Exelixis and Westwood & Wilshire Work Together to Place Vice President of Clinical Development

Exelixis, an oncology centered biotech with commercial success in the discovery and development of new medicines for difficult to treat cancers, has hired Darren Tayama as their new Vice President of Clinical Development. The hire is a result of a collaboration with Westwood & Wilshire, as the retained search firm supports Exelixis grow their development team on multiple searches. Exelixis currently has four marketed drugs, including CABOMETYX and COMETRIQ.

Dr. Tayama joins Exelixis from Genentech. He has held multiple positions at Genentech in his decade long tenure, most recently as an Executive Director and Head of Oncology Medical Science Liaisons in US Medical Affairs. Prior to, he was the Global Development Leader for Genitourinary Cancers overseeing all late-stage (Phase Ib-III) immunotherapy-focused clinical development plans, some trials in collaboration with Exelixis. He also previously held roles at Gilead, XDx, and served as the Chief Resident of Internal Medicine at Stanford Health Care before making the move to industry. Dr. Tayama received his MD from the University of California, San Francisco. He is the inventor of a patent and author of ten publications.

This search was successfully led by Khusbu Talati for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Sciences Practice.

About Westwood & Wilshire
Westwood & Wilshire is a retained executive search firm that recognizes people as any organization’s top asset. The firm has delivered premier talent to many of the world’s most innovative companies in life sciences, healthcare, and advanced technology. Westwood & Wilshire specializes in bringing top-tier candidates at the mid-management to C-Suite level to clients ranging from VC backed start-ups to mid-sized commercial entities. The firm has offices in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Scottsdale, and Connecticut serving clients worldwide.