Desmond Padhi

After more than 20 years developing drugs across multiple therapeutic areas, Padhi brings a wealth of experience in translational medicine, taking molecules from the lab to patients.

Desmond’s deep commitment to medical innovation is also deeply personal. Both his wife and his mother are being treated with a medicine he played a key role in getting to market.

As an associate partner at Westlake Village BioPartners, Padhi explains, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help entrepreneurs with great ideas and passion bring their ideas to fruition.”

Prior to joining Westlake BioPartners, Padhi spent 20 years at Amgen, rising to become the vice president of the translational medicine group and most recently vice president of the Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism and Clinical Pharmacology groups. There, his focus was on leading the groups responsible for moving programs from the late research stage through to clinical proof of concept.

Padhi progressed a significant number of Amgen’s approved medicines through early clinical development, helping advance one of the largest early pipelines in Amgen’s history. He has five patents and 45 top-tier publications to his name, with more than 1,600 citations.

Prior to Amgen, Padhi worked at the Schering-Plough Research Institute where he was the team leader for early development clinical programs, helping establish a clinical strategy, designing and conducting studies, and reporting results.

Padhi received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Saskatchewan. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Wayne State University and completed his clinical pharmacology fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital.