Michael R. Hayden

Dr. Hayden is the CEO of Prilenia. Prior to this, he was the President of Global R&D and Chief Scientific Officer at Teva from 2012-2017. During this time he led the approval of 35 new products in major markets with many for diseases of the 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 top of the industry for CNS development and clinical trial success rate by Pharma Intelligence. He is also a Killam Professor at the University of British Columbia and a Senior Scientist at the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics.

Dr. Hayden was named one of the 50 Canadians born in the 20th century who have changed the world. Dr. Hayden is the co-founder of five biotechnology companies including Prilenia, NeuroVir Therapeutics Inc., Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corp and 89bio. He currently sits on different public and private boards of biotechnologies companies.

Author of approximately 900 peer-reviewed publications and invited submissions, Dr. Hayden has focused his research primarily on translational medicine, including genetics of diabetes, lipoprotein disorders, Huntington disease, predictive, personalized medicine, and drug development. Dr. Hayden 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. Dr. Hayden 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. Dr. Hayden is the most cited author in the world on ABCA1, and Huntington Disease.

Dr. Hayden is the recipient of numerous prestigious honors and awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2017. He was named one of PharmaVoice’s “100 of the Most Inspiring People” (2015); awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science by the University of Gottingen (2014); the Luminary award by the Personalized Medicine World Conference (2014); the Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), on behalf of HRH Queen Elisabeth II, in recognition of his significant contributions and achievements; the Margolese National Brain Disorder Prize (2011), awarded to Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to the treatment, amelioration, or cure of brain diseases; the Killam Prize by the Canada Council of the Arts (2011), in recognition of his outstanding career achievements; and the Canada Gairdner Wightman award (2011), recognizing him as a physician-scientist who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in medicine and medical science. Dr. Hayden has also been awarded the Order of Canada (2011), and the Order of British Columbia (2010). He was named Canada’s Health Researcher of the Year by CIHR (NIH of Canada) in 2008, and he received the Prix Galien in 2007, which recognizes the outstanding contribution of a researcher to Canadian pharmaceutical research.

Dr. Hayden is committed to empowering others. In addition to mentoring over 100 graduate students and postdocs, he is also a TED mentor.