Former Teva CEO leads 'field of dreams' strategy at Ovid Therapeutics

Ovid’s metamorphosis from fledgling biotech startup to global rare disease specialist with epic ambitions began just two years ago with $5 million in venture capital.

Now guiding the process is chief executive Jeremy Levin, who spoke to The Pharma Letter from the company’s New York headquarters about Ovid’s recent partnership with Japan’s largest drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4502), a firm with $16 billion in revenue and some 30,000 employees.

Ovid employs just 28, but when it comes to biopharmaceutical discovery and development, in his opinion it is quality that counts, not quantity.