Erik Harris, Elan

Erik Harris

Senior Director, Sales and Marketing, Tysabri, Elan

IS BUSY WITH: Newborn twins

BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: The blockbuster growth of Rituxan

I'm a person that loves challenges," says Erik Harris. And it must be true—otherwise, he wouldn't be heading up the sales and marketing effort for Tysabri and it's new Crohn's Disease indication. "The safety issues, and the fact that patients and doctors have to enroll in a RiskMAP to be on it, make it a difficult product to sell," concedes Harris. "But it's worth it because, for some patients, there are no other options."

Erik Harris

Perhaps even more valuable than his previous work experience building the brands of Rituxan and Tarceva at Genentech, are the lessons Harris learned while serving as a naval aviator for the military. "If you can implement ideas and get people to move forward and change things in that bureaucratic system, well then, those skills translate."