Leadership
Executive Management
Bo Tandrup MSc.(pharm.)
CEO/Co-Founder
Mr. Tandrup is a distinguished pharmaceutical executive and serial entrepreneur with +15 years of experience managing early-stage life science companies. He began his pharmaceutical career at Sanofi-Aventis in 1998 and in 2006 he founded his first company, Alkalon, a successful VC-backed global nicotine business, that was the first to challenge the worldwide duopoly in the smoking cessation market.
Following this success, Mr. Tandrup co-founded Vanadis, a gastro drug company and Atrivita, a medical device trading company. He has also served as a technical and business adviser to organizations such as Quotient Sciences, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and various large and small pharmaceutical companies. Through his M&A advisory firm, he acted as Financial Adviser to Gelmedic in the sale of its nicotine assets to Perrigo in 2020.
As a board member, Mr. Tandrup has contributed to the growth of several SME healthcare companies, including CC Pharma GmbH, TTS Pharma Ltd., and Kibodan A/S. Most recently, he served as CEO of the Norwegian cannabinoid company Balancial. Mr. Tandrup holds a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from UCPH and has received executive training from CBS and Harvard Business School.
Jesper L. Kristensen Prof. PhD
CSO/Co-Founder
Jesper Kristensen is a professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Following his PhD in 2002, which included a secondment at Stanford University, he joined Lundbeck, a global pharmaceutical company focused on CNS, as a medicinal chemist working on the discovery of new ligands for various CNS targets.
In 2003, he returned to academia, and from 2005 to 2015, he was responsible for ligand discovery and development within the Center for Integrated Molecular Brain Imaging (Cimbi). During his tenure, the PET-imaging agent [11C]-Cimbi36 was taken from bench to bedside and is currently used in clinical research to image the Serotonin 2A receptor.
Jesper has published over 100 papers in the scientific literature, with more than 30 detailing the discovery, synthesis, pharmacological characterization, radiolabeling, development, and application of new ligands targeting the Serotonin 2A receptor.
Board of Directors
Ian Laquian
Chair of the Board
Entrepreneur in residence at Novo Seeds, with +15 years of experience in building companies, franchises, portfolios, and products within the CNS area. Head of Takeda’s CNS strategy and served as Global Program Lead and Brand Lead responsible for the development and marketing of the antidepressant drug Brintellix.
Don deBethizy PhD
Member of the Board
President of Custom Coaching and White City Consulting providing coaching to executives. 30+ years working in life sciences, as a biotech entrepreneur and previously Chair or Director of numerous biotech boards. Director of Proterris Inc and Vice-Chair of the Argenx NV board.
Key team members
David Erritzoe MD, PhD, MRCPsych
Clinical monitor
Dr. David Erritzoe is a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at Imperial College London, specializing in psychopharmacology and psychedelic research. He co-leads projects with Dr David Nutt at the Centre for Psychedelic Research, focusing on the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. Dr. Erritzoe's work includes clinical applications and exploring brain mechanisms related to these substances.
Emil Märcher-Rørsted PhD
Director of Drug Design and Dev./Co-Founder
Emil is a Medicinal Chemist with a PhD degree from Copenhagen University. Emils academic research has primarily been focused on developing new selective 5-HT2AR agonists around the classic phenethylamine scaffold, having developed the chemistry leading to the synthesis and characterization of several conformationally contrained phenethylamine and NBOMe inspired agonists of the 5-HT2AR. With a background in organic synthesis and expert knowledge of the 5-HT2AR SAR Emil is Responsible for the hands-on development of the LOPHORA compounds series.
Mikael Thomsen PhD
Drug Development Specialist, Consultant
+20 years of experience with pre-clinical pharmacology/toxicology and drug development. Mikael has unique experience in advancing drug discovery programs to Phase I and II from big and small pharma and as a consultant for numerous biotech companies.
Tim Haines
Advisor
Chairman & Managing Partner, Abingworth. Former CEO of Astex Therapeutics, Datascope Corp and Thackray Inc., General Manager at Baxter UK etc.
Anders A. Jensen Prof. PhD
Professor/CO-FOUNDER
Professor in Molecular Pharmacology at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Following his PhD in 2001 and the establishment of his own research group at the university in 2006, his research has been focused on the development of novel modulators for various neurotransmitter receptors, investigations into the molecular basis for receptor function and modulation, and studies into the physiological functions and therapeutic potential of these receptors.
Anders has published +160 papers in the scientific literature, including several focused on the Serotonin 2A receptor.
Torben Alexander von Lowzow MSc. HD. MBA.
ADVISOR, FINANCE/M&A
Torben is an experienced banker and chairman. He earned a Master of Science in Engineering in 1987, an HD in Finance in 1998, and an MBA from IMD in 1992. Throughout his career, he has held executive positions in the financial sector, including as Vice Director at Danske Bank, CEO of Gudme Raaschou Bank, and Partner at Capman Invest.
Torben has held several board positions, including Chairman of Herlufsholm.