Santen CEO resigns as company prepares to focus on U.S. market

Napa, CA-Adrienne L. Graves, PhD, who led Santen Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., has resigned as its president and chief executive officer (CEO).

He will remain in Japan, while day-to-day activities will be managed by newly appointed Chief Operating Officer Akihiro Tsujimura, who is relocating to Napa, said company spokesman Mike Ford. Tsujimura most recently was the Santen Pharmaceutical's head of business development.

Ford said Dr. Graves leaves on amiable terms and will continue to work with Santen through a consulting relationship as a strategic adviser on the U.S. market.

She will work to develop relationships with key opinion leaders, make introductions on behalf of senior management in Japan, and continue her full involvement in various industry boards.

"The decision to resign was totally Dr. Graves' decision," he said. "It was a personal decision that she made."

An active member of the ophthalmic industry, she co-founded Ophthalmic Women Leaders with Marguerite B. McDonald, MD, and serves on the board of directors of TearLab Corp., and the boards of the American Academy of Ophthalmology Foundation, the Pan-American Ophthalmological Foundation, the Glaucoma Research Foundation, and the Corporation Committee for the Brown University Medical School.