Rainer Riedl, PhD​

Dr. Rainer Riedl is a distinguished medicinal chemist and drug discovery leader with over 25 years of experience spanning academic innovation and pharmaceutical R&D. As a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at Ultimate Medicine, he provides strategic guidance on small-molecule drug discovery, chemistry, and CMC development to advance the company’s gut-brain therapeutic platform.

Dr. Riedl serves as Head of Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Product Development at ZHAW, Switzerland’s premier applied research institute for pharmaceutical innovation. His team manages a multimillion-franc research portfolio supported by competitive grants from SNF, Innosuisse, and CTI, driving programs in antivirals, antimicrobials, and anticancer therapeutics. A former Senior Research Scientist at Eli Lilly, he contributed to global discovery chemistry programs and received multiple internal innovation awards.

Dr. Riedl earned his PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Cologne and conducted postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley and The Scripps Research Institute. He brings extensive experience translating academic discoveries into clinical candidates through industry collaboration.