Michael R. Hayden PhD

Michael Hayden is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Prilenia. Before this, he was the President of Global R&D and Chief Scientific Officer at Teva from 2012 to 2017. During this time, he led the approval of 35 new products in major markets, with many for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). In 2015, Teva R&D was recognized as one of the 10 most exciting innovators in pharma by IDEA Pharma, and in 2017, Teva R&D ranked at the top of the industry for CNS development and clinical study success rate by Pharma Intelligence. Michael is also a Killam Professor at the University of British Columbia and a Senior Scientist at the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics.

In Ken McGoogan’s book ‘50 Canadians Who Changed the World’, Michael was named one of the 50 Canadians born in the 20th century who have changed the world. Michael is the co-founder of 5 biotechnology companies, including Prilenia, NeuroVir Therapeutics, Inc., Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corp, and 89bio, Inc. He currently sits on different public and private boards of biotechnology companies.

Author of approximately 900 peer-reviewed publications and invited submissions, Michael has focused his research primarily on translational medicine, including genetics of diabetes, lipoprotein disorders, Huntington's disease, predictive, personalized medicine, and drug development. Michael and his research group have identified 10 disease-causing genes, which include the identification of the major gene underlying high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in humans. Michael also identified the first mutations underlying lipoprotein lipase (LPL) deficiency and developed gene therapy approaches to treat this condition, resulting in the first approved gene therapy product (Glybera) in a major market. Michael is the most cited author in the world on ABCA1 and Huntington’s disease. Michael is committed to empowering others. In addition to mentoring more than 100 graduate students and postdocs, he is also a TED mentor.