The Antisense Pharma Team
Philippe P. Calais, Ph.D.Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Philippe P. Calais is Chief Executive Officer of Antisense Pharma since March 1, 2012. He has over 25 years of biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical industry experience in both North America and Europe. Prior to joining Antisense Pharma, he was the President and CEO of Univalor, the largest technology transfer organization located in Montreal, Canada. He has managed biopharmaceutical companies in Canada and served as a consultant to life science companies, focusing on corporate strategic positioning, company deployment and sales optimization strategies. His management expertise, combined with extensive experience with large pharma companies such as ICI Pharmaceuticals and Roche, covers the full scope of the drug chain – from discovery to clinical development, commercialization as well as partnership and franchise strategic marketing for several therapeutic areas. He has a degree and doctorate in pharmacy from the U. F. Rabelais, Tours, France.
Michel Janicot, Ph.D.Preclinical Research & Development Expert
Michel Janicot serves as expert for preclinical research & development at Antisense Pharma since July 2012. He has over 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in Oncology R&D. Prior to joining Antisense Pharma, he was Senior Director at Janssen R&D (Johnson&Johnson) located in Beerse, Belgium and then founded his own consulting firm (JMi ONConsulting). He has managed large multidisciplinary teams for the worldwide preclinical and early clinical development of both small molecules and biologics drug candidates for oncology intervention. His management expertise, leadership, and strategic vision, combined with extensive experience with large pharma companies such as Johnson&Johnson and Sanofi (formerly Rhône-Poulenc Rorer), covers a large scope of the drug development process – from discovery to early clinical development. He has a doctorate in biochemistry from the University Paris VII, France, obtained in 1988 and did a postdoctoral training at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (USA) from 1988 to 1992.
Ulrich KiskaltHead Human Resources & Site Management
Ulrich Kiskalt is Head Human Resources and Site Management at Antisense Pharma. He joined the company in 2011 and has about 25 years of experience in personnel management. Before joining Antisense Pharma, he successfully managed several leadership- and employee-development projects as well as general HR-projects at the Munich International Airport. He focused primarily on human resources strategy, personnel management and executive development. He has also worked as a corporate coach, specializing in human resources and project management and as lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences in Regensburg, Germany. He began his career as an officer in the German Federal Armed Forces inter alia at the United Nations as well as the NATO. He holds a degree in Business Administration (Dipl.-Betriebswirt (FH)) from the University of the German Federal Armed Forces (Universität der Bundeswehr) in Munich, Germany.
Andrea Kottke, Ph.D.Head Medical Affairs & Communication
Andrea Kottke is Head Medical Affairs and Communication at Antisense Pharma. She joined the company in 2009 and has nearly 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience. Prior to joining Antisense Pharma she was Head of Portfolio & Product Management for Specialty Pharmaceuticals at Ebewe Pharma, Austria (now Sandoz) were she managed several worldwide oncology product launches. She held various national and international positions in clinical research, medical marketing, marketing, and sales with increasing responsibilities and a focus in oncology at NeoCorp AG (now Sandoz), Bristol-Myers Squibb and Schering-Plough (now MSD). She is experienced in KOL management, strategic marketing, premarketing, product launches, market research, competitive analysis and health economics as well as corporate communication/public relations. She studied biology, received her M.Sc. in immunology, and her Ph.D. in clinical pharmacology at the University of Konstanz, Germany. She spent two years as a post-doctoral research associate at the department of Biochemistry at Emory University, Atlanta, USA.
Eugen Leo, Prof. M.D., M.B.A.Clinical Development Expert
Professor Eugen Leo serves as expert for clinical development at Antisense Pharma since July 2012. He is a board-certified Hematologist and Medical Oncologist and targeted therapy development specialist. Prior to joining Antisense Pharma, he served in various positions with growing responsibilities up to Vice President level within Biotech (Micromet) and Pharmaceutical Industry (Johnson&Johnson, Merck-Serono) and then founded his own consulting firm (LeoConsulting) for drug development in 2009. He has over 15 years of experience in Phase I-III clinical development of targeted molecules, (kinase inhibitors, antibodies, antibody derivatives, vaccines and antisense molecules) and has been instrumental for reaching proof-of-concept for the BiTE platform (blinatumomab; Science 321 (5891): 974ff) and development of various other first-in class molecules. He has substantial translational research experience and has spent three years as research fellow at the Sanford-Burnham Institute, La Jolla, CA (USA) working on signal transduction in cancer. He studied medicine at the Universities of Freiburg, Münster, Heidelberg (Germany) and Cincinnati (USA). He is ESMO-certified, holds an M.B.A. from Colorado State University and is an adjunct Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Heidelberg University, Germany, teaching medical oncology.
Klaus R. Lindner, Ph.D.Head of Manufacturing & Qualified Person
Klaus R. Lindner is Head of Manufacturing and Qualified Person and responsible for the pharmaceutical development of trabedersen at Antisense Pharma since 2001. He has more than 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience with more than 10 years of working in the field of oligonucleotides. Before joining Antisense Pharma, he served as Director of Drug Discovery at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Research Center in Regensburg, Germany. He studied chemistry, received his M.Sc. from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and his Ph.D. from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland (ETH Zürich) in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Albert Eschenmoser. After completing his Ph.D., he joined the group of Prof. Dr. Rolf Huisgen at the University of Munich, Germany as a postdoctoral research associate for 1½ years.
Hermann WerleHead of Finance & Controlling
Hermann Werle is Head of Finance and Controlling at Antisense Pharma since 2009. He has more than 20 years of health care industry experience. Prior to joining Antisense Pharma, he worked for Tyco Healthcare (now Covidien) and Gerresheimer Wilden. He had served as Controller, Head of Administration, Proxy, General Manager Finance, General Manager Commercial, Commercial Manager International and Human Resources Manager International. In these functions, he gained experience in due diligence, acquisition, restructuring, operational and legal integration/merger of companies over the course of 9 company-acquisitions (e.g. Mallinckrodt, Sherwood Davis & Geck, U.S.-Surgical). He was responsible for strategic planning, finance and controlling, IT, purchasing, legal, warehouse and distribution. He holds a Degree in Business Administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Regensburg, Germany.