Aurealis Therapeutics Raises CHF 8 Million to Complete Phase 2 Clinical Studies in Chronic Wounds and Accelerate Oncology Program

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ABOUT US

Our Mission

Our mission is to develop curative therapies for chronic wound, cancer, and inflammatory disease patients with our multi-target cell and gene therapy platform.

Our Vision

Our goal is to create solid clinical safety and efficacy data in Diabetic Foot Ulcer, other chronic wounds and deadly cancers, and to engage with strategic partners to enable market entry to ensure that this game-changing technology platform benefits millions of patients throughout the world.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Juha Yrjänheikki

JUHA YRJÄNHEIKKI

CEO

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Laurent Décory

LAURENT DÉCORY

COO

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Haritha Samaranayake

HARITHA SAMARANAYAKE

CMO

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MAIJA RUSI

MAIJA RUSI

Financial & Administrative Director

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SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARDS

DIABETIC FOOT ULCER

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ALBERTO PIAGGESI

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JAN APELQVIST

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DAVID ARMSTRONG

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MAGDALENA ANNERSTEN GERSHATER

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VENOUS LEG ULCER

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KIRSI ISOHERRANEN

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JOACHIM DISSEMOND

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ARKADIUSZ JAWIEŃ

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VALENTINA DINI

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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ROGER MEIER, CHAIRMAN

Serial Entrepreneur, Board Professional and Biotech Business Advisor

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SILVIO INDERBITZIN

Biotech Investor, Senior Executive and Board Professional

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JEAN DE GUNZBURG

Scientist, Biotech Investor and Board Professional

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TUOMO PÄTSI

Biopharma Advisor and Board Professional

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Juha Yrjänheikki

JUHA YRJÄNHEIKKI

CEO

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Laurent Décory

LAURENT DÉCORY

COO

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TEAM MEMBERS

Igor Mierau

IGOR MIERAU

Director of Genetic Engineering & Manufacturing

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HANNA-RIIKKA KÄRKKÄINEN

Director of Quality &
Regulatory Affairs

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JERE KURKIPURO

Director of Pre-Clinical
& Pharmacology

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MIRKA SANIO

Clinical Operations Director

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MATLEENA PIIROINEN

Drug Safety Officer

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JADE JIMENEZ

Senior Marketing & Communications Manager

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SARI ROVAMAA

Executive Assistant

Baarerstrasse 21, CH-6300

Zug, Switzerland

Microkatu 1, FI-70210

Kuopio, Finland

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Juha Yrjänheikki

Juha Yrjänheikki

CEO

Juha has an MSc in biotechnology and a PhD in neurobiology. He is a serial life-science entrepreneur, seed investor, and board professional with extensive experience in growing biotech start-ups.

CEO and co-founder of Aurealis Therapeutics AG. Previously, CEO and co-founder of Aurealis Pharma AG 2013-2020. Prior to that, CEO of Charles River Discovery Services Finland 2009-2012; CEO and co-founder of Cerebricon Ltd 2001-2009, which was acquired by Charles River Laboratories in 2009. Co-founder and former Chairman of the Board of Nostetta Ltd, a pre-seed and seed stage technology investment company. Co-founder and partner of Nostetta Ventures, a venture capital company investing in growth companies mainly in the North Savo region. Juha was also a Professor-of-Practice at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Eastern Finland 2018-2021. A former Board Director at Pharmatest Ltd, Fennogate Finland Ltd, and KPY Novapolis Ltd, and current Chair of the Board of KPY Cooperative and Board Director of Nostetta Ventures VC Fund.

Juha got his MSc. in biotechnology (molecular biology) from the University of Kuopio in 1997 and his PhD in neuroinflammation of stoke and ischemia from the University of Kuopio in 2000. He was a research scientist at the AIV Institute of the University of Kuopio in 1999-2001 and a visiting researcher at Stanford University, School of Medicine, Dept. of Neurosurgery in 1997-1998.

Laurent Décory

Laurent Décory

COO

Laurent has an MSc and PhD in Neurosciences and Pharmacology from the University of Bordeaux and holds an MBA from the ESSEC Business School, Paris.

Laurent joined Aurealis Therapeutics as Chief Operating Officer on the 1st of March 2022 after having been a Board Member for 2 years. Laurent is in charge of business development, health economics, marketing and communications, and scientific advisory activities. He brings to the company substantial expertise and commercial leadership both in the Advanced Wound Care (AWC, Medtech) and pharmaceutical industries. Laurent was the founder and Managing Director of the company BlueJet Consulting, and recently served as Head, Global Commercial Excellence of Essity Health and Medical. Before that, Laurent was five years Senior Vice-President, Global Commercial Excellence at BSN Medical in Hamburg, driving both business transformation, product launches, and commercial due diligence. Previously, he held a variety of senior management and director roles at Takeda and Nycomed in Zurich, and Sanofi-Aventis and predecessor companies in Paris, in multiple therapy areas such as diabetes and oncology.

Haritha Samaranayake

Haritha Samaranayake

CMO

Haritha is an MD, PhD with wide experience in clinical oncology and biopharmaceutical research and development. He possess an MSc in Biotechnology from the University of Kuopio and a Molecular Medicine Doctorate from the University of Eastern Finland based on Cancer Gene Therapy.

Before joining Aurealis Therapeutics, Haritha held positions as Senior Scientist and Specialist Researcher at Ark Therapeutics Group PLC.

MAIJA RUSI

Maija Rusi

Financial & Administrative
Director

Maija has an MSc in Economics and Business Administration from Turku School of Economics. She is specialized in financial accounting and reporting.

Before joining Aurealis Therapeutics, Maija worked as a Finance Manager in the software-as-a-service industry. She also has experience from a Big4 company where she focused on auditing and financial consultancy. 

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Alberto Piaggesi

Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Piaggesi is a Professor at the Medical School and the school of specialization in Endocrinology and Metabolism of the University of Pisa. He was the President of the European Wound Management Association (EWMA) and one of the Founders and the Treasurer of the Association of Diabetic Foot Surgeons (ADFS).

He graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the Medical School of the University of Pisa where he then specialized both in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology and Metabolism.

His post-graduate education included stages and master’s at the Department of Medicine of the University of Edinburgh, at the Department of Vascular Surgery of the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital of Boston, and the Department of Diabetology of the University of Geneva.

Since 1991 he held a post of consultant at the Department of Medicine of the University of Pisa, where he is responsible for the lower limb complications unit and where he set up and manages the diabetic foot clinic which is now the referral center for Tuscany and central Italy. 

He has a long-lasting surgical experience in diabetic foot conservative surgery, and he performed more than 5000 interventions in this specialty as first operator. He is the Director of the Diabetic Foot Section of the University Hospital of Pisa, Tuscany. He authored more than 100 papers on diabetic foot in international journals, and he took part in the 2019 revision of the Guidance Document on the Diabetic Foot.

His interests in research are mainly focused on tissue repair physiopathology and strategies for surgical management of diabetic foot.

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Jan Apelqvist

Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Apelqvist is a senior consultant and an associate professor at the department of endocrinology University Hospital of Skåne in Malmö and the division for clinical sciences at the University of Lund coordinating a multidisciplinary foot care center (national center of excellence) for the prevention and treatment of the diabetic foot.

He graduated in Medicine from the Medical School of the University of Umeå, Sweden and specialized in Internal Medicine at the University of Lund. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Lund titled Diabetic Foot Ulcer: the importance of clinical characteristics and prognostic factors for outcome.

Jan has a vast experience in clinical work, clinical research, leadership, and teaching (senior lecturer) on the management and prevention of diabetes-related complications of the lower extremity and wound management. Dr. Apelqvist has participated in, designed, and coordinated over 50 clinical trials in the field of diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, and wound management since 1983, and is frequently involved in the design and evaluation of clinical trials. He is an author of over 200 scientific articles and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals and mentor or co-mentor of more than 10 Ph.D. thesis.

He is the Past President of the European Wound Management Association (EWMA), a member of the editorial group of the International Working Group for the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF), and a previous international Board member of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC).

He is frequently participating as an advisor or expert in working groups and consensus groups on a national and international level.

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David Armstrong

Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Armstrong is a Professor of Surgery at the University of Southern California. Dr. Armstrong holds an MSc in Tissue Repair and Wound Healing from the University of Wales College of Medicine and a Ph.D. from the University of Manchester College of Medicine, where he was appointed Visiting Professor of Medicine. He is the founder and co-Director of the Southwestern Academic Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA). 

Dr. Armstrong has produced more than 575 peer-reviewed research papers in dozens of scholarly medical journals as well as over 100 books or book chapters. He is co-Editor of the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) Clinical Care of the Diabetic Foot, now in its third edition.

Dr. Armstrong is the Director of USC’s National Science Foundation funded Center to Stream Healthcare in Place (C2SHiP) which places him at the nexus of the merger of consumer electronics, wearables, and medical devices.

Dr. Armstrong was selected as one of the first six International Wound Care Ambassadors and is the recipient of numerous awards and degrees by universities and international medical organizations including the inaugural Georgetown Distinguished Award for Diabetic Limb Salvage. In 2008, he was the 25th and youngest ever member elected to the Podiatric Medicine Hall of Fame. He was the first podiatric surgeon to become a member of the Society of Vascular Surgery and the first US podiatric surgeon named fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Glasgow. He is the 2010 and youngest ever recipient of the ADA’s Roger Pecoraro Award, the highest award given in the field.

Dr. Armstrong is a past Chair of Scientific Sessions for the ADA’s Foot Care Council. and a past member of the National Board of Directors of the American Diabetes Association. He sits on the Infectious Disease Society of America’s (IDSA) Diabetic Foot Infection Advisory Committee and is the US-appointed delegate to the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF). Dr. Armstrong is the founder and co-chair of the International Diabetic Foot Conference (DF-Con), the largest annual international symposium on the diabetic foot in the world. He is also the Founding President of the American Limb Preservation Society (ALPS), an interdisciplinary medical and surgical society dedicated to eliminating preventable amputation in the USA and worldwide.

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Magdalena Annersten Gershater

Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Gershater is a registered nurse who holds a position as senior lecturer at Malmö University, Faculty of Health and Society, Department of Care Science. She is Program Coordinator for Master’s Program (one year) Specialist Nurse in Elderly Care and Examiner for courses in Diabetes Nursing. She has clinical experience of the diabetic foot from specialized in-patient wards, ambulatory multidisciplinary foot clinics and home nursing settings and nursing homes, in Sweden and Denmark. She has been teaching Diabetes Nursing at Fatima College, Al Ain/Abu Dhabi during 2014. She is co-supervisor of one Ph.D.-student in nursing and of several Master students in nursing.

Her research has mainly been focused on the diabetic foot: exploring different factors related to outcome, as well as qualitative interview studies, and in a randomized controlled trial exploring the effect of patient education on re-ulceration in the diabetic foot. The present focus is to develop the quality of nursing interventions for patients with diabetes and foot ulcers.

Ongoing research projects:

  • Biobarriers- Health, disorders, and healing where she is a Primary Investigator of the sub-project Clinical Applications.
  • Cities Changing Diabetes where she has been exploring diabetes prevalence in all age groups in the population of Malmö, and she is also responsible for evaluation of diabetes interventions for patients in home-nursing settings and in nursing homes.
  • Elderly Care Research Group, where she is coordinating studies regarding the process of discharge from hospitals to home for patients with diabetes and a foot ulcer.

 

She has 22 publications with diabetes nursing, 24 oral presentations, and 17 poster presentations. She is an active member of the European Wound Management Association (EWMA) Council and Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND), and is co-editor of International Diabetes Nursing.

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Roger Meier

Chairman of the
Board of Directors

Roger is a seasoned life sciences entrepreneur, founder, and board member. He has assisted numerous start-ups, growth companies and projects in their set-up, talent and fund sourcing, and growth management throughout their life cycle. He is the founder and owner of Clarena Ltd., a company that serves corporates and executives in the fields of corporate finance, change management, talent management, and executive coaching. 

In his earlier career, he consulted mid-to large-size multinational companies at Coopers & Lybrand (later PwC) in the field of financial and risk management. In the 80’s, he helped the US investment bank Salomon Brothers Inc. to establish a Swiss client base with institutional investors in the US, UK and Switzerland . Roger worked both in Geneva private bank and Swiss Bank Corporation in trading and private wealth management. He holds a finance degree from the University of Applied Sciences in Basel.

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Silvio Inderbitzin

Board of Directors

Dr. Silvio Inderbitzin has held multiple senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry during the last 25 years. With his origin in pharmaceutical manufacturing, he built a corporate-wide GMP quality assurance system and was responsible for product release as a Qualified Person in medium-sized Swiss pharmaceutical company (Spring Pharma Ltd).

He was later appointed to the position of Technical Director (COO) and served on the corporate management team, ultimately joining the Board of Directors and becoming co-owner of the privately-held 450-employee company. Prior to the successful sale of the company, he served as CEO and was responsible for the foreign subsidiaries. Today, he is an active investor, consultant, and board member of several life science start-ups and medium-sized private companies (Pharma/Cosmetic). Dr. Inderbitzin studied Pharmacy at the University of Berne, holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Zurich/ETH, and obtained an Executive MBA from the University of St. Gallen.

Jean de Gunzburg

Board of Directors

Jean de Gunzburg is an investor and board member in several biotechnology companies in the fields of cancer, infectious diseases, molecular diagnostics, cardiology and vaccine development.

Prior to that, Jean was the Chief Scientific Officer, Director, and one of the main investors in Da Volterra, a privately held emerging biotechnology company, headquartered in Paris, France, developing innovative approaches to preserve the functions of the intestinal microbiome and prevent resistance to antibiotics.

Until 2005, Jean was a cell and molecular biologist who led an academic career with public institutions in the field of cancer research in France starting in 1978. After his Ph. D. at the Institut Pasteur in Paris (France), and a postdoctoral stay at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (Cambridge, MA, USA), Jean led the Signal Transduction and Oncogenesis Laboratory at the Institut Curie in Paris from 1997 to 2005. He is the author of over 80 publications in international peer-reviewed scientific journals.

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Tuomo Pätsi

Board of Directors

Tuomo Pätsi is an accomplished biopharmaceutical industry executive with more than 30 years of experience in leading global companies in the sector. He most recently served as Executive Vice President Commercial International and member of the Executive Committee of Seagen Inc. and prior to that as President Worldwide Markets at Celgene Inc. He previously held other leadership roles at Celgene, Human Genome Sciences and Amgen. He brings deep expertise in supporting development stage programs, from optimizing clinical strategy and competitive positioning to achieving successful global commercialization. He also has extensive experience in pricing, access and reimbursement, strategic partnerships and driving profitability for small, mid-sized and large organizations.

Following his executive career, Mr. Pätsi is now engaged as advisor and board member of several healthcare companies. He is a co-founder of Rigi Therapeutics AG (Private), the chairman of the board of directors of Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NASDAQ First North HEL: FARON, AIM: FARN), Notable Inc. (NASDAQ: NTBL) and Phi Pharma AG (Private), and a board member of Aqsens Health (Private), Psyon Games (Private) and Aurealis Therapeutics (Private). 

Igor Mierau

Igor Mierau

Director of Genetic Engineering
& Manufacturing

Igor has a PhD in Molecular Genetics of bacteria. He is specialized in microbiology, genetic engineering, and fermentation of lactic acid bacteria, such as Lactococcus cremoris/lactis, with 30 years of experience.

Before joining Aurealis Therapeutics, Igor worked as a project leader and project manager for a biotechnology center in Berlin, for a research department of the Japanese company Snow Brand in the Netherlands, and for the contract research organization NIZO food research also in the Netherlands. Furthermore, Igor worked as a Biological Safety Officer for NIZO food research for 10 years.

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Hanna-Riikka Kärkkäinen

Director of Quality & Regulatory
Affairs

Hanna-Riikka holds an MSc in Biotechnology. She has a diverse background in life-science research as well as in quality control. 

She graduated from the University of Jyväskylä having previously completed a BSc in Biotechnology from Turku University of Applied Sciences. Before joining Aurealis Therapeutics, Hanna-Riikka held positions as a research scientist and manufacturing development scientist at Ark Therapeutics Group PLC, and as an analytical expert in contract research organization Oy Medfiles Ltd.

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Jere Kurkipuro

Director of Pre-Clinical &
Pharmacology

Jere has a PhD in Molecular Medicine and a BSc in Pharmacy from Universities of Kuopio and Eastern Finland, respectively. He has a diverse background in health sciences from the fields of cancer research and neuropathological diseases where he has mostly been involved in various projects related to pre-clinical drug development, in vivo and in vitro models and biomedical imaging. He has close to 20 years of experience primarily from private sector research and CRO services with gene therapy and small molecules.

Prior to joining Aurealis Therapeutics, Jere worked as an authorized pharmacist, senior scientist at Ark Therapeutics group PLC, and Head of Biomarker Laboratories at Charles River Discovery Services.  

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Mirka Sanio

Clinical Operations Director

Mirka has a Registered Nurse Degree from Savonia University of Applied Sciences. 

Before joining Aurealis Therapeutics, Mirka had over 15 years of experience in the clinical Contract Research Organization (CRO) industry as a Clinical Research Associate (CRA), Senior CRA, and Clinical Project Manager.

Mirka has in-depth knowledge of ICH Good Clinical Practice and she has solid experience in coordinating phase I-III clinical trials covering study set-up activities, performing and overviewing monitoring activities, site management, and overall project management.

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Jade Jimenez

Senior Marketing & Communications
Manager

Jade holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Savonia University of Applied Sciences and is currently an MSc student in Digital Marketing and Analytics at the University of Eastern Finland. Her expertise focuses on digital marketing, website development and content creation.

Before joining Aurealis Therapeutics, Jade worked as a marketing assistant at Savonia University of Applied Sciences and held positions as an influencer marketing specialist and influencer marketing manager at Hily – Dating App.