Michael Van Zandt
Director
Discovery Chemistry
Thetis Pharmaceuticals LLC
United States of America
Biography
Michael Van Zandt, PhDDirector, Discovery Chemistry Dr. Van Zandt is an accomplished synthetic organic and medicinal chemist with more than 20 years of experience in large and small pharmaceutical company environments. Before founding New England Discovery Partners through which he supports Thetis, Michael was a department head for The Institute for Pharmaceutical Discovery (IPD), where he co-led the aldose reductase project team which ultimately resulted in the identification and clinical development of lidorestat for treatment of diabetic complications (Phase II). Before joining IPD, Michael was a medicinal chemist at the pharmaceutical division of Bayer, where he played a prominent role in the discovery of tanomastat, a first-in-class MMP inhibitor for treatment of osteoarthritis and cancer that progressed through Phase III clinical development. Michael is an inventor on more than 30 issued patents and author on more than 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is a frequent reviewer for the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and Bioorganic Medicinal Chemistry Letters. Michael received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with a minor in Biochemistry while working with Professor Carl R. Johnson at Wayne State University. Michael Van Zandt, PhDDirector, Discovery Chemistry Dr. Van Zandt is an accomplished synthetic organic and medicinal chemist with more than 20 years of experience in large and small pharmaceutical company environments. Before founding New England Discovery Partners through which he supports Thetis, Michael was a department head for The Institute for Pharmaceutical Discovery (IPD), where he co-led the aldose reductase project team which ultimately resulted in the identification and clinical development of lidorestat for treatment of diabetic complications (Phase II). Before joining IPD, Michael was a medicinal chemist at the pharmaceutical division of Bayer, where he played a prominent role in the discovery of tanomastat, a first-in-class MMP inhibitor for treatment of osteoarthritis and cancer that progressed through Phase III clinical development. Michael is an inventor on more than 30 issued patents and author on more than 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is a frequent reviewer for the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and Bioorganic Medicinal Chemistry Letters. Michael received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with a minor in Biochemistry while working with Professor Carl R. Johnson at Wayne State University.
Research Interest
Novel small molecule drugs to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) based on a unique paradigm of resolving inflammation