From the left: Laurence Jay Korn (Protein Design Laboratories; San Francisco, USA), Kirsten Drejer (Symphogen; Copenhagen, Denmark), Jack Johansen (Protein Forest, Inc.; Boston, USA), Martin Edwards (Chairman, Novo A/S; London, UK), Ian Nicholson (Chroma Therapeutics Limited; London, UK), Martin Olin Andersen (Scandinavian Life Science Ventures; Copenhagen, Denmark), and Jeff Himawan (Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, San Francisco, USA).

Martin Edwards, B.Sc., MB (Hons), MRCP, MRCGP, FFPM, MBA
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Dr. Edwards has been a Partner in Novo A/S since 2003. In this capacity he currently serves on the Boards of five portfolio companies (Symphogen A/S, Thiakis Ltd, Funxional Therapeutics Ltd, Serentis Ltd, and Logical Therapeutics Inc.). From 1998 to 2003, Dr. Edwards was CEO of ReNeuron Ltd., UK. Prior to that he held positions as Vice President and Head of Drug Development for Novo Nordisk A/S (Denmark), Senior Vice President at Novo Nordisk (Princeton), and Vice President at Zymogenetics (Seattle). Dr. Edwards is trained in physiology and medicine in Manchester (UK), and has post-graduate medical qualifications from the London Royal Colleges. His MBA is from the University of Warwick (UK).

Kirsten Drejer, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Co-founder and CEO
Dr. Drejer has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Before joining Symphogen, she held several scientific and managerial positions at Novo Nordisk A/S, including four years as Director of Diabetes Discovery, and three years as Corporate Facilitator. In addition to her service on Symphogen's board of directors, Dr. Drejer is also a member of the board of directors of Danisco A/S and Bioneer A/S. Her scientific experience includes research and development of drugs for the treatment of Diabetes and she was instrumental in the Insulin Analogue and Nasal Insulin programs of Novo Nordisk.

Jeff Himawan, Ph.D.
Dr. Himawan is a Managing Director at Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, a global healthcare-dedicated venture capital firm. In addition to his service on Symphogen's board of directors, Dr. Himawan is also a member of the board of directors of two public companies (Iomai and MediciNova) and three private (Receptor Biologix, Light Sciences Oncology and Ception Therapeutics). Dr. Himawan holds a B.S. degree in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and obtained a Ph.D. degree in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology from Harvard University. 

Laurence Jay Korn, Ph.D
Dr. Korn is a member of the Board of PDL BioPharma, Inc. He co-founded Protein Design Labs., Inc. in 1986 and served as CEO (1987 to 2002) and Chairperson (1986-2004). Previously, Dr. Korn headed a research laboratory and served on the faculty of the Department of Genetics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University and was a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and a Staff Scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England.

Martin Olin Andersen, M.Sc., E*MBA
Martin Olin Andersen is Senior Partner of Scandinavian Life Science Ventures (SLSV). Previously held positions include Finance Director at Novo Nordisk A/S, Manager in Corporate Finance at Novo Nordisk, and Senior Accountant Management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Olin Andersen holds a Master of Science degree in Business Administration and Auditing and an Executive MBA from the Scandinavian International Management Institute. At SLSV, Mr. Olin Andersen has lead several of its investments and serves on the Board of Directors of Millimed Holdings Inc. (Chairman), Sophion Bioscience A/S (Vice Chairman), Chempilots A/S, Precisense A/S and Light Sciences Oncology Inc.

Jack Johansen, Ph.D.
Dr. Johansen is President & CEO of Protein Forest, Inc. and works as an executive consultant to various life science/venture capital companies. Prior to this, Dr. Johansen has been CEO and Founder of Boston Probes, Inc., Chairman, CEO and Founder of Boston Biosystems Inc., Chairman at Glyco Inc., Executive Vice President of science and technology at Millipore Corporation and President of Millicorp, which is Millipore’s venture fund. Dr. Johansen is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Exiqon A/S and AdvanDx Inc. and serves on the Board of Directors of Protein Forrest, Inc. and 7TM A/S. Dr. Johansen holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Copenhagen, and was a postdoctoral student in biophysics at Harvard Medical School.

Ian Nicholson, B.Sc., MAB
Mr. Nicholson has served as Chief Executive Officer in Chroma Therapeutics Limited since September 2004. Prior to joining Chroma, he was Senior Vice President of Business Development for Celltech Gr, responsible for all global licensing activities. He has held a variety of senior commercial positions with Oxford Asymmetry International plc, Lonza AG and Amersham International plc. He currently also sits on the Boards of the Biotechnology Industry Association and Bioventix Limited. Mr. Nicholson holds a BSc (Hons) degree from University College, London, and an MBA from Boston University.