James E. Brown, D.V.M. co-founded DURECT in February 1998 and has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director since June 1998.
He previously worked at ALZA Corporation as Vice President of Biopharmaceutical and Implant Research and Development from June 1995 to June 1998. Prior to that, Dr. Brown held various positions at Syntex Corporation, a pharmaceutical company, including Director of Business Development from May 1994 to May 1995, Director of Joint Ventures for Discovery Research from April 1992 to May 1995, and held a number of positions including Program Director for Syntex Research and Development from October 1985 to March 1992.
Dr. Brown holds a B.A. from San Jose State University and a D.V.M. (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) from the University of California, Davis where he also conducted post-graduate work in pharmacology and toxicology.
Dr. Brown will summarize the story of founding and then developing DURECT Corporation into a public company. DURECT was initially spun out of ALZA based on a license to the DUROS® technology for specific therapeutic areas and a first round of private financing in June 1998. Dr. Brown will share the critical processes underlying the company’s growth to acquire additional technologies to establish its independence, minimize its dependence on a singular product and develop a broad product portfolio. He will also more generally cover the topic of financing an early stage drug startup and the challenges a new company faces today in trying to do so.
