Have You Heard Of Eric Dube?
By Rob Wright, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader
Follow Me On Twitter @RfwrightLSL
It was back in February while connecting with a member of Life Science Leader’s editorial advisory board (EAB) to solicit stories ideas that I was asked, “Have you heard of Eric Dube?” Turns out this EAB member also served on the board of Travere Therapeutics, the company for which Eric Dube, Ph.D., had been serving as CEO since Jan. 2019. “I think you’d find him very inspirational. I know I sure do,” they shared.
Members of the EAB often help in connecting Life Science Leader with executives for future features. Thus, an email introduction was brokered, and two weeks later Dube and I were having an exploratory Zoom conversation. Turns out Dube was a first-time CEO of a publicly traded company that used to be called Retrophin, which was cofounded in 2011 by the Martin Shkreli. But the conversation wasn’t focused on the past, or at least that part of the past, as Retrophin and Shkreli had parted ways in 2014, three years before he was convicted of three felonies and subsequently sentenced to serve seven years in federal prison. (Not a whole lot of best business practices to be learned from that). But as Dube and I spoke, I could see why our EAB member found him so inspiring. Having completed his Ph.D. in developmental and social psychology at Cornell, he had originally set out to, “make the world a better place in academia.” “Well, you have to get funding for people that care about that kind of stuff,” which Dube admitted proved quite difficult. But he had a few friends in the industry who brokered some introductions, and lo and behold, turns out he had a knack for leadership. Less than 10 years later, he had risen through the senior leadership ranks at GSK and was head of ViiV Healthcare’s North America operation. And along the way, was diagnosed, treated, and is now in remission from a rare cancer. Dube is the subject of an upcoming feature article in Life Science Leader, and you won’t want to miss out on learning what makes this CEO such an inspiration for so many, so be sure to subscribe today.