Igor Fisch, PhD, CEO
Dr. Igor Fisch co-founded Selexis SA in March 2001 and has been the company’s Chairman and CEO since its inception. Igor grew the company, reaching its break-even point in 2005 to a profitable service and licensing business based on it proprietary technology. Igor brings the company his extensive network amongst key decision makers in the Biotech and Pharmaceutical industry and has a demonstrated track record for executing major licensing deals in the industry worldwide.
Igor is a member of the Board of Directors of Affitech A/S, a biopharmaceutical company listed on NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen, dedicated to the discovery and development of human antibody based therapeutics. He co-founded BioXpress SA, a provider of high-quality biosmilars. and sits on its Advisory Board. He previously was a Board Member of Viroblock SA, a company that he helped create, which is developing a unique range of proprietary anti-viral products. Igor is on the board of the Venture kick initiative, which provides support and funding to translate promising business ideas from Swiss Universities into start-up companies.
An accomplished protein chemist and molecular biologist, Igor previously was a professor at the Center for Biotechnology at the University of Lausanne and the EPFL. He obtained his PhD under the direction of Professor Robin Offord at the University of Geneva and pursued his post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Prof. Sir Gregory Winter at the Medical Research Council (MRC) in Cambridge, UK. In parallel to his research and teaching activities, Igor obtainedseveral awards including the De Vigier Prize and the NETS Best Prize.
Pierre-Alain Girod, PhD, Chief Scientific officer
Dr Girod is a graduate of University of Lausanne, Department of Plant Biochemistry, in Switzerland in 1985, Pierre-Alain received a Ph.D. there four years later. Earlier in his career, Pierre-Alain completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the degradation of proteins by the ubiquitin pathway. He returned to Switzerland in 1993, where he discovered a family of genetic sequences involved in the epigenetic regulation of genes. The discovery has subsequently been used to express therapeutic proteins in pharma and biotech. Pierre-Alain has served Selexis as CSO since 2006.
Regine Brokamp, Chief Operating Officer
Regine is in charge of our operations at Selexis being at the interface between our clients and Selexis. Regine ensures that all our clients are fully aware of the advancement of their projects and also prepares smooth technology transfer to our clients. Regine acquired a very solid experience and knowledge in cell line development and process development in Germany, working a number of years at Micromet AG as well as at the Max-Planck Institute.
Armelle Gaussin, PhD, Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Armelle Gaussin joined Selexis SA as Chief Technology Officer in February 2011. Armelle acquired broad expertise in epigenetic gene regulation as well as in Selexis’ core technology while completing her Ph.D. at the laboratory of Professor Nicolas Mermod, a co-founder of Selexis SA. Prior to joining Selexis, Armelle gained wide experience in molecular biology and recombinant protein expression at various institutions including the Pasteur Institute and the Massachusetts-based New England Biolabs, Inc. Armelle has a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and Bioengineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Laussane) and Masters with honors in both Bioengineering and Molecular and Cellular biology from Ecole Supérieure de Biotechnologie de Strasbourg (Louis Pasteur University).
Andrew Sandford, Vice President of Business Development and Licensing
A microbiologist by education, Andrew Sandford has been leading the commercialization of innovative technologies in the medical device and biotech industries for over 14 years. Prior to joining Selexis, Andrew was with Dow Chemical’s Ventures Business Unit - Dowpharma, where Andrew led a diverse team in the development and launch of the Pfenex Expression Technology™ recombinant protein production platform. Most recently, Andrew was part of the business development group for Cambrex Biopharma, which is now part of Lonza Biologics.
