Michael Hufford, PhD

CEO of LyGenesis

Michael Hufford, Ph.D. is the Co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of LyGenesis, a clinical stage cell therapy company. An entrepreneur and drug developer, he has over 20 years of experience in the development and FDA approval of small molecules (Cypress Bioscience, Harm Reduction Therapeutics), biologics (Amylin Pharmaceuticals), as well as drug delivery technologies (e-Nicotine Technology). He has designed and executed clinical trials and drug development programs across a wide variety of therapeutic areas, from orphan metabolic diseases to psychiatric and oncology indications. His experience in- and out-licensing preclinical and clinical stage assets, executing corporate partnering deals, and in investor relations has helped him to raise public, private, and angel-back financing for his companies. His philanthropic work includes co-founding and serving as the CEO of Harm Reduction Therapeutics, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pharmaceutical company who developed and received FDA approval for RiVive (3.0 mg naloxone nasal spray), a low-cost over-the-counter product used to prevent opioid overdose deaths. He is an award-winning lecturer, and the author of more than 100 scientific publications, presentations, and OpEds, with multiple issued and pending patents. Hufford earned his undergraduate degree with distinction from Purdue University, and his master’s and doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh before completing a Research and Clinical Fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.