Andrew Miller
Founder Karuna Therapeutics
Dr. Andrew Miller is a highly accomplished biopharmaceutical executive with expertise in research and development, company building, capital formation, and corporate strategy. Dr. Miller was named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in Health in 2025.
Most recently, Dr. Miller was the Founder of and President of Research and Development at Karuna Therapeutics. Dr. Miller is the lead inventor of Karuna’s KarXT and previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of Karuna’s board of directors. Dr. Miller currently serves as the Chairman of the Board at Progentos Therapeutics.
Dr. Miller played a lead role in developing KarXT from the initial idea to the approval of COBENFY™ for the treatment of schizophrenia in 2024, as well as building the company from 1 employee to over 350 and raising ~$2B in private and public investor capital prior to the acquisition of Karuna by BMS for $14B in 2024. During his tenure at Karuna, Dr. Miller oversaw clinical development, nonclinical development, regulatory, quality, manufacturing, formulation development, human resources, and corporate development.
COBENFY (KarXT) was approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of schizophrenia in 2024. KarXT is a first-in-class dual M1/M4 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, which is thought to mediate benefit to the positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. Unlike all previous treatments for schizophrenia, KarXT does not directly block dopamine receptors, and represents the first new class of treatment for schizophrenia is 35 years. COBENFY has received numerous honors, including being a Time Magazine’s invention of the year 2024, one of the 5 biggest medical breakthroughs in 2024 by ABC News, and by the Washington Post as “ something good that happened in 2024.”
Dr. Miller has more than 15 years’ experience in the biotech/biopharma industry previously holding senior and executive level positions at PureTech Health, Tal Medical, and Entrega Inc. Dr. Miller received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois with highest honors, and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Presidential Fellow. Dr. Miller was named to the PharmaVoice 100 and one of the top 40 innovators under 40 by MedTech Boston.
Seminars
- How the recent FDA approval of an M1/M4 targeting muscarinic agonist–antagonist therapy has opened the door for next generation mechanisms, prompting the field to explore which muscarinic pathways hold the greatest future therapeutic potential
- How M1 and M4 receptor modulation may diverge in future clinical applications, with emerging evidence suggesting distinct roles in cognitive processing, behavioural regulation, and symptom domains underserved by dopamine based treatments
- How advancing Phase 1 muscarinic programs is helping define optimal translational strategies for the future, including biomarker guided dosing, refined safety monitoring, and strategic choices around patient versus healthy volunteer enrolment
- How next generation M4 selective PAMs and other muscarinic focused innovations may expand the therapeutic footprint across neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative indications, positioning muscarinic pathways as a long term pillar of future CNS drug development
- Will PAMs recapitulate efficacy of orthosteric agonists, as seen with Cobenfy?
