Head of Early Stage Partnering, Astellas
Dr. Michael Luther is the Head of Early Stage Partnering at Astellas based in Cambridge. Mike has over 34 years’ experience as an entrepreneurial scientist and executive in the biopharmaceutical industry including roles in biotech start-ups and global pharmaceutical industry.
Before joining Astellas, Mike was the founding CEO of Bantam Pharmaceutical, a biotech company focused on developing novel therapeutics in cancer and mitochondrial dynamics.
In past roles, Mike was the Senior Vice President for Drug Discovery & Development at Curio and founding CEO of the North Carolina Research Campus.
Mike has over 20 years in executive roles in the global pharmaceutical industry including Vice President roles and head of drug discovery divisions at Merck and GSK. At GSK, he led multiple discovery teams that resulted in the successful launch of 4 new therapeutics in oncology and metabolic disease as well as initiating the pharmaceutical industry’s initial efforts in precision medicine and drug repositioning.
Dr. Luther holds Bachelor of Science degrees from North Carolina State University, a doctorate degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine, and an MBA from Duke University. He was a Carl Stone Muscular Dystrophy Fellow at The Salk Institute, and is the author of over 70 publications and patents.