Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> October 17, 2003

William Koster – Neurogen Corporation (nrgn)

WILLIAM H. KOSTER joined Neurogen Corporation in 2001 as President and Chief Executive Officer and has acted to focus the company's strategic vision as well as implementing operational improvements. Mr. Koster has distinguished himself over a 30-year career in the pharmaceutical industry as a scientist, senior executive, team builder and leader. He progressed through positions of increasing responsibility at Bristol- Myers Squibb, and as Senior Vice President for Applied Discovery and Exploratory Development, he shaped scientific strategy and drove discovery and exploratory productivity to build a strong pipeline of innovative products in several disease management areas. He more than doubled the output of drug discovery while incorporating advances from emerging technologies. Finally, as Senior Vice President for Science and Technology Strategy and Acquisition, he was responsible for the company's science and technology alliance and acquisition strategy, scientific intelligence, and intellectual property strategy. Utilizing his broad experience in the complete spectrum of the pharmaceutical process, from drug discovery to development, Mr. Koster serves as a member of The National Council for Harvard Medicine, and has served on the Keystone Symposia Scientific Board, and the Board of the Robert Wood Johnson Health Care Corporation. He has also received the Thomas Alva Edison Award from the R&D Council of New Jersey for his role in the discovery of the antibiotic Azactam (generic name: aztreonam). He holds a BS degree in Chemistry from Colby College in Maine and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Tufts University in Massachusetts. Profile
TWST: Could we begin with a brief historical sketch of Neurogen

Corporation and an overview of things as they are now?

Dr. Koster: The organization began back in the late 1980s with

technology