Chris E. Rivera joined the WBBA as President in 2009, bringing more more than two decades of commercial, licensing and general management experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Rivera is dedicated to seeing the life sciences industry thrive while creating new jobs and companies. Rivera was the founder and CEO of Hyperion Therapeutics, a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused in the development and commercialization of therapies for gastroenterology and hepatology diseases.  Prior to starting Hyperion, he was Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at Tercica, Inc., where he was responsible for developing and overseeing Tercica's global commercialization strategies and was intimately involved in the development and consummation of an international cross-licensing collaboration with Ipsen.  As Senior Vice President of Genzyme Therapeutics, Rivera was largely responsible for building the company's U.S. renal division and assisted in the launch of Renagel® (sevelamer hydrochloride) globally.  Earlier in his career, he helped build the initial commercial organizations at Centocor and Cephalon.  A Washington state resident since 1985, Rivera holds a Master of Science degree in Audiology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center; a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from Northwestern Oklahoma State University; and studied Marketing and Management at the Albers Graduate School of Business and Economics at Seattle University.