Dan Hutcheson PhD MBA

Chief Scientific Officer | Technical COO | Chief of Staff to CEO/CSO | Board & Advisory Director | Science-to-Commercial Translation, M&A & In-Licensing | FDA & BARDA | Neuroscience | PhD, MBA

Chesterfield, Virginia, United States

About

Transform the performance of companies anchored in delivering novel solutions to underserved patients. That is the work that has defined my career. I am a C-suite scientific executive and the right hand to CEOs, fluent in both the language of science and the language of commerce. I own company-wide growth through scientific and business-model innovation, operating at the interface where complex science becomes pipeline value, partnerships, and revenue. I pivot from thousand-mile strategy across organizational design, talent, and culture to the tactical execution of high-priority programs, change management, and M&A. My career spans drug discovery through late-stage development at Indivior, Roche, Pfizer, and Transpharmation. I supported the FDA approval and launch of Sublocade monthly buprenorphine while heading portfolio management and serving as chief of staff to the CSO. I led the R&D integration of acquired Opiant Pharmaceuticals and project-led the BARDA application for OPVEE nalmefene nasal spray, securing a 111-million-dollar award and delivering integration on schedule. I built the systematic asset landscaping, valuation, and governance that tripled evaluations to 18 full diligences a year, in-licensing Orexin-1, CB1, GABA-B, and buprenorphine assets. As Chief Scientific Officer at Transpharmation, I set scientific strategy and commercial direction across global sites, lifting new-client contract mix from 20 percent to 40 percent and driving a five-fold rise in cross-site collaboration. I also serve as a board and advisory director, advising therapeutics leadership on formulation and regulatory strategy. I hold a PhD in Behavioral Pharmacology and Neuroscience and an executive MBA from the University of Chicago Booth. I work where science and commerce meet, and I make them serve each other. Science into value. Strategy into execution. Medicine to the patients who need it.

Experience

  • Global Chief Scientific Officer at Transpharmation Ltd.
    Nov 2025 - Present · 9 mos

    I set scientific strategy and commercial direction across a global neuroscience CRO with labs in Canada, the UK, and Poland, expanding capabilities across qEEG, pain, epilepsy, substance use disorder, and transgenic models. • Engaged scientific teams across three countries and built a shared workflow for innovation proposals, realizing a five-fold increase in cross-site collaboration and a more dynamic global strategy. • Drove business development across the Boston, California, and North Carolina biohubs and VC networks, lifting new-client contract mix from 20% to 40% and quadrupling rare-disease foundation interactions. • Formed a matrix of technology and therapy-area teams that clarified platform investment for the executive team and board, doubling biomarker capability funding and accelerating prioritization of high-traction areas.

  • Scientific Advisor & Business Development Lead at Independent Advisory & Business Development
    2024 - 2025 · 1 yr

    I took a deliberate transition to test advisory and entrepreneurial work, advising therapeutics leadership and building the commercial model and alliances for an early-stage B2B pharmacy venture. • Created three core strategic alliances with the largest US compounding pharmacies for ProfitLineRx, running pilot customer transactions and refining the P&L and transaction-fee model. Also supported M&A due-diligence. • Advised Fitabeo Therapeutics leadership on rescue-medication and long-acting formulation strategy, shaping target product profiles and integrating regulatory and payer perspectives.

  • Vice-President, Head R&D Strategy & Business Operations at Indivior
    Dec 2015 - Dec 2024 · 9 yrs 1 mo

    I served effectively as chief of staff across nine years, closing organizational gaps, aligning the leadership team, and leading technical M&A, portfolio governance, and external-innovation strategy for a global leader in addiction and opioid use disorder. • Supported the FDA approval and launch of Sublocade monthly buprenorphine while heading portfolio management and serving as chief of staff to the CSO, advancing care for opioid use disorder. • Led the R&D integration of acquired Opiant Pharmaceuticals and project-led the BARDA application for OPVEE nalmefene nasal spray, delivering integration on schedule and a $111M award. • Built systematic asset landscaping, valuation, and governance scoring that tripled evaluations to 18 full diligences yearly, in-licensing Orexin-1, CB1, GABA-B, and buprenorphine assets. • Created asset-health scoring that aligned 100% of the asset backlog within six weeks, and launched digital R&D time-tracking yielding multi-million-dollar tax credits, peaking near $4M in a single year.

  • Senior Portfolio Planning Leader - Neuroscience Ophthalmology & Rare Disease at Roche
    2014 - 2015 · 1 yr

    I led portfolio planning and standards across Roche R&D in Basel, Switzerland. • Led a cross-functional group redrafting the Probability of Success guideline across Roche R&D, launching new guidance and training on time, adopted by all drug-development teams.

  • Senior Director - Chief Operating Officer for Pfizer Neuroscience at Pfizer
    2012 - 2014 · 2 yrs

    I owned operations, budgets, and infrastructure for the Pfizer Neuroscience research unit, spanning laboratory operations, discovery operations, and business management across 200-plus scientists, as a member of the Neuroscience Leadership Team reporting to the CSO. • Led the relocation of a newly formed neuroscience unit under tight budget and timeline, transitioning 200-plus employees and lab capabilities within a two-week window with no disruption to R&D.