How Did I Get Here?

Ian Clark

Chief executive officer, Genentech; head of North American commercial operations, Roche
from
  • Education
  • Warwick School, Warwick, England, class of 1978
  • University of Southampton, class of 1981
  • Work Experience
  • 1982–92
    Graduate trainee, sales representative, marketing director, regional sales manager, G.D. Searle
  • 1993–97
    Vice president for sales and marketing, Sanofi
  • 1998
    VP for Eastern Europe, Ivax
  • 1999–2002
    U.K. chief operating officer, Canadian president, Novartis
  • 2003–08
    Senior VP, general manager for biooncology, executive VP for commercial operations, Genentech
  • 2009
    Head of global product strategy, chief marketing officer, Roche
  • 2010–Present
    CEO, Genentech; head of North American commercial operations, Roche
  • Life Lessons
  • “Find a career where what you’re doing is meaningful and enjoyable.”
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  • “Creating a great workplace is what allows people to do good work.”
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  • In 1966
    “It’s the oldest boys’ school in England. I got a scholarship, and my parents were very enthusiastic.”
  • “I was working on drugs for high blood pressure and stroke. It’s a significant responsibility to develop and market drugs for people who have serious illnesses. It’s hard to do well.”
  • With daughters Georgina (left) and Isabella, 1994
  • Alongside scientist Dr. Napoleone Ferrara (right), 2005
    “Avastin was a breakthrough—it limits the blood flow to tumors. It’s now indicated for six different tumor types.”
  • “The challenge is running an enterprise of 14,500 employees and continuing the culture of great science. In the last six months, we’ve had four medicines approved—for lung, blood, bladder cancer, and melanoma—which is extraordinary.”
  • “My tutor specialized in farming wild deer alongside cattle. That didn’t lead anywhere, but it’s how I got into biochemistry and genetics. Later on, they were kind enough to give me an honorary doctorate.”
  • University graduation, 1981
  • “I knew that without a Ph.D., I wasn’t going to be the person discovering the molecules, so I was interested in management.”
  • “We launched a drug called Gleevec for a type of blood-based cancer and asked patients who had benefited to come in. That was the first time I emotionally connected to what we are trying to achieve.”
  • At the proclamation of Biotechnology Day in Sacramento, on April 7, 2016, exactly 40 years after Genentech’s founding