Overview

Gender

male

Wendell Wierenga, Ph.D., joined SRI’s Board of Directors in 2014. Previously, he was executive vice president of research and development (R&D) of Santarus, Inc. from 2011 to 2014, executive vice president of R&D at Ambit Biosciences from 2007-2011, and executive vice president at Neurocrine Biosciences, which he joined in 2003.

From 2000 to 2003, Wierenga was chief executive officer of Syrrx, Inc., a private biotech company specializing in high-throughput, structure-based drug design (sold to Takeda in 2004/5). Prior to joining Syrrx, from 1997 to 2000, he was senior vice president of worldwide pharmaceutical sciences, technologies, and development at Parke-Davis/Warner Lambert (now Pfizer). From 1991-1997, Wierenga was senior vice president of drug discovery and preclinical development at Parke Davis. Concurrent with his tenure there, he was vice president of Medtech Ventures, a Warner Lambert investment fund.

Prior to Parke-Davis, Wierenga was at Upjohn Pharmaceuticals for 16 years, where his last position was executive director of discovery research. Wierenga led and/or participated in the R&D of more than 70 Investigational New Drug (IND) disclosures, more than 15 New Drug Applications (NDAs), and 16 marketed products, including Lipitor®, Neurontin®, Lyrica®, and Uceris®.

Wierenga serves on the following public company boards: Xenoport, Inc., Cytokinetics, Inc., Apricus Biosiences, Inc., Concert Pharmaceuticals, and Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. He also serves on the scientific advisory boards of Ferring Research Institute, aTyr Pharma, and Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, and is an ongoing advisor to WibiWorks Pharmaceuticals and the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan.

He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University.