Eric A. Muth, Director of Business Development,  managed Wyeth’s drug discovery biology effort in CNS; discovery target assessment, screening, compound optimization in liaison with medicinal chemistry, and resource allocation & budgeting; and grew the laboratory from approximately 20 to 45 biological scientists.  He co-invented Effexor XR®, which achieved peak annual sales for Wyeth of over $3 billion.  Dr. Muth contributed to screening, discovery, development, and marketing efforts, and wrote non-clinical sections of global regulatory documentation.  His group advanced two antipsychotic compounds to Phase 0 (carvotroline) and Phase I (gevotroline) development and two anxiolytic/antidepressant compounds (adatanserin, zalospirone) to Phase II development.  Dr. Muth led a cross-functional discovery/development team to accelerate and optimize movement of compounds (all therapeutic areas) from discovery into development.  He served on the CNS Therapeutic Area Council, which identified and in-licensed retigabine, an anticonvulsant from Asta Medica (1996); Fiblast®, a basic FGF for stroke from Scios (1996); and Co 2-6749 (GMA-839), a neurosteroid anxiolytic from CoCensys (1997).  As a licensing professional, he negotiated several neuroscience research collaborations and out-licensed lixivaptan, currently in Phase III for congestive heart failure, and adatanserin for anxiety and depression.  He currently consults independently in the pharma/biotech area.  Dr. Muth received his A.B. in Biological Sciences (Neurobiology and Behavior) from Cornell University, his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the George Washington University, and was trained in Neuropharmacology at the NIMH Laboratory of Clinical Science.  He spent 18 years in CNS/Neuroscience Drug Discovery with Wyeth, ultimately as Director, CNS Pharmacology, followed by 6 years in neuroscience licensing as Senior Director, Licensing in Wyeth's Global Business Development group.  

William A. Kinney, CSO and Director of Chemistry, is a medicinal chemist with 25 years of experience in both biotechnology (Magainin Pharmaceuticals) and large pharmaceutical companies (Wyeth, Johnson & Johnson).  He has demonstrated expertise in drug design, synthesis, and lead optimization of peptides and small molecules, and has advanced three molecules into the clinic – Perzinfotel (CNS disorders and pain), Squalamine (oncology and AMD), and Trodusquemine (obesity).  He has investigated therapies for diseases of the central nervous system, pain, inflammation, infection, oncology, metabolism, the eye, and the cardiovascular system.  As Director of Chemistry at Magainin, he led the chemical development of squalamine, an antibiotic steroid isolated from the shark. He was the chemistry leader on the IND project team, delivering drug substance to launch a Phase I clinical trial in oncology.  The squalamine cGMP scale-up campaign required building and leading an internal research group of synthetic chemists, partnering with analytical chemistry on method development and stability studies, working with multiple domestic and international collaborators, and writing the CMC section of the IND. 

 Michael R. Brandt, Director of Pharmacology, is a Psychopharmacologist with over 10 years of drug discovery and development experience in large pharma (Wyeth and Johnson & Johnson).  Dr. Brandt has a broad neuroscience background with therapeutic expertise related to the etiology, mechanisms, treatments and models of pain, drug addition, psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.  He has lead numerous multi-disciplinary teams for the planning, designing and implementation of research strategies, establishing milestones and meeting programmatic goals delivering several small molecules into Phase II proof-of-concept (POC) clinical trials.  He experience includes project management and developing partnerships with contract research organizations and academic institutions focusing on drug discovery in a virtual environment.  Proficiencies includes medical / scientific writing, verbal communication and generation of quality presentations with numerous manuscript publications (30), scientific presentations (>40) and patent applications (6) related to drug discovery and development, central nervous system disorders and analgesia. Dr. Brandt received his B.A. in Psychology from Hope College, Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans and completed his post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School at McLean Hospital.  Dr. Brandt is the recipient of several accolades, including American Psychological Association’s Young Psychopharmacologist Award and Service awards at both Wyeth and J&J.