Primary Job Title CEO & Chairman Primary Organization 
Navigen
Location Salt Lake City, Utah, United States Regions Western US Gender Male
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Hunter Jackson is co-founder and chairman of the board of Navigen, Inc. He currently is also chairman of A6 Pharmaceuticals. Hunter was co-founder and served as chairman and CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NPSP) from 1986 to 2006. Three products were brought forward during Hunter's tenure at NPS. The first product, Sensipar®, was
launched in 2004 for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism and hypercalcemia. It is marketed by Amgen in the U.S. and Europe and by Kyowa Hakko Kirin in Asia, and generates annual sales of over $2 billion. NPS's second product, Natpara®, an injectable synthetic hormone approved for treatment of hypoparathyroidism, is marketed by Shire. The company's third product, Gattex®, an injectable peptide for the treatment of short bowel syndrome, was launched worldwide in 2013. NPS was acquired by Shire in 2015 for $5.2B.
Hunter was a member of the Governing Authority of the Utah Science, Technology, and Research Economic Development Initiative (USTAR) from 2006-2012. He received the 1998 Ernst & Young Utah Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the 2002 Utah Governor's Medal for Science and Technology, and the 2017 BioUtah Willem J. Kolff Lifetime Achievement Award.
Hunter has a BA in American Literature from the University of Illinois, a PhD in Psychobiology from Yale University and did his postdoctoral work in the Neurosurgery Department at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Prior to co-founding NPS, he was on the faculty of the University of Utah School of Medicine, conducting research in the field of developmental neurobiology.
