delphine is currently a member of AAPS.
Luis Peña | Founder & Vice President, Product Development
Luis co-founded Dermira with Gene Bauer and Tom Wiggans in 2010. Luis has over 25 years of industry experience in Research and Development as a pharmaceutical executive. He has led the global development of products for several organizations across multiple therapeutic areas for both small molecules and biologics, many of which have been approved.
Prior to Dermira, Luis has served in executive roles at Stiefel, a GSK company, Connetics, Nuvelo and Theravance in drug development, manufacturing and strategic portfolio planning functions. He began his career at Genentech where he served in various roles over 12 years culminating with the management of the cardiovascular portfolio in drug development.