Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> September 30, 1999
ELLIOT D. HILLBACK JR. is Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs of
Genzyme Corporation with 26 years of experience in the health care and
biotechnology industry. Mr. Elliott Hillback joined Genzyme in July 1990
with responsibility for business development activities, Genzyme Japan
and the formation of Neozyme Corporation of which he was the first
President. In July 1991, Mr. Hillback was named President and Chief
Executive Officer of IG Laboratories, the majority owned genetic
diagnostic services business unit of Genzyme. Mr. Hillback led IG Labs,
now named Genzyme Genetics, from $5 million to approximately $55 million
in revenue by 1996. In the fall of 1996, he returned to Genzyme
Corporate Headquarters as Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, with
responsibility for worldwide public policy development in several areas,
as well as investor relations, public relations, internal employee
communications and the Genzyme Foundation. Prior to joining Genzyme, Mr.
Hillback served for more than 16 years in various senior executive
positions with two major multinational health care companies: Baxter
International and The BOC Group, Inc. Mr. Hillback also served as
President and Chief Executive Officer of Cellcor Therapies, Inc. He is
currently a Director of Aquila Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a Framingham,
Massachusetts biotechnology company focused on therapeutics which
stimulate the immune system to treat infectious diseases and cancer.
Mr. Hillback is particularly active in development of industry and
public policy related to genetic testing and the use of biotechnology.
He is a member of the Department of Health and Human Services'
Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing. He co-chairs the
Bioethics Committee of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO),
and is the first commercial sector member of the Council of Medical
Genetics Organizations. In addition he is a member of the Steering
Committee of The Genome Action Coalition (TGAC) and has participated
extensively in the activities of the NIH/DOE Task Force on Genetic
Testing as a voting member. He is also a member of the Whitehead
Institute Task Force on Genetic Testing, Privacy and Public Policy and
the National Conference of State Legislator's Blue Ribbon Panel on
Genetic Technologies. He is a member of the American Society of Human
Genetics. Mr. Hillback is a frequent speaker on various topics related
to genetics and bioethics. He has a B.A. in Anthropology from Cornell
University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Profile
history, products, customers, those kinds of things?
Mr. Hillback: Genzyme Corporation is a very broad-based,
