Tony Coles has degrees from Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Duke. He’s a cardiologist by training and practiced medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He’s a Big Pharma veteran, having spent time in executive positions at Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
But Coles is probably best known for his work in the biotech world. He led NPS Pharmaceuticals for a time, and then in early 2008, he was named CEO of Onyx Pharmaceuticals. It’s in this role that Coles really left his mark. He took over as CEO of the cancer drug maker when it was on some shaky ground with investors and its partner, the German pharma giant Bayer.
