Javier San Martin, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Javier joined Athira as Chief Medical Officer in April 2024. He has more than 25 years of drug development experience and a proven track record leading cross-functional product teams to drive global development and commercialization strategy for multiple drugs across large and rare diseases with significant unmet medical need. Throughout his career, Javier has guided therapies from proof-of-concept through regulatory approval, with special emphasis on aligning late-stage development efforts with viable commercialization paths.
Prior to joining Athira, Javier served as Chief Medical Officer of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, where he guided development teams to advance that company’s RNAi-based therapeutics in the metabolic and liver disease area. Prior to Arrowhead, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Development at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, where he led the development of Crysvita® (burosumab-twza), the first drug approved to treat the rare, inherited disease of x-linked hypophosphatemia. Before that, he served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Alder Biopharmaceuticals.
Javier received his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires Medical School and completed his residence in internal medicine at CEMIC University of Buenos Aires.