LYTIX BIOPHARMA AS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Clinical Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Program at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center
Dr. Marabelle is the Clinical Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Program at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center in Villejuif, France, and he works as a Senior Medical Oncologist and an investigator in the Drug Development Department (DITEP). He leads a translational research laboratory (LRTI) within the INSERM U1015 with a focus on mechanisms of action of immune targeted therapies. He is also the director of the Clinical Investigation Center BIOTHERIES dedicated to intratumoral immunotherapies.
Dr. Marabelle´s clinical practice is dedicated to early phase clinical trials in cancer immunotherapy and his translational research is focused on mechanisms of action of immune checkpoint monoclonal antibodies.
Dr. Sveinbjørnsson achieved his doctorate at the Medical Faculty of the University of Tromsø in 1998, with a focus on mechanisms and mediators behind immunomodulation of experimental tumors. Since then, Dr. Sveinbjørnsson has gained a broad experience of preclinical oncology at the University of Tromsø and Karolinska Institutet Stockholm.
Dr. Sveinbjørnsson has been involved in the research activities of Lytix Biopharma since the beginning, and has most recently led the Company's research activities as Chief Scientific Officer.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ilya Pharma AB
Dr. Vågesjö is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ilya Pharma AB, a company developing next generation immunotherapies based on cutting edge medical research in immune-physiology and applied microbiology. She has received numerous awards within Science and Innovation, including the Innovators Under 35 Award, Europe division for the MIT Technology Review in 2019. She was also featured on the Global Power List in 2021 by the Medicine Maker.
Dr. Vågesjö holds a PhD in Physiology from Uppsala University and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
Mr. Breistein has extensive experience as an auditor and consultant. Prior to joining Lytix in 2017, he worked at PwC advising public and private companies across multiple industry sectors in capital market transactions, financing and listing processes.
Mr. Breistein is a state authorized public accountant, and holds a Masters in Applied Economics and Finance from Copenhagen Business School, as well as a Masters in Professional Accountancy from BI Norwegian School of Management.
Dr. Stensrud has more than 20 years of experience in research, development, clinical trials, commercial manufacturing and distribution of medicinal products and medical devices, as well as extensive leadership experience in developing biotech companies.
Dr. Stensrud has held different positions at GE Healthcare and prior to joining Lytix, Dr. Stensrud was Vice President Technical Development & Operations at Photocure. Dr. Stensrud holds a degree in Pharmacy and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Department of Immunology
Dr. Allison is the Chair of the Department of Immunology, the Vivian L. Smith Distinguished Chair in Immunology, Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Research, and the Executive Director of the Immunotherapy Platform at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Allison spent a distinguished career studying the regulation of T-cell responses and developing strategies for cancer immunotherapy.
Dr. Allison´s work led to the development of an antibody towards human CTLA-4 called ipilimumab, which became the first immune checkpoint inhibitor and cleared the path for the emerging field of using checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of cancer.
In 2018 Dr. Allison earned the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with Dr. Tasuku Honjo, "for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation".
Dr. Rieger has 15 years experience in cross-functional scientific and business leadership roles spanning business, research operations, drug discovery and product development in the life sciences sector. Dr. Rieger currently serves as Managing Partner at PBM Capital, where he evaluates new investments, closes deals and provides business and technical support to portfolio companies.
Dr. Rieger obtained his PhD from the University of Virginia in Chemistry, has an MBA from the Darden Business School, and earned his B.A. from Rollins College.
Job Titles:
- Senior Life Science Executive
Dr. Hestdal is a Senior Life Science Executive and was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Photocure ASA - a commercial-stage company focused on bladder cancer which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Currently, Dr. Hestdal is Chief Executive Officer of Caedo Oncology and Serca Pharmaceuticals. He also provides consulting services and expertise related to the development and commercialization of pharma, medtech and biotech companies.
Dr. Roskrow is a senior executive with international experience in the healthcare and financial sectors, with a background in hematology and oncology. She has extensive experience from both early and later-stage clinical development of novel anti-cancer compounds, including therapeutic cancer vaccines, and has earned several awards and honors for her research work.
In addition to senior clinical and research positions, Dr. Roskrow has extensive experience as an investment banker, CEO, and Chair, in both private and listed companies, including Patrys Ltd (Melbourne), Imevax (Munich) and Lazard Healthcare Investment Banker (New York, San Francisco, Sydney). At present she is Chairman Of The Board ArcticZymes Technologies ASA.
Dr. Roskrow has been involved in executing public and private biotechnology and pharmaceutical merger and acquisition deals, product in/out-licensing deals and financing rounds. Dr. Roskrow has an extensive network of relationships with executives and board members of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and leading clinical centers. She holds a BSc (Hons), MBBS (Hons) and a PhD in Immunology, from the University of London.
Job Titles:
- Interim CMO
- Senior Life Science Executive
Dr. Fjällskog is a Senior Life Science Executive with more than 25 years of clinical experience as a medical oncologist within Clinical Research and Development, mainly Immuno-oncology. She is a Board Member of Biovica International AB, Sweden. Previously she has acted as Chief Medical Officer in Sensei Biotherapeutics and Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
Dr. Fjällskog holds a PhD in Oncology and is an Associate Professor (docent) of Oncology affiliated to Uppsala University, Sweden.
Job Titles:
- Professor in the Departments of Genitourinary Medical Oncology
Dr. Sharma is professor in the departments of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology, and the Scientific Director for the Immunotherapy Platform at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is also a Scientific Director of Scientific Programs for the James P. Allison Institute at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Dr. Sharma is a nationally and internationally renowned physician scientist whose research work is focused on investigating mechanisms and pathways within the immune system that facilitate tumor rejection. In partnership with Dr. Allison, Dr. Sharma is currently exploring combinations of immunological therapies and targeted drugs to treat a variety of cancers more effectively.
Dr. Sharma is a trained medical oncologist and immunologist and the T.C. and Jeanette D. Hsu Endowed Chair in Cell Biology. She designed and conducted the first pre-surgical trial, also known as a window-of-opportunity trial, with immune checkpoint therapy (anti-CTLA-4) in 2004, which allowed her to study the impact of immune checkpoint therapy on human tumors.
Job Titles:
- Chief Medical Officer at HiFiBIO Therapeutics
Dr. Andtbacka is an internationally renowned surgical oncologist and leader in melanoma and intratumoral immuno-oncology. He has over 20 years of experience in immune-oncology clinical research and development. Before joining the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah in 2006, he completed a 3-year fellowship in surgical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He received his medical degree and training in general surgery at McGill University. At the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Dr. Andtbacka served as Co-director of the Melanoma and Cutaneous Oncology Program and Director of the Melanoma Clinical Research Program. Under his leadership, he established an internationally recognized comprehensive surgical and clinical research program in intratumoral immune-oncology and led over 30 clinical trials, evaluating different novel immune-oncology therapies including the OPTiM Phase III clinical trial which led to the approval of the oncolytic virus talimogene laherparepvec (TVEC[JE1] ) in patients with unresectable metastatic melanoma.
Dr. Andtbacka currently serves as Chief Medical Officer at HiFiBIO Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focusing on immunomodulatory antibodies.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Radiation Oncology and Pathology at Weill Cornell Medicine Medical College
Dr. Demaria is currently a Professor of Radiation Oncology and Pathology at Weill Cornell Medicine Medical College where she leads basic and preclinical studies in radiation and immunity. Dr. Demaria is internationally known for her studies demonstrating the synergy of local radiation therapy with different immunotherapeutic agents and was the first to show that radiotherapy can convert breast tumors unresponsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors into responsive ones.
Dr. Demaria's current work is aimed at identifying the molecular mechanisms that regulate ionizing radiation's ability to generate in situ tumor vaccination in preclinical tumor models, as well as in cancer patients treated with various combinations of radiation and immunotherapy.
Mr. Worsley has more than 25 years experience with business development leadership in roles of increasing impact and in executing high-valuation strategic deals in the biopharmaceutical and drug discovery/development market. Most recently Mr. Worsley served as the Vice President Strategic Business Development at Redwood Biosciences/ Catalent Pharma Services. Mr. Worsley is a seasoned life sciences executive who also served roles as the CBO at Sutro Biopharma, Sr. Vice President Business Development at IndiMolecular and Vice President of Business Development at Peregrine Pharmaceutical (dba Avid Pharma Services) amongst other roles in his career.
As a business development executive, Mr. Worsley has led negotiations of transformative and award-winning technology and product partnerships for leading therapeutics companies.
Mr. Worsley holds an MBA from the University of Washington and a BS in Econ/International Finance from the University of Utah.
Job Titles:
- Founder of Idera Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Agrawal is a founder of Idera Pharmaceuticals and has served Idera in various roles including Chairman, CEO, President of Research, and Chief Scientific Officer. In 2017, Dr. Agrawal retired from Idera to pursue new scientific endeavors. Dr. Agrawal conducted his post-doctoral research at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Medical Research Council, Cambridge, UK, and at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, now merged with The University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, USA. Dr. Agrawal's research has been focused on the discovery and development of nucleic acid therapeutics, and his pioneering publications on antisense technology in the late 1980's led to the establishment of a new drug discovery approach.
Dr. Agrawal is currently serving as a member of the Business Advisory Board of The Harvard Medical School Initiative for RNA Medicine and has been appointed Visiting Professor at the Department of Medicine at The University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Dr. Rekdal is Co-founder of and served as CEO during the first 4 years of Lytix Biopharma's formation.
After that he served as CSO and Head of R&D before he again was promoted to the position of CEO in 2019. Rekdal`s research background is within tumor immunology and his field of expertise is anticancer molecules derived from host defense peptides. Dr. Rekdal commenced his PhD on cytokines and tumor immunology in 1996, and his postdoctoral work forms the basis of Lytix Biopharma's technology peptide platform.
Dr. Rekdal has been instrumental in establishing collaboration with several distinguished researchers and institutions and is regularly invited to give plenary lectures at international oncology, industry and partnering conferences.