Bioregnum Opinion Column by John CarrollJames Sabry, the longtime doyen of biotech dealmakers from his global perch at Roche/Genentech, is jumping to the US biotech scene.
The Basel-based pharma giant says Sabry is retiring from the company. But not from the industry. Sabry says he’ll be considering possibilities in the biotech and venture capital arena as he makes his “return to the US.”
He’s keeping his options open — but we definitely haven’t seen the last of James Sabry.
Over the years, Sabry has been one of the most visible partnering execs in the industry, popping up at a host of international gatherings to explain his take on timing and executing biopharma alliances. He spearheaded the first Roche deals in China and can rely on a virtual Rolodex of contacts stretching back decades, to his PhD in neuroscience at UCSF.
His résumé extends well beyond his 14-year run at Roche and Genentech, where he ended up as the lead player on the Swiss-based global partnering team deployed for both arms of the huge R&D organization. He’s also on the board at Chugai. Before Roche, he was founder and CEO of Cytokinetics, which is still out there developing drugs and working out commercialization.
Boris ZaïtraRoche has shuffled its deals team with Sabry’s departure, exhibiting its well-known preference for sticking with corporate vets. Boris Zaïtra, a 12-year player at Roche, was named head of corporate BD, marrying pharma partnering and group BD functions. Zaïtra will now take a spot on the expanded corporate executive crew.
Giving a thumbs-up to Zaïtra’s promotion, Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker lauded Sabry’s contributions to the Roche cause: “James has been instrumental in forging important deals for our Pharma R&D pipeline that have led to numerous launches of new medicines.”
We’ll see what other new meds Sabry has in mind for his next chapter in biopharma.