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Robert Metz headshot

Organizers of the third annual Mid-Ohio Valley Entrepreneurship Expo (MOVEE), which will be held on the Marietta College campus on Thursday, Sept. 27, are pleased to announce this year’s keynote speaker is Robert Metz ’90.

Metz, Senior Vice President for Global Business Operations and External Affairs at Horizon Pharma, will make his presentation at 12:30 p.m. in the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center.

Metz, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management and Economics at Marietta, joined Horizon Pharma in 2009 as the vice president of global business operations and general manager Europe. He is responsible for the administration of global business operations and corporate external affairs. Metz has more than 28 years of commercial, external affairs, finance, project management, human resources and IT administration, business development and operations experience in both small and large pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations.

Prior to joining Horizon Pharma, Metz’s most recent position was vice president, commercial operations for IDM Pharma who manufactured MEPACT® for pediatric osteosarcoma, an ultra-orphan pediatric cancer. Metz played a key role in the turnaround and eventual sale of IDM Pharma to Takeda Pharmaceuticals in June 2009. He led commercial efforts, including the development of key opinion leader and institution center outreach, patient advocacy relations and pricing and reimbursement programming throughout pan-European markets.

Prior to joining IDM Pharma, Metz led commercial operations for NeoPharm, a publically traded rare disease oncology biotechnology company with a phase 3 compound for glioblastoma multiforme. For nearly 13 years, Metz worked in areas of increasing responsibility at Searle, Pharmacia and Pfizer focusing on product introductions on several products, including Celebrex®, Arthrotec®, Daypro® and Detrol LA®. In his commercial management roles, Metz directed multifunctional, operational and performance aspects of sales organizations spanning more than 650 sales and support employees with overall sales totaling over $2 billion.

MOVEE begins with registration and a continental breakfast at 8 a.m., followed by the opening of the conference at 8:40. There will be multiple workshops from 9-11:50 a.m., as well as a resource fair and networking session from 1:30-3 p.m. and the announcement of the recipient of the Clutch MOV Entrepreneur of the Year Award and a special session of the PioPitch program featuring Geoff Schenkel and Jackson Patterson from Main Street West and Drew Tanner from Propels Bank Theatre, from 3-4:30 p.m.

Admission is $25. For more information or to register, go to www.marietta.edu/movexpo or email Dr. Jacqueline Khorassani at (740) 376-4621.