Edwin B. Villhauer, Ph.D., is the Senior Fellow, Process Research, for Novartis Pharmaceuticals. His focus is now on helping medicinal chemists in Research by designing safe, efficient, and high quality manufacturing processes for their own future blockbusters.

Until the move of Novartis Research to Boston in 2003, Edwin worked for over 17 years as a medicinal chemist in preclinical asthma, cardiovascular, obesity, and diabetes programs at Sandoz and then Novartis in New Jersey as well as Basel, Switzerland. He has led, and championed numerous diabetes and obesity programs while specializing in protease inhibition and combinatorial chemistry. Due to his inventions of Novartis’s two diabetes development compounds in the DPP4 inhibitor field (DPP728 and its successor, LAF237), he was awarded the title of Novartis Leading Scientist in 2000 and won the New Jersey 2006 Thomas Alva Edison patent competition. This prestigious award, handed out annually, recognizes and encourages the technological creativity and leadership of New Jersey’s R&D community. Edwin is the author of 29 publications and the inventor of 9 issued US patents. After having worked closely with Development for years on the DPP4 program, he finally moved into Development in 2003.

Edwin received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Rochester.