Frank Watanabe

Frank Watanabe is the president and chief executive officer of Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQT), a commercial‑stage medical dermatology company. Mr. Watanabe has extensive experience across general management, marketing, sales management, and business development in the United States, as well as international and global markets. Under his leadership, Arcutis grew from a private company with three employees into a commercial‑stage public company with more than 425 employees, and he has raised more than $1.25 billion in private and public financings. Arcutis received its first FDA approval in 2022 and has since secured six FDA approvals, as well as four Health Canada approvals.

Prior to joining Arcutis, Mr. Watanabe was co‑founder and chief operating officer of Kanan Therapeutics, a cardiovascular drug development company. Before that, he served as vice president of strategy and corporate development at Kythera Biopharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career, he was an executive at Amgen, Inc., where he was involved in the development of Repatha® for hyperlipidemia and Aimovig® for migraine. He previously held executive roles at Eli Lilly and Company and served as an official in the U.S. government. He was also a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve for 25 years.

Mr. Watanabe is a member of the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and co‑chairs the BIO advocacy working group. He earned an MA in National Security Studies and a BA in International Relations, both from Georgetown University.