Biography

Dr. Ekman joined Ultragenyx as a Board member in March of 2016.  Dr. Ekman has more than 30 years of experience in senior executive, scientific, and clinical functions. He is currently an executive partner at Sofinnova Ventures. Dr. Ekman previously served as president of research and development at Elan. He is credited with advancing the company’s pipeline during this period, and under his leadership, Elan received approval for four U.S. New Drug Applications, three European Marketing Authorization Applications and five Investigational New Drug Applications. Prior to joining Elan, Dr. Ekman led research and development at Schwarz Pharma AG, and prior to that, held a variety of senior scientific and clinical roles at Pharmacia (now Pfizer). Dr. Ekman serves as Chairman of Amarin Corporation plc, Sophiris Bio, Inc., and Prothena Corporation plc, and is a director of Spark Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Ekman is a board-certified surgeon with a Ph.D. in Experimental Biology and has held several clinical and academic positions in both the United States and Europe. He obtained his Ph.D. and M.D. from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.