Biography

Julian Adams joined Gamida Cell’s leadership team as chief executive officer in November 2017, bringing more than 30 years of drug discovery and development experience to his role. He has served on the board since September 2016. Prior to his CEO appointment, Julian served as president and chief scientific officer at Clal Biotechnology Industries (CBI), where he oversaw the Boston office, evaluating investment opportunities and supporting portfolio companies, including Gamida Cell. Before joining CBI, he served as the president of research and development at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he built and led the company’s R&D efforts. Julian also served as senior vice president of drug discovery and development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he played a key role in the discovery of Velcade® (bortezomib), a therapy widely used for treatment of the blood cancer, multiple myeloma. Earlier in his career, he was credited with discovering Viramune® (nevirapine) for HIV at Boehringer Ingelheim. He has also held senior leadership roles in research and development at LeukoSite, Inc. and ProScript.

Julian has won several awards for his drug development efforts throughout his career, holds more than 40 patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office and has authored more than 100 papers and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals. Julian holds a B.S. from McGill University and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also holds a Sc.D., honoris causa, from McGill University.