Counde has over 40 years of experience in drug discovery. Most recently he served as Head of Global Discovery Chemistry and managed the chemistry portfolio in drug and target discovery for the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (China).
Prior to Novartis, Counde served as Vice President of Chemistry at BioDuron where he oversaw all programs in synthetic chemistry and medicinal chemistry. Earlier in his career, he spent nearly 30 years at Roche in Palo Alto, and at Syntex (acquired by Roche). At Roche, he led multiple small molecule programs that advanced to the clinic. Counde is an author of over 60 publications and patents.
Counde obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Loyola University of Chicago (with Professor James W. Wilt) and pursued postdoctoral research at MIT (with Professor Frederick D. Greene) and the University of Chicago (with Professor Josef Fried).