HIV Prevention Today: New Advances, New Hope

Dr. Jean van Wyk leads as Chief Medical Officer at ViiV Healthcare with extensive experience in pharmaceutical medical affairs and cross-functional collaboration.

As Chief Medical Officer, Jean is responsible for Regulatory, Safety, and Medical Affairs. His medical affairs experience is backed up by a solid understanding of clinical development activities and experience in early phase research, and he is adept at working at the local, regional, and international levels, having lived in the UK, France, and the US. Along with his previous HIV/virology research experience, he brings a passion for working in the HIV field and a commitment to ensuring access to innovative HIV medicines.

Jean joined ViiV in early 2017 as Global Medical Affairs Director with responsibility for global medical affairs activities related to two of ViiV’s major products, Tivicay^® (dolutegravir) and Triumeq^® (dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine). In this role, his responsibilities include medical education, clinical research, business planning, and supporting the commercial organization from a medical perspective.

Prior to ViiV, Jean gained extensive experience in pharmaceutical medicine in the HIV therapeutic area. Most recently, he held a leadership role at AbbVie in Chicago, where he advanced to Global Medical Affairs Lead and managed a team of global and regional scientific/medical directors in support of HIV and neonatology virology products, including directing strategic planning and execution for global research and development activities. Prior to that he was based in Europe, where he gained experience in medical director and medical advisory positions at Abbott Laboratories in the UK and Paris, including overseeing medical affairs and clinical research activities in Western Europe and Canada. Prior to working at Abbott, Jean was a Senior Research Physician at Richmond Pharmacology Clinical Research Organization) in London. Early in his career he developed his clinical practice skills with roles in general medicine, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and surgery. Throughout his career he has published many peer-reviewed publications and acted as expert peer reviewer for several journals.

Jean received his MB, ChB in 1999 from the University of the Orange Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and completed Specialist Accreditation in Pharmaceutical Medicine in 2010 with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians, UK. His medical internship was completed at Victoria Hospital Wynberg in Cape Town, followed by a community service officer position in general medicine, anesthesia, and hospital rotation at Kimberley Hospital Comlex & Postmasburg Hospital in South Africa.

Jean lives in Maidenhead near London, UK, with his husband. He is an avid fantasy and science fiction reader, and recently started gardening. A secret ambition for Jean is to win the Great British Bake Off; however, he says he is just now learning how to switch on the oven.