Proven Leadership


Optivia Board of Directors



Yong Huang, Ph.D. Founder, President and CEO

Dr. Huang is an entrepreneur and innovator in the life science space. He has over 10 years of experience in moving novel ideas to the market place. Besides Optivia, he founded or contributed to four life science companies. Dr. Huang is the principal investigator for nearly $6 million in NIH grants. He is the co-inventor and co-author of more than 30 patents and scientific articles. His scientific contributions were cited by numerous reports and conferred him several prestigious awards, including the “R&D 100 award” (R&D Magazine) and the “R&D Stars of the Year” (Industry Week).

Dr. Huang received a BS from Tsinghua University, China and his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from University of California, Berkeley. He also completed a scholarship at the BioExec Institute, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley.



Peter G. Milner, MD, FACC Co-Founder, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development

Dr. Milner co-founded Optivia in 2007 and later joined the company as the Executive Vice President of Corporate Development in 2011. In 1997 Peter co-founded ARYx Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARYX) where he served as CEO until 2005, and President from 2005 to 2010 with overall responsibility for R&D. In 1990 he co-founded CV Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CVTX), where as a member of senior management from 1992-1996 he in-licensed and co-invented several successful pharmaceuticals. CV Therapeutics was acquired by Gilead for $1.5B in cash in 2009. In 2005, Peter was instrumental in restructuring his family pharmaceutical company ML Laboratories (MLB.LSE) and its subsequent merger to form Vectura (VEC.LSE), a profitable company and one of the worlds leading makers of inhaled products.

Prior to 1992, Peter was as an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. His research led to the discovery of pleiotrophin (PTN), a novel growth factor that regulates stem cell differentiation, organ development, and the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). He was educated at the University of Liverpool receiving his medical degree in 1980, before completing his postgraduate training at Johns Hopkins Hospital, The University of Virginia, and Washington University in St. Louis. Peter is co-inventor on 48 issued patents, and an author of 28 original scientific articles in Science, Biochemistry, Circulation, Cancer, JCI, and JBC. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC), and a board certified physician and cardiologist. He serves as adjunct clinical faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine, and as a board member of the California Healthcare Institute (CHI).


Pascal Druzgala, Ph.D. Co-founder and Board Director

Dr. Druzgala is a co-founder and has been serving on our board since July 2007. He is an experienced entrepreneur and drug design expert. He co-founded ARYx Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ARYX) where he has been serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer since 1997, responsible for all research related activities. Prior to ARYx, he also co-founded Advanced Therapies, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Druzgala is an expert in drug design and discovery and he has brought numerous drugs to clinical phase, including drugs that are presently marketed. He authored or co-authored numerous issued patents and scientific articles.

Dr. Druzgala received a Pharm.D degree from the University of Montpellier, France, and then earned his diplôme d’études approfondies degree at the European Institute of Industrial Pharmaceutical Sciences in Montpellier, France. Dr. Druzgala later graduated from the University of Florida with a doctorate in medicinal chemistry. He completed his post doctorate work at the Center for Drug Design and Discovery at the University of Florida.