HAYWARD, Calif.– Eikon Therapeutics Inc., a California-based biotechnology company that applies advanced engineering and high-performance computing to the identification of important new medicines, today announced the appointment of Robin L. Washington as an independent director effective May 12, 2022. Ms. Washington is among the most experienced business leaders in the biopharmaceutical and technology industries, having served as Chief Financial Officer at Gilead, Inc. from 2008 until 2019, managing global finance, investor relations, facilities and operations, and information technology during a period when corporate revenue grew by more than six-fold.
“Robin Washington is an exceptionally skilled independent board member,” said Roger M. Perlmutter, CEO and Chairman of Eikon Therapeutics. “There are very few pharmaceutical executives who have been able to manage the sort of extraordinary growth that Robin supervised while at Gilead. Moreover, Robin has had deep operational and boardroom experience at some of the world’s most important technology companies. I feel extremely privileged that we will have the benefit of Robin’s advice as we chart the course of future expansion at Eikon.”
A Michigan native, and certified public accountant, Robin received a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan, and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. She began her career in finance in 1987 at Tandem Computers, where she also gained experience in managing sales and customer engineering organizations. Beginning in 1999, Robin became vice president and Corporate Treasurer, and later Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller at PeopleSoft, Inc., a financial services, and human resources software development company. Thereafter, from January 2006 until June 2007 she served as Chief Financial Officer at Hyperion Solutions, an enterprise software company. Robin joined Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) in 2008 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and expanded her role to include operational responsibilities as Executive Vice President from 2014 until her retirement in 2019.
Beyond these operational roles, Robin has served on the board of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL), among the world’s most important advanced technology companies, since 2019, and of Honeywell International, Inc. (NASDAQ: HON), a leading multinational conglomerate company with special emphasis on aerospace and building technologies, since 2013. She also serves on the board of Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), a global leader in the use of technology for marketing automation and customer relations. Robin is also active in the public sphere: she serves on the President’s Council and Ross Business School Advisory Board at the University of Michigan, the Board of Directors of the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, Oakland, and the Mastercard Foundation.
“I am thrilled to have the chance to join the Eikon Therapeutics board, in no small part because it will again give me the opportunity to interact with scientists who are developing the next wave of important new therapies,” said Ms. Washington. “My experience at Gilead left me with deep respect for the commitment of discovery researchers, who are inspired by the goal of inventing important new drugs. In my interactions with the Eikon team, I have come away deeply impressed with their technical brilliance, their ambition, and their desire to contribute meaningfully to advances in human health. I am looking forward to helping them in this mission.”
