Bob "Robert" Duggan
Robert W. “Bob” Duggan is a native Californian, born and raised. He attended University of California, Santa Barbara for four years and studied with the class of 1966. He majored in economics. After studying at Santa Barbara, he also studied business management at UCLA from 1966 until 1968.
Robert Duggan knew nothing about running a biotech firm when he invested in cancer drug maker Pharmacyclics in 2004. But having lost a son to brain cancer, he was passionate about the industry. Four years later, after the company's board resigned, Duggan took over as CEO and by 2013 he was a billionaire thanks to the surprising success of Imbruvica, a potent treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia
There’s always a good deal of luck involved in biotech. In Duggan’s case, he had a sleeper in the pipeline: Imbruvica, which turned out to be a potent treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, shrinking tumors in 58% of patients failed by all other drugs, and mantle cell lymphoma, a rarer disease. Johnson & Johnson JNJ +0.31% inked a $975 million deal to copromote Imbruvica in 2011, beating out other Big Pharmas, and Pharmacyclics’ stock has risen fortyfold since that fateful phone call, turning his stake into a $1.4 billion fortune.
Bob was a recipient of the French Republic Legion of Honor, which was awarded by former French President Jacques Chirac in June of 2000. He has also received a United States Congressman’s Medal of Merit in 1985 from Texas Congressman and former presidential candidate, Ron Paul, M.D.