J. David Leander, Ph.D., MBA

Dr. J David Leander founded Skagit Neuropharm Consulting in September of 2002 and consults for early stage pharmaceutical companies and venture capital groups on matters of neuropharmacology, business strategies, and business development. Currently, he has continuing consulting relationships with Dynogen Pharmaceuticals, Hypnion, BrainCells, Inc., and CoLucid.

Dr. Leander had a 21+ year career at Eli Lilly in Neuroscience Discovery where he was Lilly Research Fellow. During his career at Lilly, he held various leadership positions on several Neuroscience Discovery/Development Strategy Committees; Serotonergic, Dopaminergic, Excitatory Amino Acid, anticonvulsant, and opioid antagonist program teams; anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antipsychotic, and appetite suppressant candidate development teams, and several management teams. Dr. Leander chaired the committees responsible for the development, and/or selection for development, of pergolide (Permax), fluoxetine (Prozac), olanzapine (Zyprexa), atomoxetine (Strattera), and duloxetine (Cymbalta). He was also one of the lead neuropharmacologists in the discovery of alvimopan (being developed by Adolor and GlaxoSmithKline) and talampanel (being developed by IVAX), and a selective 5HT1A agonist, a selective 5HT1A antagonist and a selective 5HT6 antagonist being developed by various biotech companies. Throughout his career, Dr. Leander worked closely with various groups charged with business development and research acquisition resulting in numerous in- and out-licensing activities being pursued and consummated.

Dr. Leander is an author on more than 200 scientific papers in various areas of neuropsychopharmacology.