Meet Mark Eisner: An Interview with Vir's New EVP and Chief Medical Officer

At Vir, we're proud to have a team of talented and passionate individuals who are dedicated to transforming the field of infectious diseases. One of our newest executive management team members, Mark Eisner, brings a wealth of experience and expertise that will support Vir as we enter our next phase of clinical and regulatory milestones.

To help us get to know Mark better, we asked him five questions about his background, interests, and what brought him to Vir. So, join us as we get to know Mark and what drives him to make a difference in the lives of patients.

What brought you to Vir?

I am excited to join Vir because of the transformative science, amazing talented people, and innovative pipeline.?I am inspired by Vir’s focus on the interplay between virology, immunology, and human disease.? I am excited to join a company with deep expertise and capability in these areas.?Developing Actemra for severe COVID pneumonia, I saw first-hand how manipulating the immune system led to better patient outcomes.?I’m also inspired by the opportunities we will have to expand into new therapeutic areas.

Tell us about yourself

I was born in New York City and grew up in suburban Long Island.?I left New York to go to college at Stanford University and found my new home in California.?I met my future spouse and we went back to the East Coast to the University of Pennsylvania for graduate studies (medicine for me, clinical psychology for her).?As much as we enjoyed Philadelphia, we were immediately scheming to get back to San Francisco. We returned back to SF in 1992 and haven’t looked back.

My personal interests include walking, hiking, running, and anything that takes me outdoors. I’ve done my share of long distance and trail running which remains a passion (when my tendons and ligaments allow for it).?I enjoy film, ranging from the latest chapter in the Dune or Planet of the Apes series to more artistic or experimental work like Tarkovsky’s Stalker.

It’s 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Where would we find you and what would you be doing?

We fell in love with San Francisco because of the natural beauty of the Bay combined with the quirky Victorian aesthetic of homes that line the hills and staircases of the city.?So on a Saturday morning I’d likely be outside taking a long walk, going for a run, or going hiking.?

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up? What drew you to the field of science and eventually the biopharma industry?

I was always drawn to science from a young age.?As a 6th-grader, I was fascinated by a fetal pig dissection that we did in class, and I avidly pursued science through high school. In college, I gravitated to medicine because of my strong interest in science and desire to make a difference for people.

I entered medicine thinking that I would contribute to public health by taking care of individual patients.?After medical school, I trained in internal medicine and pulmonary and critical care medicine.?As I learned more about clinical research, I became passionate about answering clinical questions that can help populations of patients.?As a UCSF faculty, I established a research program focused on health outcomes in patients with obstructive lung disease and conducted clinical trials in the ICU focused on acute respiratory distress syndrome.?After 10 years on the faculty, I joined Genentech excited about the opportunity to increase the scope of my impact on helping patients who need better medicines to treat their conditions.?After 11 years, I left to join the biotech world which has been challenging, fun, and inspiring.

Do you have a personal mantra or mission statement that has motivated you or guided you throughout your career?

I have always found that putting patient needs front-and-center helps me to make decisions.?Whenever I have been faced with a difficult decision or trade-off, I have always found the patient lens to help me to cut through the murk and clarify what needs to be done.