Kirsten Drejer, M.Sc., Ph.D. Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Kirsten Drejer has more than 20 years of international experience from the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Before joining Symphogen she held several scientific and managerial positions in Novo Nordisk, including four years as Director of Diabetes Discovery, and three years as Corporate Facilitator at Novo. Kirsten Drejer is a Board member of Symphogen, Danisco A/S and The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation, and she is on the Advisory Board of The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
Thomas Feldthus, M.Sc., MBA Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer Before joining Symphogen, Mr. Feldthus served as Investment Manager at Novo A/S. Between 1996 and 1999 he was Corporate Development Manager at Novo Nordisk A/S, and prior to that he was Director of Business Development at Cheminova Agro A/S. Mr. Feldthus has extensive experience with business development, international sales, marketing, and project management and holds a M.Sc. from the Technical University of Denmark and an MBA (Sloan Fellow) from London Business School.
Gayle M. Mills, M.B.A. Chief Business Officer Ms. Mills most recently held the position of Chief Business Officer at ROXRO Pharma where she was oversaw business operations leading to the successful FDA approval of ROXRO’s analgesic, SPRIX® and the subsequent acquisition of the company by Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Daiichi Sankyo. Prior to that, Ms. Mills was SVP of Business Development at Abgenix, Inc. a successful antibody discovery and development company acquired by Amgen. Ms. Mills’ accomplishments include consummation of a wide range of significant licensing, co-development and corporate acquisition transactions.
Ivan D. Horak, MD, FACP Chief Scientific Officer and Medical Officer Prior to joining Symphogen, Dr. Ivan Horak served as President of Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer of Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc. Before that, Dr. Horak served as Chief Scientific Officer of Immunomedics, responsible for development of novel antibodies. Dr. Horak has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters within the fields of hematology, oncology, and immunology and has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. Dr. Horak is board certified oncologist. He is Fellow of American College of Physicians and member of American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Hematology, and American Society Clinical Oncology.
Jørgen Petersen, M.D., DMSc Chief Development Officer Dr. Petersen joined Symphogen in 2009 following employment from 2002 to 2009 at Genmab A/S as Medical Director and Vice President where he worked with several monoclonal antibody programs including the BLA filing of ofatumumab. Prior to this employment, Dr. Petersen was Head of Rheumatology and associate and full Professor of Internal Medicine at Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen University Hospital). Dr. Petersen has significant international experience from his time as visiting investigator at the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California. Dr. Petersen has authored over 110 peer-reviewed publications.
Torben P. Frandsen, M. Sc., Ph.D. Vice President of Preclinical R&D Support Torben P. Frandsen has more than 15 years experience from Pharma and Biotech industry. Dr. Frandsen has held different scientific and managerial positions at Symphogen and is now responsible for all of the CMC activities. Before joining Symphogen Dr. Frandsen held different scientific positions at NovozymesA/S and Santaris Pharma A/S. Dr. Frandsen has extensive experience with process development, manufacturing, release, and characterization of biological therapeutics including the regulatory review process. Dr. Frandsen has authored more than 30 peer reviewed publications.
