Alejandro Zaffaroni

Alejandro Zaffaroni, 91, an entrepreneur who founded numerous biotechnology companies in Silicon Valley, died at his home in Atherton, Calif., on March 1.

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Zaffaroni received a B.S. from the city’s University of the Republic in 1945 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Rochester, in New York, in 1949.

Zaffaroni joined Syntex, then a small chemical company in Mexico, as a biochemist in 1951. He helped transform Syntex into a major multinational pharmaceutical company and was appointed president of its U.S. subsidiary in 1962.

In 1968, he founded Alza to develop medical treatments involving controlled drug delivery. The firm’s products included NicoDerm CQ for smoking cessation and Transderm Scōp to prevent nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness. Johnson & Johnson acquired the company in 2001.

Between 1980 and 2000, Zaffaroni launched many other companies, including combinatorial-chemistry-focused Affymax and Symyx Technologies; Affymetrix, which develops microarrays used in genetic studies; and Alexza Pharmaceuticals, an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of products designed to provide rapid drug delivery.

Zaffaroni received numerous honors including the National Medal of Technology from President Bill Clinton in 1995.

Zaffaroni and his wife, Lida, established the Zaffaroni Foundation to support humanitarian causes, medical research, and higher education. In his honor, Stanford University established a $10 million financial aid program for Latin American students. Zaffaroni was a member of ACS from 1946 until 2009.

He is survived by his wife; son, Alejandro; daughter, Elisa; and two grandchildren.