Javier San Martin
Chief Medical Officer LeonaBio
Javier joined Athira as Chief Medical Officer in April 2024. He has more than 25 years of drug development experience and a proven track record leading cross-functional product teams to drive global development and commercialization strategy for multiple drugs across large and rare diseases with significant unmet medical need. Throughout his career, Javier has guided therapies from proof-of-concept through regulatory approval, with special emphasis on aligning late-stage development efforts with viable commercialization paths.
Prior to joining Athira, Javier served as Chief Medical Officer of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, where he guided development teams to advance that company’s RNAi-based therapeutics in the metabolic and liver disease area. Prior to Arrowhead, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Development at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, where he led the development of Crysvita® (burosumab-twza), the first drug approved to treat the rare, inherited disease of x-linked hypophosphatemia. Before that, he served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Alder Biopharmaceuticals.
Javier received his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires Medical School and completed his residence in internal medicine at CEMIC University of Buenos Aires.
Seminars
- How refinements to the ALS program, including ATH-1105’s mechanism as a CNS-penetrant positive modulator of the neurotrophic HGF system, are shaping a larger, more globally inclusive Phase 2-ready design
- Integrating established biomarkers such as neurofilament light (NfL) and exploratory endpoints into trial architecture to align with the biological effects anticipated from ATH-1105
- Leveraging AI-supported models and external control arms to enhance signal detection and improve statistical power in a non-gene therapy small molecule ALS study
- Designing trials that reflect the heterogeneity of sporadic and familial ALS while aligning clinical outcome assessments with ATH-1105’s neuroprotective profile and translational rationale
