David Apelian

David Apelian brings extensive clinical development and regulatory experience, spanning 17 years between large pharma and biotechnology companies in all phases of development ranging from discovery to registration, across multiple therapeutic areas including gastroenterology, hepatology, immuno-oncology, infectious diseases, and rare diseases.

Dr. Apelian is currently CEO at BlueSphere Bio. Prior to that, he was Chief Operating Officer and Executive Medical Officer at Eiger where he was head of all R&D and Regulatory Affairs. From 2013 to 2018, he was Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. At Achillion, he was responsible for creating portfolio strategy and managing the company’s clinical development programs. He was instrumental in securing a partnership between Achillion and J&J, which resulted in a $225 million equity investment. More recently, he led the rare disease development program for novel small-molecule complement factor D inhibitors for alternative pathway-mediated diseases. From 2005 to 2013, Dr. Apelian was Chief Medical Officer and subsequently head of all R&D and Regulatory Affairs for GlobeImmune. He was previously at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he served as Clinical Director and Medical Leader for development of Baraclude (entecavir) for chronic HBV through NDA filing. Prior to that, Dr. Apelian was Clinical Director in the Department of Hepatology & Gastroenterology at Schering Plough, where he coordinated a supplemental NDA filing for interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin for the treatment of pediatric patients with chronic HCV.

Dr. Apelian completed his residency training in pediatrics at New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center and is board certified in Pediatrics. He received a PhD in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, an MD from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and an MBA from Quinnipiac University. He earned a BA in Biochemistry from Rutgers University.