Drug Discovery Team
- Matthew J. Wyvratt, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery
- Mark L. Greenlee, Ph.D., Executive Director, Medicinal Chemistry
- Simon K. Kearsley, Ph.D., Executive Director, Computational Chemistry
- Jerauld S. Skotnicki, Ph.D., Executive Director, Medicinal Chemistry
- Malcolm MacCoss, Ph.D., FRSC, Consultant
- John M. Amatruda, M.D., Consultant, Clinical Development
- James N. Livingston, Ph.D., Consultant, Biology
- James S. MacDonald, Ph.D., Consultant, Toxicology
- D. Euan MacIntyre, Ph.D., Consultant, Pharmacology
- Gerald T. Miwa, Ph.D., Consultant, Drug Metabolism
- P. Kalyanaraman, Ph.D., J.D., Consultant, Intellectual Property
Matthew J. Wyvratt, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery
Matthew Wyvratt concluded a distinguished career of over 30 years at Merck Research Laboratories in late 2008. His achievements include playing a significant role on the teams which developed two major drug classes: angiotensin-converting inhibitors (Vasotec™ and Prinivil™), and DPP-IV inhibitors (Januvia™) Dr. Wyvratt also made important contributions to several other research projects including coccidiostats, growth promoters, immunoregulants, growth hormone secretagogues, antiobesity agents, and gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonists. Over his career, Dr. Wyvratt was associated with over 20 pre-clinical candidates and is the inventor of 83 issued U.S. patents. Dr. Wyvratt is the author or co-author of 125 publications. In 2008, he received the Duquesne University Distinguished Alumni Award. Dr. Wyvratt received a Ph.D in Organic Chemistry from Ohio State University.
Mark L. Greenlee, Ph.D., Executive Director, Medicinal Chemistry
Mark Greenlee is a highly experienced medicinal chemist who has led drug discovery teams in a variety of therapeutic areas including infectious diseases, women’s health and inflammation. Over a 25 year career at Merck Research Laboratories, Dr. Greenlee’s experience in drug discovery spanned a broad spectrum from early stage lead identification and lead optimization through the advancement of candidates into clinical development. A significant focus of Dr. Greenlee’s research was in the area of novel antifungal and antibacterial agents including enfumafungin-based antifungal agents, metallo-beta-lactamase inhibitors and anti-MRSA carbapenems. He also made important contributions to projects directed at glucocorticoid receptor modulators for inflammation and estrogen receptor-beta agonists for menopausal symptoms Over his career, Dr. Greenlee made enabling contributions to eight preclinical development compounds, five of which advanced into clinical trials. He is the author of 16 publications and co-inventor of 32 issued U.S. patents. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Columbia University.
Simon K. Kearsley, Ph.D., Executive Director, Computational Chemistry
Simon Kearsley has over 25 years of experience in computational chemistry, molecular modeling and new modeling methods at Merck Research Laboratories. His expertise includes chemical database mining, modeling and software algorithm development, high performance computing, systems infrastructure, and the application of modeling tools to drug discovery projects. Dr. Kearsley received a Ph.D. in physical-organic chemistry from Cambridge University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University.
Jerauld S. Skotnicki, Ph.D., Executive Director, Medicinal Chemistry
Jerauld Skotnicki spent more than 30 years at Wyeth Research (now Pfizer), with individual contributions impacting programs in several therapeutic areas including Infectious Diseases and Immuno-inflammatory diseases. Dr. Skotnicki’s achievements include the design and synthesis of novel rapamycin analogs culminating in the discovery of Torisel™ (temsirolimus, CCI-779). As Director, Medicinal Chemistry, his department led programs in Infectious Diseases, Oncology, and most notably in the Inflammation and Musculoskeletal Diseases area, resulting in the discovery of several Preclinical Candidates. As Senior Director, Chemical Sciences Interface, Dr. Skotnicki provided scientific leadership to the Discovery Synthetic Chemistry and the Physical Chemical Characterization groups, with primary responsibility for research activities at the juncture of Discovery and Development. In his most recent position as Senior Director and Head of External Chemistry, he was responsible for the Wyeth-GVKBio partnership involving 150 FTEs. Dr. Skotnicki received the Thomas Edison Patent Award (2004) and the American Chemical Society’s Heroes of Chemistry Award (2008) for his contributions to the development of Torisel™. He is the author or co-author of 65 publications and co-inventor of 43 issued U.S. patents. Dr. Skotnicki received a Ph.D degree in Chemistry from Princeton University.
Malcolm MacCoss, Ph.D., FRSC
Malcolm MacCoss has had a distinguished career in chemistry over the past 30 years in two major pharmaceutical companies. He retired as Group Vice President for Chemical Research at Schering Plough earlier this year, and previously spent over 25 years at Merck Research Laboratories, including five years as Vice President of Basic Chemistry and Drug Discovery Sciences. During this period, teams under Dr. MacCoss’ leadership produced approximately 100 preclinical drug candidates. Dr. MacCoss led the medicinal chemistry group that synthesized the first oral Substance P antagonist, Emend™ for the treatment of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, for which he and his colleagues were awarded the Thomas Edison Award in 2004. In 2007, Dr. MacCoss was awarded a second Thomas Edison award for his contributions to the discovery of Januvia™, the first approved DPP-IV inhibitor for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. He was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2008 and was inducted into the American Chemical Society Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame in 2009. Dr. MacCoss has authored or co-authored over 150 publications and is an inventor on 93 issued U.S. patents. Dr. MacCoss received his Ph.d in Organic Chemistry from the University of Birmingham (UK) and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta (Canada). Dr. MacCoss is a Director of Idera Pharmaceuticals and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of ShangPharma Corporation. He also serves on the Advisory Council of the Executive Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University and the Advisory Board of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University.
John M. Amatruda, M.D.
John Amatruda is a senior pharmaceutical research executive, and the former Senior Vice President and Franchise Head for Diabetes and Obesity at Merck Research Laboratories. In this executive position he had responsibility for compounds from target discovery to patent expiration, including basic research, experimental medicine, clinical development, external alliances and licensing. Dr. Amatruda led drug development groups in Diabetes, Obesity, Atherosclerosis and Cardiovascular Disease. These groups filed four worldwide submissions. Under Dr. Amatruda’s leadership, the development program and regulatory approvals of Januvia™ and Janumet™ - the first compounds in the important class of DPP-IV inhibitors for Type 2 diabetes- were successfully initiated and completed. Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Amatruda was Vice President and Therapeutic Area Head for Metabolic Disorders research at Bayer for 10 years. Dr. Amatruda has also had a successful career in academic medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and was Principal Investigator on several NIH funded research projects. Dr. Amatruda is often published in leading peer reviewed journals and has served as a reviewer for several journals including Diabetes Care and JCEM. Dr. Amatruda was educated at Yale University and The Medical College of Wisconsin, and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine and fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
James N. Livingston, Ph.D.
James Livingston is a biologist with experience in a broad spectrum of metabolic and endocrine disorders. As Vice President of Biology for the GlaxoSmithKline Metabolic Center of Excellence in Drug Discovery, Dr. Livingston led a team of biologists and discovery medicine clinical researchers working on projects in Type 1 & 2 diabetes, obesity and muscle wasting. Dr. Livingston also headed the Duke/GSK biomarker consortium for Metabolic Diseases that led to the discovery of biological markers for diabetes and obesity. Before joining GSK, Dr. Livingston was Vice President of Metabolic Diseases at Bayer Pharmaceuticals where he and his team of researchers developed an average of two candidates each year for clinical development. Before joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Livingston had a successful career in academic medicine with positions at Yale, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Rochester Medical School. Dr. Livingston is the author or co-author of over 90 scientific publications. Dr. Livingston received his Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University.
James S. MacDonald, Ph.D.
Until his retirement in 2008, James MacDonald was Executive Vice President, Preclinical Development, at Schering- Plough Research Institute. Over a 15 year period at Schering-Plough, Dr. MacDonald was responsible for directing activities surrounding the movement of new potential therapeutic entities from discovery research into and through the development process. This role encompassed all therapeutic areas as well as licensing and acquisition programs. Several hundred compounds were evaluated during this tenure, with dozens entering clinical trials, several currently marketed globally, and many more continuing in development. His direct line responsibility during this tenure was for the toxicology and drug metabolism groups which built on his previous experience at Merck. In this earlier role, Dr. MacDonald spent 17 years Merck Research Laboratories, ending as Executive Director of Toxicology, and had extensive experience with many important, currently marketed medicines. Dr. MacDonald is the founder and President of Chrysalis Pharma Consulting, an organization which facilitates the development of innovative new medicines with a focus on bringing new molecular entities through late stage lead optimization through initial human testing to clinical proof of concept. Dr. MacDonald received a Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Cincinatti and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University.
D. Euan MacIntyre, Ph.D.
Euan MacIntyre is the former Vice President, Basic Research-Pharmacology, at Merck Research Laboratories and currently Senior Vice President and Head of Drug Discovery at Arete Therapeutics. His experience in drug discovery over the past 24 years includes the design, coordination and execution of assays to report indices of pharmacodynamics, efficacy and tolerability of lead compounds. He has significant expertise in the translational aspects of pre-clinical pharmacology and has provided leadership for programs in several therapeutic areas including Immunology/ Rheumatology, Respiratory, Obesity, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, Endocrinology, Urology and Pain. He and his group at Merck made significant contributions to the early development of important marketed drugs including Januvia™ and Emend™, and to identifying the mechanism of action of Zetia. Dr. MacIntyre is the author or co-author of over 140 publications and patents in the area of pharmacology and its application to drug discovery. Dr. MacIntyre received a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Experimental Pathology from Cambridge University and completed post-doctoral fellowships at Cambridge and Harvard Universities.
Gerald T. Miwa, Ph.D.
Dr. Gerald Miwa is a consultant in the field of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) and is President of Nextcea, Inc., a company devoted to the identification and utilization of biomarkers for drug efficacy and toxicity. Prior to his appointment at Nextcea he was Vice President of DMPK at Millennium Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, MA where he was responsible for the accurate translation of preclinical DMPK to humans to ensure adequate exposure in patients, the minimization of drug-drug interactions, and anticipating toxicities arising from drug metabolites. During his career, Dr. Miwa directly contributed to the discovery, development and registration of a number of drugs including: Ivermectins, Zofran, Ultiva, Zocor, Sustiva and Velcade. Dr. Miwa also led numerous research programs to develop new methods for evaluating the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of drugs and the biochemical basis for their toxicities. Dr. Miwa completed his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at the University of California, San Diego, his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Hoffmann La Roche. Dr. Miwa was the head of DMPK at Millennium, DuPont, and Glaxo Pharmaceutical companies and a research scientist at Merck and Hoffmann La Roche companies.
P. Kalyanaraman, Ph.D., J.D., Consultant, Intellectual Property
Dr. Palaiyur S. Kalyanaraman (“Kaly”) is an Intellectual Property attorney with more than 20 years legal experience in the pharmaceutical, polymer and chemical industries.
Before joining Motif, Kaly served as Senior Director-Patents, for Merck & Company (formerly Schering-Plough Corporation), where he was in charge of all chemistry patent activities. His responsibilities included pharmaceutical patent application preparation and prosecution, preparation of patentability, infringement and validity opinions, due diligence for licensing, as well as managing a team of eight patent attorneys. He was responsible for patent protection for Schering’s global drug discovery programs and chemistry-related development activities in therapy areas such as cardiovascular, central nervous system, oncology, infectious diseases, allergy, respiratory diseases, immunology and inflammation. He has more than 200 granted US patents and several more internationally. Earlier, as Associate General Counsel for Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Kaly was responsible for intellectual property activities for the advanced technology division.
Prior to entering the legal profession, Kaly worked as a scientist for Hoechst Celanese Corp., Rohm & Haas Co., and Polaroid Corp. in fields relating to pharmaceuticals, semiconductor processing, specialty chemicals, polymer chemistry, adhesives, coatings, optical materials, data storage, dyes and lithography. He is an inventor on 15 patents and author/coauthor of 27 technical publications.