Dr Kakkis has decided to leave his position with the company to allow him to be able to devote more of his time to personal endeavors related to rare diseases. Dr Kakkis will continue to be a consultant for the company for the foreseeable future.
Dr Kakkis joined BioMarin in September 1998. Prior to joining BioMarin, he was an assistant professor at the Harbor-University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, division of genetics, department of pediatrics.
The company is initiating a search for a new chief medical officer. It hopes to have a new chief medical officer by the end of the first quarter of 2009.
Jean-Jacques Bienaime, CEO of BioMarin, said: “Emil has been an invaluable part of the leadership team here at BioMarin and we are sorry to see him leave. Emil has done an excellent job building up the R&D organization, particularly in the past three years, and we have outstanding personnel in place to continue our innovation track and move forward with our current development plan.”