entrepreneur Archives

Jonas Hallén

25 March 202519 March 2025 by Sejelas

Tell us more about yourself and what motivated you to found Arxx, which has since become Calluna Pharma following the merger with Oxitope.

I was born in Norway and lived there until I moved to Copenhagen to study medicine. I never actually considered medicine as a career path until I trained as a medic during my mandatory service in the Norwegian Armed Forces which triggered my interest in clinical work.

What motivated me to co-found Arxx was my ambition to make a larger impact than I felt I was having at my existing job. Arxx co-founder Dr. Rizwan Hussain and myself started looking at the biology of a protein known as S100A4 and the broader class of DAMPS (Damage Associated Molecular Patterns or alarmins).

We were immediately captivated by their therapeutic potential. To further validate our approach, we engaged with Professor Eugene Lukanidin’s research group in Copenhagen, the pioneers in S100A4 research.

John Boghossian

20 November 2024 by Sejelas

Can you share the inspiration and vision behind founding Kadence Bio?
The inspiration for Kadence Bio stemmed from our founders’ early investigations into potential acute treatments for mood disorders, where they explored different classes of alkaloid small molecules. We discovered a compound scaffold with a distinctive pharmacokinetic profile that also exhibited an unexpected effect of delayed ejaculation. This – rather unexpected! – The finding was corroborated by the elucidation of its potential mechanism of action.
We then identified a significant unmet need, as no FDA-approved treatments exist for premature ejaculation, a condition that affects at least 1 in 20 men and their partners globally and hinders intimacy and well-being in these relationships. We quickly decided to found Kadence Bio, with a vision of cultivating sexual and mental well-being by developing novel treatments for sexual health and mood disorder applications.

Sharon Cunningham

13 November 2024 by Sejelas

You are a chartered accountant turned biotech Founder-CEO. Can you share your journey with us?
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Finance, I trained to become a Chartered Accountant with PwC. I later secured a role as a Management Accountant with pharmaceutical company, EirGen Pharma, progressed to Financial Controller and then Head of Finance. During my time there, I obtained my executive MBA. In 2018 I co-founded Shorla Oncology, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing innovative oncology drugs addressing unmet needs. I come from an entrepreneurial family and I always knew I would run my own business eventually but I wanted to spend time in practice and industry and gain as much formal education as possible in order to maximise my knowledge and skills, build an industry network and ultimately enhance my credibility in order to ensure success.

Wahid Awad

28 October 2024 by Sejelas

Your experience spans the globe. Tell us more about your background?
I am the CEO and Founder of Rosetta Omics: an innovative deeptech healthcare startup incubated at Agoranov and in a mission to unlock the road to precision medicine using spatial multiomics and AI and starting with cancer.
Having lived in four countries: Egypt, the Netherlands, USA and now France & studied in 13 total (in 5 continents), I acquired a multidimensional, multidisciplinary and multicultural understanding of the complexities that may rise in any life sciences biopharma/health organization and developed the ability to approach them with an innovative problem-solving attitude. My bachelor was from Egypt, my master was from the Netherlands, my PhD, from the USA, my postdoc from France and I did an executive MBA from ESCP business school between nine countries.

Simon Mølgaard

26 September 2024 by Sejelas

Teitur means happiness in Old Norse. What inspired you to choose this name for the company, and how does it reflect your vision for developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases?
At Teitur, our name captures the essence of our mission. Meaning “joyful” or “bright” in Old Norse, Teitur reflects our commitment to bringing light and hope to patients and families affected by Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases. We are developing innovative, disease-modifying treatments that go beyond symptom management, aiming to alter the course of these conditions.

Bo Rode Hansen

28 August 2024 by Sejelas

Tell us more about your background. Throughout my career, I have focused and been involved in creating, driving and transacting on innovation in medicine. I have led innovation and drug discovery with different technologies including RNA therapeutics, genetic medicines, drug delivery, informatics, biologics and small molecules. During your tenure as President & CEO at Scandion Oncology and Genevant Sciences, what were some of the most innovative projects you spearheaded, and what impact did they have on the company’s direction? As President & CEO at Scandion Oncology, I led the strategic transformation and growth of the company, raising 300 million SEK and listing the company on Nasdaq First North in Stockholm. This allowed Scandion to continue the development in Phase 2 and build the team. We focused on strategically positioning an inhibitor of an efflux pump in cancer cells as innovative projects designed to overcome cancer drug resistance – mainly in colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer. The medical need in cancer for innovative projects is huge and resistance to existing therapies is the leading cause of the almost innumerable 10 million casualties to cancer every year.

Jana Fischer

21 August 2024 by Sejelas

Tell us about your background. My background is in computational biology and bioinformatics, which I studied at ETH Zürich. I then went on to combine my fascination for cancer research and my data analysis skills and joined the research group of Prof. Bernd Bodenmiller for my PhD. We used highly multiplex tissue imaging in order to characterize tumors and better understand their biology, the different tumor subtypes and the complex interactions between tumor and immune cells. Throughout my PhD I analyzed datasets of large patient cohorts and was able to show the remarkable potential of this type of data in explaining different patient outcomes such as drug response or survival.

Patrick Guye

14 August 2024 by Sejelas

Tell us about your background.
My career began with a PhD in molecular biology and microbiology, fueling a lifelong fascination with the complexities of biological systems. This path led me to a pivotal role in synthetic biology at MIT, where I was inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of the Boston area. After building two labs at Sanofi, I served as Chief Scientific Officer at InSphero in Zurich, sharpening my expertise in scaling biotech ventures.

With Tim Mak, my co-founder in Trilliome, we launched a consulting business focusing on scientific and technical matters, transitioning over time increasingly to business development and strategy. My engagement in rejuvenation and longevity started during my tenure as ad-interim COO at Rejuveron, focusing on pioneering drug discovery initiatives. My career has spanned many topics, including inflammation & immunity, metabolic diseases, immuno-oncology (IO), and neurodegeneration, across most therapeutic modalities.

Jordan Guyon

31 July 2024 by Sejelas

What is your background?
I hold a PharmD and a dual degree from EM Lyon Business School, with a major in Entrepreneurship.

What/who inspired you to go into the life sciences? Has there been someone instrumental throughout your journey?
I discovered biology at a young age through scientific reviews for children. I remember being immediately fascinated by its complexity and the harmony of how everything worked together in living systems. As I grew older, I encountered health issues within my circle of family and friends, which left me with a profound sense of injustice. Why was this happening? Why couldn’t we find cures? This experience sparked my desire to work in the field of medicine. The final piece of the puzzle came from my high school chemistry teacher, whose passion for the subject inspired me. This is how I came to see the pharmaceutical field as the perfect blend for me of biology, medicine, and molecular development.

Claudia Scheckel

25 July 2024 by Sejelas

Can you tell us more about Oncobit and the reasons you decided to found it? Two of my co-founders are professors at the University and University Hospital of Zurich and experienced first-hand the limitations linked to cancer monitoring. So Oncobit was really founded out of an unmet need. What are some of the key challenges you faced when transitioning from academia to entrepreneurship and the MedTech industry, and how did you overcome them? To be honest I believe academia has prepared me quite well for my entrepreneurial journey at Oncobit in a lot of ways.