George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., co-Founder, co-Chairman, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron, is recognized as one of the preeminent scientists, drug discoverers and entrepreneurs in biotech history. The Institute for Scientific Information has listed him among the most highly cited scientists in the world, and in an industry where less than one out of 100 biotech companies ever develops a single approved medicine, his team has delivered 15 approved or authorized treatments in the past 15 years.
Dr. Yancopoulos is the principal inventor of two of the world’s “top ten” leading medicines, including Dupixent, the world’s leading treatment for multiple allergic conditions including asthma, and Eylea, the world’s leading treatment for multiple vision-threatening diseases including age-related macular degeneration. Both came from new biotechnologies invented by Dr. Yancopoulos, including a novel “drug factory” engineered inside a living mouse — called the VelocImmune mouse — which Yancopoulos first envisioned while still in graduate school.
Regeneron is also a world leader in genetics and human sequencing, building one of the largest and most diverse global databases the Regeneron Genetics Center — in which genomic data is linked with de-identified electronic health records.
Regeneron’s most recent gene therapy, Otarmeni, earned FDA approval in April 2026 — a novel approach designed to treat a form of inherited hearing loss by delivering a working copy of the OTOF gene to the inner ear. As published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2025, almost every treated child showed significant hearing restoration, with almost half achieving normal hearing after one year. While most gene therapies cost millions per treatment, Regeneron decided to offer this treatment for free to eligible patients in the United States.
Yancopoulos says the company makes these kinds of decisions to remind the world that science and technology are required to deliver such miracles to humanity. He also hopes this will engage the next generation to pursue science to fight against threats ranging from disease to climate and environmental collapse. To further this next generation, Yancopoulos led Regeneron’s commitment of hundreds of millions of dollars to sponsor the world’s premier pre-collegiate science competitions, the Regeneron Science Talent Search and the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, which engage millions of high school students each year. In high school, Yancopoulos was a winner of one of these competitions, then called the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, which inspired his own career in science.
Yancopoulos graduated as valedictorian of both the Bronx High School of Science and Columbia College, and was named Columbia’s Top Student Athlete for two consecutive years. He also earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Columbia. Yancopoulos has won several major awards, including being named EY National Life Sciences Entrepreneur of the Year and being inducted into the National Academy of Sciences and the Biotech Hall of Fame.
We are delighted to welcome Dr. Yancopoulos to our DOC 2026 Faculty.