Naveed Shams, MD, PhD

Since joining Santen in 2010 as Vice President of Clinical Affairs, Dr. Shams has also served as Head of Global Clinical Development and Medical Affairs and, most recently, as President and CEO of Santen Inc. With 20+ years of experience in global drug development across a number of companies, Dr. Shams has played a significant and critical role in bringing important ophthalmology products to market, including Zaditor®/Zaditen®, Rescula®, and Lucentis®. He also supported the post-marketing efforts for Visudyne®. While at Genentech, Dr. Shams led the clinical team in the development and approval of Lucentis®. His experience also spans companies such as Novartis, OPKO Health, Storz Ophthalmics, and most recently On Demand Therapeutics, a drug delivery start-up where he was President and Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Shams received his MD degree from Dow Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan and his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of South Carolina. He completed fellowships in cornea and external diseases at Harvard Medical School and in histocompatibility and immunogenetics at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Shams is also a former faculty member at Schepens Eye Research Institute and Harvard Medical School.