Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. announced the appointment of Eric Olson as chief business officer and executive vice president effective September 22, 2025, marking a strategic leadership transition as the rare disease specialist continues to expand its therapeutic pipeline. The appointment follows the planned retirement of Thomas Kassberg after 14 years with the company.
Strategic Leadership Transition
Emil D. Kakkis, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer and president of Ultragenyx, emphasized the significance of both the outgoing and incoming leadership. "We thank Tom for his 14 years of impactful contributions to Ultragenyx, including transformative business deals that helped build the largest clinical pipeline in rare disease; expanded our reach to patients with fatty acid oxidation diseases, X-linked hypophosphatemia, osteogenesis imperfecta, and Angelman syndrome; and supported our entry into gene therapy," Kakkis stated.
The CEO highlighted Olson's qualifications for advancing the company's mission: "As we look ahead, Eric's expertise leading business development and strategic partnering is ideally suited to support our mission to bring forward new therapies to address rare diseases that have never before been treated."
Extensive Industry Experience
Olson brings nearly two decades of experience in the biopharma industry as a business development leader, with particular expertise in rare diseases. His track record includes leading or supporting more than $15 billion in both buy-side and sell-side aggregate transaction value across multiple investigational therapies.
Most recently, Olson served as CBO at Stoke Therapeutics, where he led all aspects of Stoke's landmark ex-North America partnership with Biogen for zorevunersen. Prior to that role, he held the position of vice president, head of business development, at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, where his accomplishments included securing a $2.8 billion co-development and co-commercialization collaboration with Roche to develop zilebesiran, a novel siRNA for hypertension, and a $2 billion strategic financing with Blackstone.
His career progression also includes serving as vice president and head of Rare Disease and Immunology Global Business Development at Takeda, a position he assumed following Takeda's acquisition of Shire plc. Earlier in his career, he held various business development, venture capital and strategy roles of increasing responsibility at Genzyme Corporation.
Educational Background and Early Career
Olson's academic credentials include a B.A. in zoology from Connecticut College, an M.S. in cellular and molecular biology from New York University, and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Before entering the industry, he worked as an investment banking analyst and associate, and served as a research assistant at the Yale University School of Medicine.
Vision for Ultragenyx
Expressing his enthusiasm for the new role, Olson stated: "Ultragenyx has an incredible reputation as a leader in the biopharma industry that solves scientific, development and commercial hurdles to accelerate innovation in rare diseases. I became a believer in the company's future while leading Genzyme's investment in its Series B financing and have followed its progress as it brought forward its four commercial therapies and built the most diverse pipeline in rare disease."
He added: "I look forward to working with Emil, the leadership team and the board as the company continues to make a profound impact on the lives of patients and families impacted by serious genetic diseases."
Company Focus and Strategy
Ultragenyx positions itself as a biopharmaceutical company committed to bringing novel therapies to patients for the treatment of serious rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases. The company has built a diverse portfolio of approved medicines and treatment candidates aimed at addressing diseases with high unmet medical need and clear biology, for which there are typically no approved therapies treating the underlying disease.
The company's strategy is predicated upon time- and cost-efficient drug development, with the goal of delivering safe and effective therapies to patients with the utmost urgency. Under Olson's leadership, the business development function will be responsible for corporate development and alliance management functions that support this mission.
