Biologics World Nordic - IMAPAC - Imagine your Impact

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2020 Speakers

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Thomas Jostock Novartis Pharma AG

Senior Investigator II & Leading ScientistNovartis Pharma AGSwitzerland

Ralph Knoll AstraZeneca

chief scientistAstraZenecaSwedenRalph Knöll is a chief scientist with AstraZeneca and adjunct professor at the Karolinska Institute where he heads the Myocardial Genetics team at the recently established Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center in Stockholm, Sweden (ICMC/KI). He has a strong interest in drug development, genetics, epigenetics, and physiology of the cardiovascular system. His research aims to combine the strengths of the ICMC Regenerative Cardiology Program to foster innovative science-based strategies, technologies, and therapeutic platforms towards unravelling the molecular mechanisms underlying the biology of human cardiac disease. The program will capitalize on the internal strengths of ICMC/KI in the fields of single-cell sequencing in general as well as on unique and well-curated patient registries and human tissue/cell resources. His program also takes advantage of the strengths of AstraZeneca in terms of drug development know-how, chemical screening, larger-scale biology/bioinformatics/higher throughput capacity, regulatory and toxicology expertise, large animal model systems, and larger-scale production.

Jens Kringelum Evaxion Biotech

Former CEOEvaxion BiotechDenmark Jens holds a PhD in Bioinformatics from the Technical University of Denmark. He is the former CEO of EIR Sciences (CRO within immunological bioinformatics), and co-founder of VenomAb IVS, a company developing cheaper and safer antivenoms against snake bites. He is specialized in immunological bioinformatics and chemoinformatics for prediction of polypharmacology. Jens is directing Evaxion’s genomic immuno-oncology program.

Soren Bregenholt Macrophage Pharma

CEOMacrophage PharmaDenmarkSøren Bregenholt has broad experience across the R&D value chain from lead discovery to clinical development projects. Strong executive leadership experience from roles in pharma, biotech and non-profit organisations. Significant deal experience from both sell and buy-side as well as post-transactional collaboration and alliance management. Broad global network in pharma, biotech, VC and academia.

Birgette Sogaard Lundbeck

Chief ScientistLundbeckDenmarkBirgette worked within the field of Pharmacometrics and Clinical Pharmacology for more than 30 years for several international companies both in Denmark and abroad. This with a focus on the establishment of biological models to be able to quantify and describe biological responses to support drug development. This includes biomarker development within many therapeutic areas, bio-banking and collaborations with consortia to select the right patients for the proper treatment.

Anders Kronstrom Infant Bacterial Therapeutics AB

COOInfant Bacterial Therapeutics ABSweden

Dr Ashesh Kumar Paras Biopharmaceuticals

CEOParas BiopharmaceuticalsFinland

Rongzan Ho Alvotech

DSM-USP Manufacturing Alvotech IcelandI started as a scientist in 2010 with GSK Stevenage in biopharmaceutical R&D, focusing on the cell line development and evaluation. Thereafter, I was involved in the startup of 2 facilities, Lonza Bioscience Singapore for cell therapy products (MSC, MPC, Revascor) and AbbieVie Operations Singapore for Citrate-Free Adalimumab; both have progressed to commercial cGMP production.

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Hooman Hefzi UC San Diego

ResearcherUC San DiegoCaliforniaHooman was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Systems Biochemistry and Cell Engineering lab of Dr. Nathan Lewis at UC San Diego. His research focused on integrating multiomic datasets to understand Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell behavior for applications in cell line engineering and optimal bioprocess design. In the course of his studies he has led an effort to construct a consensus genome-scale model of metabolism in CHO cells and identified an engineering strategy to completely eliminate lactate production in this cell line.

Florian M. Wurm Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)

CSO/Chairman Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)SwitzerlandHis career involved industrial and academic work: Behringwerke AG, Marburg (1981-1984), Harvard Medical School Boston (1984-1985), Genentech Inc, San Francisco (1985-1995), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL – full Professor for Biotechnology), (1995-2015), ExcellGene SA, Monthey, Suisse (2001-today). He contributed to the generation of several therapeutics such as Herceptin®, an antibody against breast cancer. His academic research activities covers fields Process Sciences with Animal Cells (CHO, HEK, etc.) in Bioreactors (from DNA to Product). He is the co-founder of ExcellGene SA (2001), CEO (2015-2016) and CSO/Chairman (since 2017). Florian was Chairman of the European Society of Animal Cell Technology. Published papers/patents >250. He is a frequent speaker/lecturer on manufacturing sciences and regulatory issues.

Cleo Kontoravdi Imperial College London

Associate ProfessorImperial College LondonUnited KingdomCleo Kontoravdi completed her M.Eng. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. She spent a year as a Research and Development Scientist at Lonza Biologics in the UK, after which she re-joined Imperial College as an RCUK/Lonza Fellow in Biopharmaceuticals Processing. She is currently an Associate Professor in Biosystems Engineering based at the Centre for Process Systems Engineering, Imperial College London. Her research involves the systematic integration of model-based tools with experimentation on mammalian cell culture systems. Topics of interest include optimisation of culture media and conditions for improved protein productivity and glycosylation, metabolic flux analysis and multiscale modelling.

Bjorn Gunnar Voldborg DTU BIOSUSTAIN, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability

DirectorDTU BIOSUSTAIN, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for BiosustainabilityDenmark Bjørn Voldborg has more than 20 years of experience working with recombinant protein expression from both academic and industrial settings. Bjørn was team leader in the biotech company Pharmexa A/S, responsible for molecular cloning and expression of protein-based drug candidates. From this he went to the NNF Center for Protein Research at the University of Copenhagen as Head of the Protein Production Unit, and since 2012 Bjørn has been heading the CHO Cell Line Engineering program at the NNF Center for Biosustainability at the Technical University of Denmark, a project dedicated to the engineering of improved protein production cell factories.

Astrid Durauer University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna

Senior ScientistUniversity of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna AustriaAstrid Dürauer is currently Senior Scientist at the Department of Biotechnology of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU Vienna) and Key Researcher in the Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib). Together with Prof. Alois Jungbauer she is head of the working group Downstream Processing and has supervised numerous Master and PhD thesis. Her research focuses on scale-up / down models as well as real-time monitoring and model-based prediction of downstream processes. Next to her teaching activities in the field of bioprocess engineering she has been successfully carried out research projects with partners from the biopharmaceutical industry and participates in international consortia such as the Horizon 2020 ITN Codobio. Astrid has gained her expertise in bioprocess engineering during her PhD at BOKU Vienna and as visiting a scientist at the Brown University, RI, USA as well as at the UCL, UK. She has published numerous research articles in renowned peer-reviewed journals in the field.

Dr Rosemary Versteegen International Serum Industry Association

CEOInternational Serum Industry AssociationUSADr. Versteegen received her B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry from Glasgow University, Scotland. She held Postdoctoral scholarships at Cambridge University, England and the National Institutes of Health working in areas of disease research. Following several years in NIH sponsored cancer research programs, she joined Life Technologies and held various key roles, both technical and business oriented, including Vice President of the GIBCO Manufacturing Facility, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Vice President of New Business Development and Vice President of Strategic Planning. In 2000, Dr Versteegen became a founding partner of the Lifia Group, a consulting organization focused on helping life science and biotechnology companies grow through clearly enunciated, actionable strategic plans Since its inception in 2006, Dr. Versteegen has been the CEO of the International Serum industry Association, a global life science not-for-profit association. The mission of the Association is to establish, promote and assure compliance with uncompromised standards of excellence and ethics in the business practices of the global animal serum and animal derived products supply industry. The primary focus is on safety and safe use of serum and animal derived products through proper origin traceability, truth in labeling, and appropriate standardization and oversight.

Dr Andreas Herrmann Valerius Biopharma AG

CEOValerius Biopharma AGSwitzerland

Martin Amark Xbrance Biopharma

CEXbrance BiopharmaSweden

Kalveer Flora National Health Service

Lead Pharmacist & Biosimilars SpecialistNational Health ServiceEngland

Mathias Svahn NextCEll Pharma AB

Co-Founder & CEONextCEll Pharma ABSweden

Petter Björquist VERIGRAFT AB

CEOVERIGRAFT ABSweden PhD in Biology/Biochemistry from Gothenburg University. 50 + publications in peer reviewed journals, several book chapters and patents. Ten years within AstraZeneca R&D in Cardiovascular Diseases, twelve years at Cellartis/Cellectis as VP Regenerative Medicine, responsible for e.g. the major collaboration with Novo Nordisk on development of a human embryonic stem cell derived beta cell treatment for diabetes. Also, responsible for development of human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes and hepatocytes. As of February 2014, CEO of VERIGRAFT AB, a pioneering company within tissue engineering and advanced regenerative medicine for use in treatment of cardiovascular, neuronal and other diseases

Dr Rasmus Beedholm Medtech Innovation Consortium (MTIC)

Senior Advisor – Life ScienceMedtech Innovation Consortium (MTIC)Denmark Dr. Rasmus Beedholm-Ebsen is Senior Advisor within Life Science, at Invest in Denmark, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Dr. Beedholm-Ebsen received his PhD in Medicine at University of Utah, USA, and worked afterward at the Medical Faculty, at Aarhus University before joining Invest in Denmark. Dr. Beedholm-Ebsen received his Master in Business Administration in 2016, and also holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree. Furthermore, Dr. Beedholm-Ebsen also hold a Master degree in Molecular Biology, and is Scientific Expert Reviewer for the European Commission.