Hector Alila

Dr. Alila is the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Esperance. He has more than 28 years of senior management experience in drug development in large pharmaceutical and biotech companies and academic research experience. Prior to joining Esperance Dr. Alila served as Senior Vice President of Drug Development at Protalex, Inc. in New Hope, PA, and Vice President of Product Development at Cell Pathways, Inc. in Horsham, PA, (later acquired by OSI Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Astellas Pharma Inc.), Director of Biology/Pharmacology at GeneMedicine, Inc. in The Woodlands, TX, (which merged with Megabios to become Valentis, Inc.) and several research, development, and management positions at SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline) in Pennsylvania. He obtained his veterinary degree from the University of Nairobi (Kenya) and continued his training at University of Pennsylvania to become a licensed veterinarian to practice in Pennsylvania and New York.

Dr. Alila obtained his Ph.D. in physiology and immunology from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) where he also held a faculty position as Senior Research Associate in Physiology at the Veterinary College. Dr. Alila has published over 40 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, and two book chapters and holds 12 issued patents. He serves on the boards of several companies, and state and philanthropic organizations. He is a recipient of several awards for his pioneering work in reproduction, anti-infective agents, autoimmune diseases, and cancer.