James Tyree is executive vice president, Pharmaceutical Products Group. Tyree first joined Abbott from 1978 until 1979 as a business analyst for a year. He rejoined the company in June 1997 and has been in various management positions including divisional vice president and general manager for Abbott's international division in Japan. He recently served as vice president, global licensing/new business development in the Pharmaceutical Products Division and as senior vice president, Pharmaceutical Operations. He assumed his current role in 2007. Prior to re-joining Abbott in 1997, Tyree was president of Sugen Inc., a biotechnology start-up company and held various leadership positions at other pharmaceutical companies.