About Perseo pharma
Perseo pharma is a start-up company with state-of-the-art labs located in Basel, Switzerland. It is a spin-off from the University of Applied Sciences (FHNW), School of Life Sciences in Muttenz (near Basel).
The technology was invented by Prof. Dr. Patrick Shahgaldian (FHNW), who acts as CSO of the company.
Who we are
Dr. Yves Dudal
CEO
A Bioprocess engineer by training (National Institute for Applied Sciences, INSA Toulouse, France), Yves received his PhD in chemical engineering from Polytechnique Montréal, Canada in 2000. He worked for almost a decade as academic researcher in Montpellier, France, where he founded his first start-up company, which was taken over by a European Group in 2015. Prior to cofounding and being the CEO of Perseo Pharma, Yves was the CEO and cofounder of INOFEA in Basel.
Dr. Manon Briand,
CTO
Manon Briand obtained her PhD from the University of Basel with highest honors in 2021. During her PhD, she worked in tight collab-oration with INOFEA and NBE Therapeutics on the enzzen® technology platform. She developed, among others, new methodologies for the simultaneous site-selective immobilization and protection of enzymes and designed a novel system enabling efficient biocon-jugation on biomolecules (i.e. monoclonal antibodies) and production of antibody-drug conjugates. After the obtention of her PhD diploma, she joined Perseo Pharma as Head of Medicinal Chemistry & CMC. She is now our Chief Technology Officer.
Dr. Kristen Skvorak
External Expert Consultant
Dr. Skvorak is a freelance Preclinical Development consultant with 20 years of experience specializing in inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) and translational biology. She earned her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 2008, after which her research validating liver-directed cell therapies formed the foundation of two clinical trials for IEM in two countries (US and Sweden). She also contributed to the creation and characterization of the first viable model of Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD), the intermediate MSUD mouse, and the first large animal model of Phenylketonuria (PKU), a porcine model. She also helped to further characterize a mouse model of PKU illuminating new phenotypes not previously described. In 2016, Dr. Skvorak joined Codexis, who was developing novel oral enzyme substitution therapies targeting metabolic disease and IEM. There she contributed to the discovery and preclinical validation of several programs for oral delivery, including CDX-6114 for PKU and CDX-7108 for EPI, now in clinical trials with Nestle Health Science. She also served as translational lead for programs in Homocystinuria and MSUD, which yielded peer-reviewed publications, multiple patents, and achieved Orphan Disease Designation and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation from the FDA. She has been consulting to support preclinical development of new therapies for IEMs and other metabolic disease since 2023.
The Board of Directors
Dr. Werner M. Enz
Chairman
Dr. Enz has held various senior executive positions with Roche in Basel, Canada and Germany, including running Roches largest business unit in oncology, immunology and transplant medicine. After a merger project with Rhône Poulenc Rorer (today Sanofi) in Sweden, he worked for Abbott as Commercial Director Europe in the USA and Divisional Head Hospital business in Switzerland.
Dr. Enz also worked for a number of innovative startups and mid-sized B2B technology companies in life science, leading late stage clinical and business development as well as commercial operations, including as country manager and CEO.
He holds a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, Scotland, UK.
Prof. Dr. Patrick Shahgaldian
PhD in chemistry from Université Claude Bernard in Lyon, Patrick is now full Professor at the University of Applied Sciences (FHNW) near Basel, where he leads the Molecular Nanotechnology group. He is the main inventor of the enzzen® platform technology and a co-founder of both INOFEA and Perseo pharma. Patrick is the author of more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and of a dozen of patents. His research is well funded through participation in EU- and Swiss-funded projects (H2020, Innosuisse, SNF, etc.). Patrick acts Expert Science & Technology Advisor for the company.
Dr. Marc Gitzinger
(ETH Zurich, PhD in Biology)
Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of BioVersys with over 10 years of experience in the biotech industry, having launched a university spin-off in the field of antimicrobial resistance and growing it into a multi-asset clinical stage company. Some of these assets will address significant unmet medical needs in infectious conditions such as tuberculosis and hospital acquired Acinetobacter infections. Marc has raised over $70 mio in equity financing and secured over $30 mio in non-dilutive funding. He has also established several important partnerships with a Big Pharma and other development organizations. Multi-award-winning Biotech CEO, having received amongst others the Swiss Technology Award 2011, Venture Kick 2009 and Venture Leaders 2008 and 2017 awards for his work in founding and advancing BioVersys. He is also President of the Board of the BEAM Alliance, a European association representing over 70 European and international SMEs active in antimicrobial research and development and Board member of AMR Industry Alliance. Marc is a young thought leader in the field of antimicrobial research and development. He is passionate about next generation antimicrobial therapies and leads a highly motivated team striving to bring life-saving antimicrobial therapies to patients in need. He is also co-author on several high ranked scientific publications and patents in the field.
Dr. Christian Schilling
Managing Partner at AVANTECA Partners AG, a privately held asset management company based in Basel, Switzerland.
MD, PhD with specialty in Clinical Pharmacology. Over 25 years of experience in Big Pharma. Former senior executive at Boehringer Ingelheim. Strategic and operational experience in research, clinical development, marketing and sales as well as regional and country management. Executive positions in business development and M&A.
Laurence de Schoulepnikoff
Laurence is a seasoned pharma/biotech professional with broad experience in corporate & business development and R&D operations. She holds a Master’s in Chemical Engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale of Lausanne (EPFL) and brings more than 25 years’ experience in the pharma industry in VC funded biotech start-ups, mid-size private companies and large corporate organizations.
Laurence is currently CEO of Tridek-One, a biotech start-up developing first-in-class CD31 agonist modalities designed to restore the immune balance. Laurence has a very broad background covering multiple roles in the industry, and she brings:
- A track record of negotiating and managing numerous transactions, including M&A, in- and out-licensing, partnering, and collaborations.
- Responsibility for the successful trade sale of AMAL Therapeutics to Boehringer Ingelheim in 2019.
- Leadership of R&D operations to bring various assets into clinical development in immunooncology, pain and CF.
- Strategic vision for company development (partnership strategy, portfolio strategy, exit strategy) as well as on company structure and general organization.
- C-level executive leadership of small and mid-sized corporations
- A very extensive network within the industry, including board membership of the Swiss Healthcare Licensing Group (Swiss HLG) since 2013.