Leadership
Rick Williams
Chief Business Officer
Rick Williams is the chief business officer at The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences (The Hamner), an independent, nonprofit R&D organization located in the heart of Research Triangle Park. A leader in environmental safety research for more than 35 years, The Hamner brings together world-class scholarship and training, safety assessments for both chemicals and drugs, and accelerated technology development on a single, integrated campus. As a member of the executive team, Williams supports The Hamner’s mission to collaborate with academia, the private sector, and government agencies to conduct translational research and innovative educational programs, both of which are designed to improve human health assessments and the development of safer medical treatments.
In his role as chief business officer, Williams is responsible for working with the chief executive officer and chairman of the Board of Directors to shape the overall strategic direction of the institute. He also oversees The Hamner Accelerator for Translational Biosciences, which facilitates rapid technology development among North Carolina universities and serves as a gateway to establish research collaborations with industry (i.e., with chemical, consumer products, and bio/pharma companies) along with countries in Europe and Asia. The Accelerator is a program that transcends merely providing participating organizations with a “real estate solution.” Instead, it creates a partnership with emerging companies and academic institutions, which leads to shared resources, research collaborations, and increased funding opportunities. Key new programs include the Hamner-University of North Carolina Center for Drug Safety Sciences, the Hamner-University of North Carolina Metabolomic Core Facility, and co-development of a virtual liver computational modeling program with Entelos. Working in conjunction with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, and university business schools and entrepreneurial programs, Williams provides guidance to emerging companies and faculty members as they develop their initial technology, commercialization, and funding plans.
Williams has more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical field, having worked at a leading pharmaceutical company, the first biotechnology company, the commercial-outsourcing industry, and a venture capital-backed scientific startup. Leaving a corporate development position at Merck in 1986, he joined Genentech as it introduced biotechnology to the U.S. medical community. As director of marketing and health economics, Williams played a pivotal role in assuring Genentech’s long-term commercial success and helped to launch many major new initiatives including an innovative pharmacovigilance program that collected data on 20,000 patients with growth disorders, one million heart attack patients, and more than 10,000 cystic fibrosis patients. After leaving Genentech in 1995, he created a $200 million commercial-service business for Amerisource Bergen that, during its inception, supported the launch of emerging biotech and pharmaceutical companies such as Celgene, Ferring, Idec, MedImmune, Santen, and Sepracor. Williams built this new division organically from scratch and by acquiring The Lash Group, a premier reimbursement and health outcomes company.
From 2003 to 2005, Williams served as chief business officer for CellzDirect in Tucson, Arizona (subsequently acquired by Invitrogen), and was instrumental in transforming its cell-based Internet business into an in vitro hepatic research company. With the acquisition of a state-of-the-art cell culture lab and bioanalytical research facility, CellzDirect now provides a portfolio of hepatic products to leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies while also conducting metabolism, induction, and inhibition studies on their behalf. Utilizing his Genentech experience, Williams created a national data-collection project for liver disorders—the Hepatic Research Registry—with a network of top transplant and oncology surgeons from Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, Medical University of South Carolina, University of Colorado, University of Florida, University of Pittsburgh, University of Southern California, University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University. Together, they capitalized on advances in cell preservation and isolation/culturing to make resected liver tissue available for use in biomedical research.
Before joining The Hamner Institutes, Williams worked with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, first as a volunteer and then as a director in its Business and Technology Development department. He helped to develop an innovative program that provides technology, business, and corporate-formation support, as well as funding, to spin out new companies based on technologies transferred from universities and research institutions throughout North Carolina. He also expanded the program so that the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s network of scientists and business experts can work with technology transfer departments to identify and develop earlier-stage research opportunities, which will lead to the formation of even more commercially viable companies.
Throughout his extensive career, Williams has been active in various professional groups, e.g., BIO, as well as patient-advocacy organizations such as the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He volunteers as an advisor for the Council for Entrepreneurial Development and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, often helping to set up professional-education programs and participating in steering committees for the state’s annual biotechnology conferences. He also serves on the industry advisory committee for North Carolina State University’s College of Management and is actively involved in industry speaker programs. An avid historian, Williams is the author of a book on American history. Manuscripts for a second history book as well as a novel are currently under review for publication. He earned a B.A. in Speech and Hearing Science at the University of Pittsburgh in 1977, graduating summa cum laude. A University Scholar and member of Phi Beta Kappa, Williams also completed graduate courses at Temple University and Carnegie Mellon University.