A case study in innovation: Avilex Pharma – from academic discoveries to clinical studies’
On April 11, we are thrilled to welcome Kristian Strømgaard to BioInnovation Institute as he will host a ‘Talk at the Square.’ During his talk, he will share his experience founding Avilex Pharma based on solid academic discoveries centered around targeting therapeutically relevant protein-protein interactions and using the PSD-95/NMDA receptor as an example.
Since Avilex Pharma was founded and spun out from the University of Copenhagen in 2012, the company has been on a windy and bumpy road in its quest to develop best-in-class neuroprotectants to treat patients suffering from acute conditions such as subarachnoid hemorrhage and acute ischemic stroke.
Kristian will guide us through the challenging and inspirational entrepreneurial journey that recently culminated when Avilex Pharma brought their lead asset – AVLX-144 – through a successful Phase 1 clinical trial.
Program of the day:
15.30 Doors open
16.00 Introduction to BII and the subject of the day: Jens Nielsen, CEO at BII
16.10 Keynote speaker: Kristian Strømgaard; ‘A case study in innovation: Avilex Pharma – from academic discoveries to clinical studies’
16.40 Fireside chat with Jens Nielsen and questions
17.00 Informal networking and closing reception
About Kristian Strømgaard:
Kristian Strømgaard (born: 1970) obtained an MSc degree in Chemical Research from University College London, and continued as a PhD student in medicinal chemistry, part-time at H. Lundbeck. He did a post doc at Columbia University (New York), and shortly after, he was appointed H. Lundbeck Professor at the age of 36 to establish research in Chemical Biology. He won the ‘Teacher of the Year’ award from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science (Univ. Cph.) in 2009. In 2012, he co-founded Avilex Pharma, and have helped bring the lead compound, AVLX-144, through successful Phase 1 clinical trials. In 2014, he was appointed Director of Center for Biopharmaceuticals, where he has headed a research center on peptide and protein engineering. Recently, he was visiting professor at Harvard Medical School (Boston) to explore medical research and innovation. In 2021 he was awarded the 2021 University of Copenhagen Innovation Award and appooiunted Novo Nordisk Foundation Distinguished Innovator.