Clet Niyikiza
Dr. Niyikiza is Executive Vice President of Medicine Development for Merrimack Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, MA, USA. Prior to this role, Dr. Niyikiza served as Vice President and Medicine Development Leader for GlaxoSmithKline and as a member of the company’s Medicine Development Operations Board from 2005 to 2009. He joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1991 working first for Syntex and then for Eli Lilly. Dr. Niyikiza became Lilly’s worldwide leader of the pharmacogenomics program following completion of the human genome project. At Lilly, he is credited for groundbreaking research and for developing a strong international network of investigators and regulatory authority policy makers that resulted in effective development and efficient registration of 10 new drug indications for many of Lilly medicines. His landmark scientific achievements at Lilly were featured in a front page ‘Wall Street Journal’ article on April 21, 2004. Since March 2006, Dr. Niyikiza serves on former US President George Herbert Walker Bush Committee for C-Change, a United States national forum of senior leaders from business, academia and government (Federal and State) dedicated to cancer research, treatment and prevention. Since September 2007, Dr. Niyikiza serves as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council of H.E. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda. He focuses on healthcare and human capacity development.