George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D.

George Yancopoulos is an immunologist who earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from Columbia University and completed his fellowship at the National Institutes of Health before co-founding Regeneron at age 28 in 1988. Yancopoulos' defining scientific contribution was the invention of the VelocImmune platform, which uses genetically humanized mice to produce fully human antibodies, and the development of the trap technology that underpins EYLEA. His founding philosophy centered on the belief that the quality of the drug discovery platform determines the quality of the medicines, leading him to build Regeneron's scientific infrastructure before the company had a single approved product.

George D. Yancopoulos has served as Regeneron's Chief Scientific Officer since 1989 and became board co-chair in 2023, making him one of the longest-serving scientific leaders in the biotechnology industry. Yancopoulos has personally led the development of the VelocImmune, VelociGene, and Veloci-8i2 platforms, which have produced 15 approved medicines and nearly 50 clinical candidates. He has published over 350 scientific papers and holds more than 100 patents covering antibody engineering, trap technologies, and genetic medicine approaches. Yancopoulos played the central scientific role in the discovery of EYLEA, Dupixent, Libtayo, Praluent, and Evkeeza, and he continues to oversee the Regeneron Genetics Center, which has sequenced over 3 million exomes. His 2024 compensation included a base salary of $1.3 million and total compensation of approximately $16 million, with significant equity awards tied to scientific milestones. Yancopoulos is known for attending late-night lab meetings and reviewing primary experimental data personally, maintaining a scientific presence that reinforces the company's culture of rigorous peer review.