Francois Nader was President, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of NPS Pharma from 2008 until 2015, when the company was acquired by Shire for $5.2 billion. During his tenure as CEO, Francois transformed NPS Pharma into a leading global biotechnology company focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with rare diseases. Before NPS, Francois was a Venture Partner at Care Capital. Previously, he served on the North America Leadership Team of Aventis and its predecessor companies, holding a number of executive positions including Senior Vice President of Integrated Healthcare Markets and North America Medical and Regulatory Affairs. Before Aventis, he led global commercial operations at the Pasteur Vaccines division of Rhone-Poulenc. Francois was recognized as the Ernst and Young National Life Science Entrepreneur of the Year® in 2013. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Acceleron Pharma and Talaris Therapeutics, and as a Board member of Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
Francois is also a recognized leader among industry and philanthropic organizations. He is the Chairman of the Jesra Foundation, a trustee of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and sits on the Advisory Board of the Open Future Institute. He is a past Chairman of BioNJ, New Jersey’s biotechnology trade organization, and has served on the Board of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), NPS Pharma, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Baxalta, Trevena and Noven.
Francois holds a French Doctorate in Medicine from St. Joseph University in Lebanon and a Physician Executive MBA from the University of Tennessee.