Dr. Sauer has more than 31 years of extensive experience in Pharmaceutical Research and Development and successfully led numerous projects and teams during all phases of the drug development process. Dr. Sauer Dirk Novartis in 1989 as a postdoctoral fellow in the Neuroscience Preclinical Research Department. He subsequently held various positions of increasing responsibilities within preclinical research, clinical research and project management working on acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as Stroke, Head Trauma, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and ALS. In 2005 Dr. Sauer joined the Ophthalmology Business Unit at Novartis as Senior Global Project Leader for Visudyne and Lucentis. In October 2011, he was appointed Global Development Unit Head for the Novartis Ophthalmology Development Unit. Dr. Sauer retired from Novartis in 2021 and is currently an independent consultant and board member for companies within the field of Ophthalmology.
He has a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Münster, Germany and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Marburg, Germany.