About Us
Senior Management Team
John Varian
Chief Executive Officer, Member of the Board of Directors
John Varian was appointed CEO of XOMA in January 2012 after serving as Interim CEO for five months. He has served as a XOMA director since December 2008. He was Chief Operating Officer of Aryx Therapeutics from December 2003 through August 2011 and was its Chief Financial Officer from April 2006 through March 2011. Previously, Mr. Varian was Chief Financial Officer of Genset S.A., where he was a key member of the team negotiating the company's sale to Serono S.A. in 2002. From October 1998 to April 2000, Mr. Varian served as Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration of Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., joining the company as part of its acquisition of Neurex Corporation. Prior to the acquisition, he served as Neurex Corporation's Chief Financial Officer from June 1997 until October 1998. From 1991 until 1997, Mr. Varian served as the VP Finance and CFO of Anergen Inc. Mr. Varian was an Audit Principal / Senior Manager at Ernst & Young from 1987 until 1991 where he focused on life sciences. He is a founding member of the Bay Area Bioscience Center and a former chairman of the Association of Bioscience Financial Officers International Conference. Mr. Varian received a B.B.A. degree from Western Michigan University.
Paul Rubin, M.D.
Senior Vice President, Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Paul Rubin is XOMA's Senior Vice President, Research and Development & Chief Medical Officer. Dr Rubin joined the company in June of 2011. Prior to joining XOMA, Dr. Rubin was Chief Medical Officer at Funxional Therapeutics Ltd. He was Chief Executive Officer of Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2007 to 2009 and President and Chief Executive Officer of Critical Therapeutics, Inc. from 2002 to 2007. From 1996 to 2002, Dr. Rubin served as Senior Vice President, Development, and later as Executive Vice President, Research & Development at Sepracor. He was responsible for the successful development of all of Sepracor's internally developed approved products including Xopenex®, Lunesta®, Xopenex HFA® and Brovana®. From 1993 to 1996, Paul held senior level positions at Glaxo-Wellcome Pharmaceuticals, most recently as Vice President of Worldwide Clinical Pharmacology and Early Clinical Development. During his tenure with Abbott from 1987 to 1993, Dr. Rubin served as Vice President, Immunology and Endocrinology, where he successfully advanced zilueton, the first 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor, from discovery to approval for the treatment of asthma. Paul received a BA from Occidental College and his M.D. from Rush Medical College. He completed his training in internal medicine at the University of Wisconsin.
Patrick J. Scannon, M.D., Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer, and member of the Board of Directors
Patrick J. Scannon, M.D., Ph.D., is XOMA's Founder, Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors. Since 1980, Dr. Scannon has directed the Company's product identification, evaluation, and clinical testing programs, and conducting clinical studies for autoimmune, cardio-metabolic, inflammatory and oncologic indications. Dr. Scannon holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and a medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. He completed his internship and residency at the Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco. A Board-certified internist, Dr. Scannon is also a member of the American College of Physicians. He has served as a Trustee of the University of California Berkeley Foundation and is a member of the University of California Berkeley Chancellor's Community Advisory Board. He has served or is serving on the Boards of several companies and institutions, and is currently a member of the DSRC (Defense Sciences Research Council), an advisory board for DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Dr. Scannon is inventor or co-inventor of several issued U.S. patents, and he has published numerous scientific abstracts and papers.
Daniel P. Cafaro
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance
Dan Cafaro is XOMA's Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance. He joined the Company in 1996 as Director of Regulatory Affairs. In addition to directing worldwide regulatory activities for the Company, he has had primary responsibility for leadership of ophthalmic product development applications. From 1981 to 1996, Mr. Cafaro held several managerial positions at Allergan, Inc., directing worldwide regulatory affairs and product development. He belongs to several professional societies including the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society, the British Institute of Regulatory Affairs, and the Drug Information Association. Mr. Cafaro holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California Los Angeles.
Alfred C. Dadson, Jr.
Vice President, Manufacturing Operations
Al Dadson was appointed Vice President, Manufacturing Operations in September 2011. Since joining XOMA in 2002, Mr. Dadson has held positions of increasing leadership responsibility, including Director of Fermentation Development and Senior Director of Manufacturing Operations. Prior to XOMA, Mr. Dadson was associated with Bayer Corporation for 19 years, most recently as Principal Scientist/Manager GMP Clinical Manufacturing. During his tenure at Bayer, Mr. Dadson successfully led the cGMP fermentation manufacture of all biotechnology pipeline products at the Berkeley, CA site, among other responsibilities. A member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Parenteral Drug Association and the ISPE Advisory Board, Al Dadson holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley. He also has an Executive M.B.A. focused on Strategic Leadership from the Satell Center for Executive Education.
Susan Kramer, Dr. P.H.
Vice President, Product Development
Susan Kramer, Dr. P.H., is Vice President, Product Development. A seasoned biopharmaceutical executive with 25 years of industry and a strong focus on product development and alliance management, Dr. Kramer leads and directs the product development and program management activities for XOMA 052, both strategic and operational, from clinical development through approval.. Prior to joining XOMA, Dr. Kramer served as the Vice President of Development at Anesiva, Inc. where she led the development of Adlea(TM), a non-opioid analgesic. Prior to Anesiva, Susan co-founded Corthera, Inc., and led the development of Relaxin for use in congestive heart failure, orthodontics and preeclampsia. During her eighteen years at Genentech, Dr. Kramer served in a number of management positions including Senior Director of Bioanalytical Technology where she supervised a group of more than 100 employees. Susan holds Master and Doctor of Public Health degrees in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. She also received an M.A. in Education from Central Michigan University and a B.A. in Medical Technology, College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota.
Fred Kurland
Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Fred Kurland is Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of XOMA. He is responsible for all financial matters affecting or involving the XOMA companies, including directing XOMA's financial strategy, accounting, budgeting, financial planning and analysis and investor relations functions. Prior to joining the Company in late 2008, Mr. Kurland was Chief Financial Officer of Bayhill Therapeutics, Inc. from 2007 until late 2008. He was Chief Financial Officer of Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated from 2004 until April 2007. Mr. Kurland served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Genitope Corporation from 2002 until 2004. From 1998 to 2002 he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Aviron. Mr. Kurland served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Protein Design Labs, Inc. from 1996 to 1998 and from 1995 to 1996 he served as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Applied Immune Sciences, Inc. He held a number of financial management positions at Syntex Corporation between 1981 and 1995 including Vice President and Controller between 1991 and 1995. Mr. Kurland received his B.S. from Lehigh University and his J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Chicago.
Christopher J. Margolin
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Chris Margolin is Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of XOMA. Prior to joining the Company in 1991, Mr. Margolin was a corporate attorney holding several different positions at Raychem Corporation, an international high technology company, for 11 years. From 1975 to 1980, he was a division counsel for TRW and from 1972 to 1975, he was an associate at the law firm of McCutcheon, Black, Verleger and Shea in Los Angeles. A graduate of Princeton University, he holds a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the UCLA Graduate School of Management.
Calvin L. McGoogan
Vice President, Quality
Cal McGoogan is XOMA's Vice President, Quality. He joined the company in 2002 as Director of Quality Assurance. Mr. McGoogan has responsibility for the Quality Assurance, Quality Control and Quality Engineering functions at XOMA. Mr. McGoogan has over 20 years of previous Quality experience working for Dey Laboratories, International Medication Systems, and American McGaw. He is a member of the American Society for Quality, and through ASQ is a certified quality engineer, certified quality auditor, and certified quality manager. He is also a member of the Parenteral Drug Association and the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers. Mr. McGoogan holds a B.S. in Biology from the Florida State University, and an MBA from Golden Gate University.
James R. Neal
Vice President, Business Development
Jim Neal joined XOMA in November 2009 as Vice President of Business Development, responsible for overseeing XOMA's partnership, licensing and collaborations strategies. Mr. Neal brings more than 25 years' experience forming and maximizing business and technology collaborations globally and in bringing novel products and technologies to market. Most recently, Mr. Neal was Acting Chief Executive Officer of Entelos, Inc., a leading biosimulation company. Previously, in 2007, Entelos acquired Iconix Biosciences, a privately held company where Mr. Neal served as Chief Executive Officer and established multi-year collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott Labs, Eli Lilly and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. While Executive Vice President of Incyte Genomics from 1999 to 2002, he led the global commercial activities with pharmaceutical company collaborators and partners including Pfizer, Aventis and Schering-Plough, as well as sales, marketing and business development activities for the company. Earlier, he was associated with Monsanto Company in positions of increasing responsibility. Mr. Neal earned his B.S. in Biology and his M.S. in Genetics and Plant Breeding from the University of Manitoba, Canada, and holds an Executive MBA degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Charles C. Wells
Vice President, Human Resources and Information Technology
Chris Wells is Vice President, Human Resources and Information Technology. Prior to joining XOMA in May 2001, he served as Senior Vice President, Human Resources for Roche Pharmaceuticals, a position he held since 1995. During a career that spans more than 30 years, Mr. Wells has held human resources positions with Syntex Corporation (prior to the Roche acquisition), Epic Healthcare (a hospital management company), Frito Lay and Burlington Industries. In these various roles, he has been instrumental in the design and delivery of a number of key domestic and international change initiatives and processes that brought to fruition human resource strategies developed under his leadership. Mr. Wells holds a BA in Psychology from Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina. He is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management, the Northern California Human Resource Council, and the HR Strategic Issues Council.
Mark L. White
Vice President, Research
Mark White was appointed XOMA's Vice President, Research in January 2011. He joined XOMA in 1988 and has held positions of increasing responsibility that have advanced the company's industry-leading capabilities in monoclonal antibody discovery and development. Prior to his current role, Mr. White's leadership positions in XOMA's research and preclinical areas have included Vice President of Antibody Technologies, Vice President of Cell and Analytical Development and Director, Immunochemistry, among others. He is an inventor on several patents and author of numerous scientific publications in the antibody field. Prior to joining XOMA, Mark White held scientific leadership positions at Calypte Biomedical Company and at the Institute of Cancer Research at the Medical Research Institute in San Francisco. A graduate of the University of California, San Diego, Mr. White completed graduate work in biology at UC San Diego and in physiology and biophysics at the University of Iowa.
