Knut Eidissen has been of paramount importance for Lytix Biopharma for several years, and has now decided to step down from the chair position. On June 11th 2015 Lytix Biopharma General Assembly elected Gert W. Munthe as the new Chairman of the Board. Knut Eidissen will remain in the Board together with John Sigurd Svendsen and Kari Grønås. The General Assembly elected three new highly experienced professionals to join them.
In order to ensure the best possible Board of Directors team the Nomination Committee has scanned both domestic and international networks. A number of leads have been investigated and scrutinized, and the following three new candidates were proposed and elected:
Lena Torlegård
Torlegård has been an advisor on corporate communication since 1998, mainly dealing with financial, corporate and crisis communication. She has worked with a number of Life Science companies, among others Sobi, Karo Bio, Orexo and Medivir, and several clients within other industries. Her record of accomplishment also encompasses around 15 IPO’s – Orexo possibly the most prominent within the Life Science sector. She has also advised extensively on communication to support fund raising and M&A. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Nanologica - drug delivery and analytical chromatography. Lena Torlegård holds a degree in Business Administration from Stockholm School of Economics.
Morten Jurs
Jurs has broad executive experience from the pharmaceutical sector as well as non-executive experience from several board positions from both public and private companies. Jurs joined Stamina Group AS (a leading Scandinavian Health and Lifestyle company) as CEO in 2013. Prior to Stamina, he was CFO in Pronova BioPharma ASA from 2006 to 2009, and from 2009 he led the company’s further development as CEO. Jurs brings with him a versatile experience portfolio from the pharmaceuticals, and health and lifestyle industry. Jurs holds a Master of Science in Business and Economics/MBA from the University of Wyoming.
Debasish F. Roychowdhury
Roychowdhury is an oncologist with a background in R&D, regulatory affairs and commercial operations and is a recognized leader in the pharmaceutical industry. He is President of Nirvan Consultants and serves in senior advisory roles for biotechnology companies. He is the acting CMO (Chief Medical Officer) for Ra Pharmaceuticals and was the CMO at Seragon Pharmaceuticals. From 2009 to 2013, Roychowdhury was Senior Vice President and Head of the Global Oncology Division at Sanofi. Prior to that, he was Vice President and head of Clinical Development at GlaxoSmithKline. Roychowdhury directed the Oncology global regulatory group at Eli Lilly and Company. During his tenure in industry, he has been involved in the approval of nine new drugs, several IND filings and supplementary approvals.
Gert W. Munthe commented on his new role as Chairman of the Board in Lytix Biopharma:
“Lytix Biopharma is one of the most exciting companies in the Life Science sector today.
I look forward to contributing to the successful development of the company.”
Unni Hjelmaas, CEO of Lytix Biopharma, commented on the new Board of Directors:
“Our new Board of Directors consist of highly experienced professionals with extensive international drug development and commercialization experience. They will add tremendous value to our plans and we look forward to collaborating with them.”