Igor Fisch, PhD, CEO
Dr. Igor Fisch was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Selexis SA in March 2001. He is the founder of Selexis and served as the Chairman and CEO since its inception. He grew the company from 1 to 20 people making the company break-even in 2005. The company operates a profitable service and licensing business based on IP-protected technology platforms.
Dr Fisch is an accomplished protein chemist and molecular biologist. Dr Fisch completed his post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Prof. Sir Gregory Winter at the Medical Research Council (MRC) in Cambridge, UK. Dr Fisch joined then the Center for Biotechnology UNIL-EPFL in Lausanne Switzerland as an assistant professor, working in the field of molecular evolution and peptide discovery.
In parallel to his research and teaching activities, Dr Fisch obtained many awards: the De Vigier Prize and the NETS Best Prize. Dr Fisch also had training in entrepreneurship at the EPFL and at the Babson college. Dr Fisch sits on the board of the Venture kick initiative that allows young entrepreneurs in Switzerland to access their initial money to create their own venture. Dr Fisch also sits on the Board of Director of Viroblock SA.
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.
Pierre-Alain Girod, PhD, Chief Scientific officer
Dr. Girod is a graduate of University of Lausanne, Department of Plant Biochemistry, in Switzerland in 1985, Dr. Girod received a Ph.D. there four years later. Earlier in his career, Dr. Girod 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. Dr. Girod has served Selexis as CSO since 2006.
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.
Nicolas Mermod, Prof., Vice President R&D
Nicolas Mermod is Professor of Biotechnology at Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne. After completing his post-doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkley, USA, he joined the University of Lausanne as an assistant Professor of the Swiss National Science Foundation to become a full professor in the Department of Biology. Nicolas Mermod exerts teaching and research activities, heading a laboratory of over 20 scientists at the Center for Biotechnology UNIL-EPFL. He has gained a reputation in the field of molecular biology and the control of gene expression and he has authored a number of scientific publications and patents.
Cori Gorman, PhD-MBA, Business Development - Technology and Licensing
Cori Gorman, PhD, MBA, president DNA Bridges has an outstanding record of achievement in basic research and drug development in diverse areas including gene therapy, gene expression and transfer, hormone processing, cell biology, protein transport, and the humanization of antibodies and production of recombination of proteins. At Genentech, Dr. Gorman played a key role in the development of a number of marketed products including Kogenate, Activase, Hercepin, Xolair, and Raptiva. Cori is recognized by citation index as one of the most highly cited authors in the past two decades, with over 10,000 citations. Dr. Gorman is also experienced in business development having closed eighteen corporate partnerships for clients over a two-year period.