Mike is a seasoned pharma R&D professional with proven success inventing, assessing, and developing small molecule therapeutics for global Pre-Clinical and Clinical Development ventures. He is the founder of Metys Pharmaceuticals AG, which was sold to Novaremed AG in September 2021.Mike has thirty years of experience and extensive expertise in preclinical, clinical and regulatory matters of global drug development programs for small molecules across therapeutic areas of Neuroscience, Immunology, Cardiovascular, and Endocrinology. He is a committed and trust-worthy leader of global development teams, with proven decision-making abilities. His persistent and accomplished pitch-writing and presenting raising venture funding and non-dilutive grants from private, corporate and government funding sources. Mike is a senior pharma R&D expert inspired by the creative application of novel ideas to improve and widen therapeutic options for patients. He is capable of unifying complex teams and inspiring their collaborative and cooperative advancement of sophisticated development efforts. He is able to grasp and communicate complex, high-volume scientific and business data to diverse audiences.Mike is passionate about the past success and the future promise of rational drug design and development.Mike managed the drug development and drug discovery activities at Metys Pharmaceuticals, and spear-headed the company’s search for investors. He was co-inventor for Metys’ MP-101, a re-patented orally-active Phase 2-ready glutamate signaling modulator; MP-101 is now in preparation for a Phase 2 clinical trial for prevention of chemotherapy-induced sensory symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. He is also co-inventor for MP-102, a patent-pending non-racemic mixture of the levetiracetam enantiomers (intended for use in epilepsy & seizures); and for MP-103, a patent-pending non-racemic mixture of the unifiram enantiomers (intended for use in pain or depression).Mike was vice president and life cycle leader at Actelion, leading multi-disciplinary drug development teams from preclinical to Phase 3 stages of development. Prior to Actelion, Mike was section head of cardiac research at Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; and post-doc in the CNS drug discovery chemistry group at Hoffman-La Roche AG in Basel, Switzerland. Mike graduated in 1989 from the University of Oregon with a PhD in synthetic and medicinal chemistry.