Endocrine Society member Willard Dere, MD, professor of internal medicine, executive director of Personalized Health, and co-director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, has been appointed to the Seres Therapeutics board of directors.
Dere brings to Seres more than two decades of scientific, clinical, and strategic biopharmaceutical experience. Previously, Dere held several positions at Amgen, including, most recently, head of global development and chief medical officer. During his career in the biopharmaceutical industry, Dere led the clinical development of numerous approved products in osteoporosis, inflammation, nephrology, and oncology.
“Willard Dere is a highly distinguished industry leader with deep clinical development and strategic industry expertise,” says Roger J. Pomerantz, MD, president, CEO, and chairman of Seres. “I am extremely pleased to welcome Willard to the Seres Board during this important period, where Seres is developing SER-109 as the first Phase 3 stage microbiome therapeutic candidate and which may be the first ever FDA approved microbiome drug.”
“Seres is advancing a promising pipeline of microbiome product candidates using a highly differentiated scientific approach,” Dere says. “I am eager to contribute to the company’s objective of bringing the first FDA-approved microbiome products to individuals with serious diseases.”
Dere serves as the B. Lue and Hope S. Bettilyon Presidential Endowed Chair in Internal Medicine for Diabetes Research. Prior to re-joining academia in November 2014, Dere was in the biopharmaceutical industry for 25 years. He joined Amgen in 2003 where he held multiple roles including head of global development, and both corporate and international chief medical officer. He led development of programs in various therapeutic areas, and retired from Amgen in October 2014. He began his career at Eli Lilly in 1989, and held a number of different global roles in clinical pharmacology, regulatory affairs, and both early-stage translational and late-stage clinical research. Dere currently serves on the Board of Directors of BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Ocera Therapeutics, and Radius Health. He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of California, Davis, completed his internal medicine residency training at the University of Utah, and his postdoctoral training in endocrinology and metabolism at the University of California, San Francisco.
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