William M. Burns

Mr. Burns is Business and Scientific Advisor of BioMedPartners AG.

Currently, Mr. Burns is member of the board of various biotech companies including Shire, Biotie Therapies, Mesoblast and Masters Pharmaceuticals. Further, he serves as the chairman in Health Innovation Challenge Fund in Wellcome Trust.

For 23 years, Mr. Burns worked for Roche, holding the position of CEO of their pharmaceuticals division from 2005 to 2009 and serving as a member of the board of Roche. He also served on the boards of Genentech and Chugai.

During his time with Roche, Mr. Burns had significant involvement in the privatisation of Genentech, the integration of Boehringer Mannheim and the negotiations that resulted in Roche becoming a majority owner of Chugai in Japan.

Mr. Burns received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics from the University Strathclyde.