William Rastetter

William H. Rastetter (born 1948), a scientist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, is the chair of Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ), of Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ), and of Daré Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ) in San Diego, California. He also serves on the board of Iambic Therapeutics (private). He was a founding board member and investor in GRAIL, Inc. in Menlo Park, California, and served for a period as the company's interim CEO (2017) and chair (2017–2018). Rastetter also served as a director of Regulus Therapeutics (2013-2025) through its acquisition by Novartis. He was a partner in the venture firm Venrock (2006–2013), and a trustee at Caltech (2015–2018). He has served as a director (1998–2016) and as chair of Illumina (2005–2016). He advised SVB Leerink (2014–2019) and currently advises Illumina Ventures (since 2016). Between 1986 and 2003, Rastetter held positions as President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and director at IDEC Pharmaceuticals. At IDEC, Rastetter was a co-inventor of and developed Rituxan, the first monoclonal antibody (MAB) to be approved by the U.S. FDA for cancer therapy. In 2003, Idec merged with Biogen to form the third largest biotech firm in the United States. Rastetter was Executive Chair of the new company, Biogen IDEC, from 2003 to 2005. Rastetter was also a co-founder, interim CEO and chairman of Receptos, Inc. a biopharmaceutical company which was bought by Celgene Corporation in 2015. Rastetter has been described as an "omnipotent biotech force" by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals CEO John Maraganore and as an "industry legend" who has deep biotechnology expertise.