leon nanodrugs GmbH appoints pharma expert Michael Mehler, Sc.D. as new CEO of the Munich based company and its U.S. subsidiary leon-nanodrugs Inc, effective today. He succeeds Dr. Theron (Ted) Odlaug who will continue to serve the company in the Supervisory Board, as was agreed at the beginning of 2016.
Dr. Michael Mehler brings to leon-nanodrugs over 25 years of experience holding significant leadership roles in the international pharma and biotechnology industries. In his previous tenure he was the CEO of SpePharm AG, Lucerne, a pan-European specialty pharma company focused on high-value specialty hospital products. Prior to that he led Riemser Arzneimittel AG, today Riemser Pharma GmbH, Greifswald, as CEO from 2009 to 2014 and guided the company through the sale to AXA Private Equity, today Ardian, in 2012. From 2003 to 2009 he served Actelion Pharmaceuticals, (Allschwil) in several senior executive roles, Michael started his long-time international career at Merck/MSD and Novartis. Michael graduated in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University in Darmstadt and holds a Doctor’s degree (Dr. rer. nat; Sc.D.) in Biochemistry from the University of Mainz.
Dr. Hubert Birner, Chairman of the leon Board and Managing Partner at TVM Capital Life Science commented “We welcome Michael to lead leon nanodrugs on our joint journey to continued growth and internationalization. We know Michael as a very experienced executive and look forward to working with him. We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to Ted who did a tremendously impressing job – he will obviously bring his valuable expertise to the Board in his new role and continue to complement our management team.”
Michael Mehler added: “I am delighted to join the leon team and I am grateful for the faith of the Board and shareholders in me. I am convinced that our proprietary nano technology has an enormous potential to not only successfully reformulate established and new active molecules but by doing so to bring relevant advantages to patients, enabling us to take leadership in this re-formulation market.”
leon-nanodrugs GmbH, headquartered in Munich, is a nanotechnology-based drug development company focused on reformulations and reinventions of drugs on a contract or co-development basis. The core business is the reformulations to develop novel oral and parenteral formulations and innovative drug combinations, which have not been possible in the past due to low bioavailability caused by low solubility of APIs. The 2014 CPhI Pharma Awards for Best Innovation in Formulation was won by MJR PharmJet GmbH, leon nanodrugs’ reformulation service partner for its patented nanotechnology. The company also has partnership with CoreRX in Clearwater, Florida.