Anthony Adamis MD

Tony Adamis, MD, is Senior Vice President of Development Innovation at Genentech. Prior to that, he was Global Head of Ophthalmology, Immunology, Infectious Disease & Metabolism Clinical Science at Genentech/Roche. Dr. Adamis is best known for his co-discovery of the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in eye disease. In 2000, he co-founded Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, which developed and obtained FDA approval for the first anti-VEGF drug in ophthalmology (neovascular AMD; 2004). Since the introduction of anti-VEGF drugs, the worldwide incidence of blindness from neovascular AMD has been reduced by half. At Genentech (2009 – present), he led the teams that developed and obtained FDA approval for the first anti-VEGF drug to treat diabetic eye disease, retinal vein occlusion, and myopic choroidal neovascularization. Dr. Adamis has been accountable for the development of over 20 drugs across 30 indications in trials involving more than 25,000 patients. Six development programs have received FDA Breakthrough Designation.

Dr. Adamis received his MD with Honors from the University of Chicago. He completed his ophthalmology residency at the University of Michigan and his fellowship at Harvard. His research training in vascular biology was with Dr. Judah Folkman at the Boston Children’s Hospital.