William D. Young

Biography

 William D. Young has served as a director since October 2013 and has served as our lead independent director since April 2014. Prior to our spin off from Theravance, Inc. in June 2014 and since April 2001, Mr. Young served as a director of Theravance, Inc. He is currently a Venture Partner at Clarus Ventures and Executive Chairman of NanoString Technologies, a Clarus portfolio company. Mr. Young served from 1999 until 2009 as Chairman of the board of directors and Chief Executive Officer of Monogram Biosciences, Inc. From 1980 to 1999 Mr. Young was employed at Genentech, Inc., most recently as Chief Operating Officer, where he was responsible for all Product Development, Manufacturing and Commercial functions. Prior to joining Genentech, Mr. Young worked at Eli Lilly and Company for 14 years and held various positions in production and process engineering, antibiotic process development and production management. Mr. Young is a member of the board of directors of BioMarin, Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. He was a member of Biogen Idec’s board of directors until 2014, having served as a director since 1997 and as Chairman of the Board since 2010. Mr. Young received his M.B.A. from Indiana University and his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University, and an honorary Doctorate of Engineering from Purdue University. Mr. Young was elected to The National Academy of Engineering in 1993 for his contributions to biotechnology. 

Research Interest

 Chemical Engineering