BIOTECNOL - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Associate Professor
• Member of the Advisory Board
• Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University "Federico II", Naples, Italy

Claudia De Lorenzo is an Associate Professor since 2010 at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University "Federico II", and a group leader at CEINGE, Napoli, Italy. After her degree in Biological Sciences and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, she has been working as a visiting fellow, funded by CIB (Consorzio Interuniversitario Biotecnologie), at the Department of Immunology, Imperial College School of Medicine, and the Hammersmith Hospital, London, U.K. In June 2002 she was appointed full time researcher at the University of Napoli "Federico II" where she has directed her interests towards anti-cancer immunotherapy. Her research group has world-wide recognition in the discovery and characterization of novel human immunoagents and associated translational biology aspects. Claudia is a co-author of several patents. She has been awarded a prize as young researcher by Italian Foundation for Cancer research "Guido Berlucchi" in 2005. More recently she has directed her research activity at investigating the molecular basis of the different cardiotoxic effects among the ErbB2 inhibitors by testing their effects in vitro on rat and human cardiomyocytes and in vivo on a mouse model. Her present research interest is focused in the development of novel human immunoconjugates and immune-modulators and their use in immune-oncology approaches as well as novel antibody discovery activities using phage display technologies. These novel antibodies are specific for new tumour associated antigens and other targets useful for diagnosis and/or therapy of different diseases.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board

Professor Bernardes has a D.Phil. degree from the University of Oxford. He was awarded a Marie-Curie Fellowship to perform postdoctoral studies with Prof. Peter H. Seeberger in Antibody Drug Conjugation. From September 2010 until October 2012, Gonçalo was an EMBO Fellow in the group of Prof. Dario Neri at the ETH Zürich where he developed novel vascular targeting antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for cancer therapy. Since October 2012, Gonçalo is at the Deparment of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, UK where he holds a prestigious Royal Society University Research Fellowship. In addition, he is also the Director of the Chemical Biology and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Unit at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular (UMM) in Lisbon. His research has resulted in more than 30 peer review publications, 4 patents and he has been invited to present his research in more than 50 conferences/institutes worldwide. Gonçalo has recently been awarded the EFMC Prize for Young Medicinal Chemist in Academia and has been distinguished by the Ministry of Health (MH) of Portugal for relevant services to Public Health and Medicine.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• Department of Research Oncology, Kings College & Guys 's Hospital, London, UK

James Spicer is a Reader in the Cancer Studies Division of King's College London, and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology at Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospitals. He trained at major London teaching hospitals, has a Ph.D. in cancer biology from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, and a degree in biochemistry from the University of Oxford. Dr Spicer specialises in the treatment of thoracic malignancies especially lung cancer. His research interests include early phase trials, and novel therapies for lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. He has established a phase I programme in solid tumour oncology at Guy's Hospital, and is lead for thoracic medical oncology. He co-leads the King's Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, and a member of the Board of the King's Health Partners Clinical Trials Office. He also conducts translational research on novel immunotherapies, pharmacogenetics and molecular diagnostics. He is a member of the British Thoracic Oncology Group steering committee, and sits on CRUK's New Agents committee and other national research funding panels. He is the author of more than 70 peer-reviewed publications.

Job Titles:

• Chief Business Officer
• Member of the Board of Directors

Neill is an internationally networked pharmaceutical executive with an extensive operational, business, commercial, licensing and R&D background in a range of therapeutic areas. He holds a PhD in immunology and post-doctoral work at the National Institute for Medical Research with the MRC. He joined Wellcome plc as Head of the Immunology Department continuing with Mallinckrodt Inc. Over the last eighteen years, he has served on the Boards of listed (both the full London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM)) and private companies in the UK and Germany as an Executive Director with P&L responsibilities, and has raised over $150 million equity capital from private and public funds.

Job Titles:

• VP, Head of Antibody Research

Nico is a widely known key opinion leader in the field of antibody engineering. Nico obtained his B.Sc. at Antwerp University and his Masters in Biotechnology at Ghent University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biotechnology with Dr. Walter Fiers (UGent, Belgium) in protein expression technology. After his postdoctoral training, Dr. Mertens headed the Molecular Immuno-Biotechnology Unit at the Flanders Institute of Biotechnology (VIB), where he conceived and developed the Tribody ™ antibody-fragment design and evaluated it in oncology models. Nico obtained his MBA from EHSAL Management School (Brussels) in 2002 and then continued forming and heading VIB's Protein Service Facility, which delivered services in protein engineering, expression, purification and characterization for internal and external clients. Dr. Mertens was an active member of several university and professional committees and responsible for teaching courses and training students in Molecular Biotechnology at Ghent University. Nico is the author of 25 international peer reviewed articles and 4 patent applications on technologies applied in protein production and antibody engineering.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors

Nigel leads the Centre for Drug Development (CDD) at CRUK and is responsible for CRUK's early drug development programmes, which include pre-clinical development and early clinical testing of novel anti-cancer agents. Nigel and his team at the CDD are currently managing the early development of over 20 novel agents. Nigel joined CRUK in May 2009 as Director of Drug Development, having previously held a variety of senior leadership roles in the pharma and biotech industries. He has experience of all phases of clinical drug development and a broad range of therapeutic modalities and disease areas. Nigel holds a biochemistry degree and PhD in physiology.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Advisory Board
• Coordinator of the Neuroscience Research Domain at ICVS / University of Minho

Nuno is the coordinator of the Neuroscience Research Domain at ICVS/University of Minho, and has published more than 150 peer-reviewed research articles. In addition to his academic and research merits, Nuno Sousa serves on several science policy and advisory board positions, and as an Ad hoc reviewer for various neuroscience journal and international funding organizations. He is Editor-in-Chief of Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience and Member of the Editorial Board of Molecular Neurodegeneration. Since May 2011 Nuno Sousa is also the President of the Portuguese Society for Neuroscience. He has received various international prizes, such as the Grunenthal Prize in both 2003 and 2007, and the Janssen Neuroscience Prize 2012, amongst others.

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive Officer
• Member of the Board of Directors
• Management

Pedro has over 20 years of experience in the Biotechnology Industry and his entrepreneurial activities are internationally acknowledged. Pedro has built over the years an extensive track-record in growing early stage projects in healthcare. Pedro holds a B.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Kings College London (University of London). He carried out research at several institutions, including the Chemical Engineering Department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), Cambridge, USA and at the Centre for Process Biotechnology (CPB) of the Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark. Following his Doctoral degree he specialized in medical sciences and oncology. After his Postdoctoral training he undertook a 12 month Masters Programme in Management at the IC2 Institute of the University of Texas, Austin, USA. He was a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Porto during 2000-2007 where he delivered lectures in biopharmaceutical sciences. He was the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Biotecnol SA, in Lisbon Portugal, up to March 2012. He currently holds the position of Executive Chairman and is an integral part of its Board of Directors. Prior to his current position he was a Board Member of Vida Rhein Corporation SA - a German-Portuguese joint venture, part of the Rhein Biotech NV group, dedicated to the development of Hepatitis B vaccines and other biosimilar products. Pedro was the founder of the Portuguese Bio-industries Association (APBio) and later had it incorporated into EuropaBio (the European Bioindustries Association). Between 1998 and 2005 he was the Chairman of APBio, and has been widely recognized as one of the key individuals in establishing and promoting the biotechnology industry in Portugal. Between 1997 and 2000 he was a member of the Advisory Group of the Biotechnology & Finance Forum, organized by the European Association of Security Dealers and Automated Quotations (EASDAQ), and the European Commission's DG Research. He was a member of the National Council of the National Entrepreneurs Association (ANJE). Pedro was extensively involved in several EuropaBio initiatives and task forces. For several years he was a member of the Policy & Operations Council and Coordination Council, the Emerging Enterprises Sub-Board and the Biosimilar Products Task-Force. He has been involved since 1997 in several expert panels advising the European Commission in its biotechnology policies. He has also been involved in several Advisory Committees for the Portuguese Government. Pedro was a member of the Superior Counsel for Science, Technology and Innovation for the Portuguese Government, where he advised the Minister of Science and Technology in the implementation of the National Innovation Plan during the mandate of Dr. José Manuel Durão Barroso as Prime Minister of Portugal. Other recognitions included his participation in the Honour Committee of the President of the Republic of Portugal, Prof. Aníbal Cavaco Silva in 2006. Pedro has been awarded the Medal of Merit by the Oeiras Council in Portugal in recognition for his role in promoting entrepreneurship and for services provided to the council of Oeiras (Portugal), where Biotecnol SA, the biotechnology pioneer company in Portugal started its operations and is present since 1996.