Vlad Coric seemingly never rests.
He has led one of Connecticut’s most successful homegrown bioscience companies, Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, which developed the blockbuster migraine therapy Nurtec ODT, a top-prescribed U.S. migraine medicine in its class.
The New Haven-based company won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2020 and launched Nurtec ODT as its first commercial product.
The drug’s popularity drew the attention of Pfizer Inc., and in October 2022 it acquired Biohaven for $11.6 billion in cash.
But Coric didn’t just take the money and run. Instead, he launched a newly independent clinical-stage company in New Haven called Biohaven Ltd.
His 2.0 version of Biohaven is working to develop 12 therapeutics to treat 21 different neurological disorders. Three of those drugs have reached the final testing phase before they can be brought to market.
Biohaven also expanded its presence in New Haven. In 2022, it bought the former landmark Quinnipiack Club at Church and Orange streets for $4.1 million. And in May last year, it purchased 209 Church St. for $2.35 million, an 8,900-square-foot building located near Biohaven’s headquarters at 215 Church St.
Coric has decades of drug discovery and clinical development experience, including at the Yale School of Medicine and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
He earned his medical degree from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology and physiology at the University of Connecticut.