Kemal Malik has 30 years of experience in global pharmaceutical research and development. He has been responsible for bringing many innovative medicines through R&D to successful commercialization. From 2014 to 2019, he was a member of the Executive Board of Management of Bayer AG, overseeing innovation across the Bayer Group. He was also responsible for Bayer LEAPS, the organizational unit dedicated to strategic venturing in areas of disruptive breakthrough innovation.
Prior to his appointment to the Bayer Board, he served as Head of Global Development and Chief Medical Officer at Bayer Healthcare for ten years, overseeing all development and medical governance matters. During this time, he delivered twenty consecutive positive Phase III trials, including several blockbuster drugs such as Xarelto® and Eylea®.
Dr. Malik earned his medical degree from Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School (Imperial College London) and is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians.
Mike Varney is our Lead Independent Director and was most recently the head of Genentech’s Research and Early Development (gRED), serving as a member of the Roche Executive Committee. Dr. Varney was recruited to Genentech to build its small molecule discovery capability, which now accounts for more than 40% of Genentech’s development pipeline and has delivered Erivedge® and Cotellic® to the market.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Varney pioneered structure-based drug design as a founding employee at Agouron, where he contributed to the development of Viracept®, Xalkori®, and Inlyta®. In 2018, he was named a Hero of Chemistry by the American Chemical Society.