Marcelo is a venture partner as well as CEO of Ventus, a Versant-backed company utilizing rational structure-based drug design to discover small-molecule medicines for high value and elusive targets. He brings more than 13 years of pharmaceutical experience with a focus on neurology, spanning R&D, medical and scientific affairs. He has extensive experience in leading large and small scientific groups.
Marcelo held multiple leadership roles in industry, including Head of R&D and CSO at TEVA, as well as CMO at Teva and at Purdue. Before joining Teva, Marcelo was CMO at Labrys, where he led the team that developed fremanezumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against CGRP, approved in the US, Canada and EU. He led the approval of multiple other products in neurology, psychiatry, pain and respiratory diseases.
Prior to his work in the pharmaceutical industry, Marcelo was a faculty member at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Neurology, as well as the Director of Research at New England Center for Headache and Director of Research at Montefiore Headache Center. He has authored around 330 papers in peer-reviewed journals, edited six books in neurology, and is the recipient of multiple awards and recognitions in the field.
He holds a Medical Doctorate degree from the College of Medicine at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where he also obtained a Masters in Science and a PhD in Neurosciences. He completed his post-doctoral research at the New England Center for Headache.