Michael began at Velia in November of 2023.   He joined from Metacrine, where he served as CBO and subsequently CEO and completed license deals for the FXR portfolio and the HSD17B13 programs.   Prior to Metacrine, Michael was at PhaseBio, where he was SVP, Corporate Development and Alliance Management. At PhaseBio, Michael led a number of licensing and development deals, supported the IPO and was the architect for the bentracimab commercial strategy. Prior to PhaseBio, he served as VP, Global Business Development and Alliance Management at Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., where he led global business development activities to license Orexigen assets and manage alliance partners. Before Orexigen, earlier in his career, he held roles of increasing responsibility at Senté Labs, Inc, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Santarus, Inc., Amgen, AstraZeneca and Merck & Co., Inc. He received an MBA from the University of Redlands and a B.A. in public administration and economics from San Diego State University.