Management
Management
Annbjørg Falck
Chief Executive Officer
and Co-founder
Annbjørg Falck is a PharmD from the University of Oslo/University of Southern California, and she holds an MBA from the Open University in UK. She has broad experience from pharmaceutical and biotech industry, spanning from large international companies (GE Healthcare and Pfizer Norway) to pharmacy management (Boots Limited) and smaller Norwegian companies (Pronova Biopharma, Targovax, Zelluna Immunotherapy). Since 2010 she has worked in leadership roles within the field of drug development, with a main focus and enthusiasm for regulatory strategy and execution throughout the journey of bringing drugs through preclinical and clinical development to patients. Prior to co-founding NaDeNo Falck worked as an Entrepreneur in Residence for SINTEF TTO & Venture on the commercialization of SINTEF’s nanomedicine technology, resulting in the establishment of NaDeNo.
Yrr Mørch
Chief Technology Officer
and Co-founder
Yrr Mørch is a nanomedicine specialist and one of the inventors of NaDeNo’s technology. She holds a MSc in Chemical Engineering (sivilingeniør) from The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, specializing in biotechnology. In 2008 she defended her PhD in biopolymer chemistry for which she was awarded as the top PhD thesis from Tekna in 2008. Since 2012 she has been the project leader of numerous national and international research and industry projects, has led the Nanomedicine strategic area at SINTEF and was the lead scientist of NaDeNo’s nanoformulation platform technology. Mørch is author of >40 scientific peer-reviewed publications, inventor of eight patents and has contributed as invited speaker at scientific and popular science conferences, in several newspaper articles, a podcast, and in national TV and radio interviews.
Torgeir Vaage
Chief Financial Officer
Torgeir Vaage holds a MSc from Norges Handelshøyskole (Norway) and a PhD from UC Berkeley in Business Administration. He has more than 20 years of combined experience from the financing sector and biotech with multiple CFO and CEO roles in early-stage life science companies. Vaage is the former senior equity analyst of ABG Sundal Collier/Handelsbanken and management consultant at AT Kearney.
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Ole J. Dahlberg
Chair of the Board
Ole J. Dahlberg brings 25 years of experience from the life science industry. In addition to co-founded three start-up companies, Dahlberg worked both on the commercial side, and in R&D leadership roles, for German Biotech company Qiagen. Over the past 15 years Dahlberg has been in executive leadership roles in Life Technologies, as Managing Director for Norway based Dynal Biotech, and later for Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Until 2021 Dahlberg was based in California, USA, working as Vice President & General Manager with responsibility for Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Cell Biology Division. Dahlberg holds a few biotech company board positions, and currently works as CEO for Curida. Mr. Dahlberg holds a Master of Science in Genetics and Marine Biology from University of Oslo.
Eli Grong Aursand
Board Member
Eli G. Aursand holds a master’s degree in product development and materials from the The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). She has extensive experience in developing and scaling deep-tech companies from NTNU and SINTEF. Currently, she works as an investment director in SINTEF TTO & Venture with the main purpose of building tech start-ups based on SINTEF technology.
Jonas Hallén
Board Member
Jonas Hallén is the Chief Medical Officer of Arxx Therapeutics, a biotech company he co-founded in 2019 that develops a monoclonal antibody for rare fibrotic diseases.
Before joining Arxx, Jonas spent a decade in the pharmaceutical industry in various positions such as Nordic Therapeutic Area Director at Boehringer Ingelheim, Clinical Program Leader at Pronova Biopharma and Region Europe Medical Director (Cardio-Metabolic) at Novartis. His experience spans preclinical, early and late-stage clinical development as well as medical affairs.
Jonas is an MD from the University of Copenhagen and holds a PhD in cardiovascular disease from the University of Oslo.
Jonas is excited about the development of technology and drugs that can address unmet medical needs and improve the lives of patients.
Reidar Stokke
Board Member
Reidar Stokke holds a Master of Science in Business and Economics, is a certified Public Accountant and Authorised Financial Analyst. He is the former CEO of SpareBank 1 SMN Invest AS and Director of Corporate Markets at SpareBank 1 SMN. Other assignments: Board member of the companies Factoring Finans AS, Proventure Seed I and II AS, Leiv Eriksson Nyskaping AS, Rem Offshore AS and Grilstad Marina AS. Chairman of Turtle Invest AS and Aqua Venture AS.
Jostein Bjøndal
Observer
Jostein S. Bjøndal holds a Master’s degree in International Business from The Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). He has extensive experience in developing and scaling deep-tech companies from SINTEF and within investments, corporate finance and banking. Currently, he works as an investment director in SINTEF TTO & Venture with the main purpose of building tech start-ups based on SINTEF technology.
Advisors
Advisors
Mark Tracy
CMC
Mark Tracy is Founder and President, Tracy BioConsulting, LLC. Dr. Tracy is known internationally for developing innovative first-in class complex injectables and nucleic acid therapeutics and vaccines. Dr. Tracy played a key role in developing Onpattro®, the first RNAi therapeutic approved by the FDA, EMA and other regulatory agencies worldwide. He has also played an important role in the development of lipid nanoparticle technology used in mRNA COVID-19 vaccines granted regulatory approval worldwide. Previously, he developed several complex injectable sustained release products that have been commercialized including Vivitrol®, Bydureon®, and Nutropin® Depot, which was the first long-acting protein product approved by the FDA. Dr. Tracy has extensive experience in the development of nano and microparticle-based products and other sterile injectable formulations from research through IND filing and commercialization. He has been recognized by peers internationally for accomplishments and leadership in the pharmaceutical product development, bioengineering, and delivery fields. Dr. Tracy is a Past-President and Fellow of the Controlled Release Society (CRS) and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).
Ruth Schmid
Strategic and scientific advice
Ruth Schmid has more than 40 years’ experience in the field of preparation and characterization of micro- and nanoparticles by various technologies and from a wide variety of materials, as well as the surface modification of polymers and polymer particles to introduce tailor-made properties. A special focus has been on the encapsulation and immobilisation of liquids and solids from emulsions, for protection and controlled release.
The last 10+ years, she has shown a special interest is the emerging field of nanomedicine, targeted drug delivery and release, nanotechnology-based diagnostics, regenerative medicine, as well as preclinical characterization. Ruth introduced nanomedicine as a new business area at SINTEF and is the main inventor or co-inventor of several patents that are the basis for NaDeNo’s technology.
Ruth has a special focus on applied research and product-oriented solutions. She has long-term experience in translation from laboratory to pilot scale, e.g. through the development of the Dynabeads and SINTEFs various drug delivery platforms.
Ruth is a Swiss citizen living in Norway since 1979. She gained her Diploma (1975) and PhD (1979) in Natural Sciences (physical organic chemistry) at ETH Zürich, Switzerland. She is a member of ACS, CRS (member of the board of directors (2009-2018), President (2016-2017), the European Technology Platform in Nanomedicine (Chair 2019-2021) and the EARTO working group “Emerging Technologies for Healthcare”. She is author/co-author of 59 scientific publications and 18 patents and patent applications. Total number of peer reviewed publications: 77; citations 2543; h-index. 23 (Google Scholar, December 2022).
Aleksandar Danilovski
Business development
Aleksandar Danilovski holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cambridge University and University of Zagreb. He has broad experience within drug development through his previous positions as CSO of Xellia Pharmaceuticals (Denmark), Head of European R&D at Barr Laboratories Inc. (US/Croatia) and Management Board Member at PLIVA Pharmaceuticals (Croatia).
Currently he is the Managing Partner and Founder of DALISCO (Croatia), Board of Director Member at Active Biotech (Sweden) and Pharmaero (Denmark), Scientific Advisory Board Member for Bugworks (US) and holds a position in the Scientific Selection Board of Novo Holdings – REPAIR Impact Fund (Denmark).
Kristina Wolsperger Danilovski
Business development
Kristina Wolsperger Danilovski is a seasoned professional with around 25 years of experience in life science within academia and pharmaceutical industry, and with deep knowledge in global regulatory affairs management.
Since 2012 Kristina is founder and CEO of the independent consultancy business Alchemilla. During this period Kristina has been engaged in numerous pharmaceutical projects providing services across the pharmaceutical value chain, supporting innovative, generic and value-added generic businesses covering both drug substance (API) and Final dosage forms (FDF).
Alchemilla services are designed to assist in increasing complexities of today’s pharmaceutical drug research and development. They systematically approach their assignments in a holistic way by creating close links between business development, non-clinical, and clinical development with drug regulatory affairs.
