James Sapirstein

James Sapirstein, R.Ph., MBA, is Chief Executive Officer of ContraVir Pharmaceuticals. After beginning his career in 1984 as a sales representative with Eli Lilly, he accepted a position at Hoffmann-La Roche in 1987, where he served for almost a decade. He held a number of positions at Hoffmann-La Roche, including Product Director and International Operations Manager. In 1996, he became the Director of International Marketing of the Infectious Disease Division at Bristol Myers Squibb. Mr. Sapirstein directed the international HIV product marketing strategy at Bristol Myers Squibb and was an integral part of the international development and launch of a number of infectious disease products while there. Mr. Sapirstein served in the global marketing group at Gilead Sciences, Inc., beginning in 2000 where he led and developed the global marketing strategy for its flagship HIV drug, Viread. He played a key role in the development of the drug combination strategy that resulted in Gilead’s acquisition of Triangle’s nucleoside portfolio. That acquisition ultimately led to the launch of Truvada, Gilead’s multibillion-dollar combination HIV drug. In 2002, he accepted the position of Executive Vice President for Serono Laboratories. As CEO of privately held Tobira Therapeutics, a New Jersey based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel HIV and infectious disease compounds, he was instrumental in helping to raise over $60 million in venture capital and research funding. He was named one of New Jersey’s top 50 most influential people in health care in 2010 by NJBiz.com. Most recently, Mr. Sapirstein was CEO of Alliqua Therapeutics at Alliqua Inc.