Altos Labs

James leads Drug Discovery functions across Chemistry, DMPK, and Structural Biology at Altos Labs. He brings medicinal chemistry experience across pharma, biotech, and academic collaborations, with a track record spanning project conception, portfolio entry, and delivery of clinical candidates, including fenebrutinib, currently in Phase 3 trials. His expertise spans modalities and technologies including targeted protein degradation, fragment-based discovery, DNA-encoded libraries, and computationally driven design. Prior to Altos, James spent thirteen years at Genentech, culminating as Senior Director and Distinguished Scientist, leading chemistry across the Ophthalmology, Metabolic Disease, Neuroscience, Inflammation, and Infectious Disease portfolio. He began his industry career at AstraZeneca, focused on respiratory and inflammation diseases, early-stage hit finding, and project leadership. James earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and was a Fulbright Commission Postdoctoral Scholar at The Scripps Research Institute. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2017, received the Capps Green Zomaya Medal, and held the RSC BMCS Lectureship.