Board of Directors
BioInvent’s Board of Directors is elected annually at the AGM for the period until the next AGM and shall, according to the Articles of Association, consist of no less than five and no more than nine members. The Articles of Association contain no special provisions regarding the election or dismissal of Board members.
The 2024 AGM discharged the Board members and the Managing Director from liability, re-elected the Board members Natalie Berner, Kristoffer Bissessar, Thomas Hecht, Leonard Kruimer, Nanna Lüneborg, Vincent Ossipow and Bernd Seizinger and elected Laura Lassouw-Polman as new Board member. Leonard Kruimer was re-elected Chairman of the Board. The auditing firm KPMG AB was re-elected as the company’s auditor for a term of two years, with Linda Bengtsson as auditor in charge.
The AGM resolved that the Board’s fee shall amount to SEK 782,500 to the Chairman of the Board, SEK 500,000 to a vice chairman of the Board and SEK 425,000 to each of the other Board members, who are not employed by the company. In addition hereto, the AGM resolved on fees for committee work of (i) SEK 70,000 to the Chairman of the Audit Committee and SEK 50,000 to other members of the Audit Committee, (ii) SEK 35,000 to the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and SEK 25,000 to other members of the Remuneration Committee, and (iii) SEK 70,000 to the Chairman of the R&D Committee and SEK 50,000 to other members of the R&D Committee.
The AGM resolved that fees to the auditor shall be paid according to approved invoice.
The Board of Directors consists of eight directors elected by the General Meeting, as well as the employee representatives Elin Birgersson and Martin Pålsson, and the employee deputy Vessela Alexieva. All Board members elected by the General Meeting are independent in relation to the Company, senior executives, and major shareholders, except for Natalie Berner who is considered dependent in relation to major shareholders.
The work of the Board of Directors is governed by rules of procedure which are revised and adopted by the Board of Directors at least once a year. The rules of procedure primarily consist of directions for the Board of Directors work, instructions for the division of duties between the Board of Directors and the CEO and instructions for the financial reporting.
In 2023 the Board of Directors held seven ordinary meetings and three extraordinary meetings. The Board of Directors met with the Company’s auditor on two occasions, including one occasion without the presence of the CEO or other persons from the senior management. Attorney Madeleine Rydberger, Mannheimer Swartling Advokatbyrå, has served as the secretary of the Board of Directors during the year. Regular items on the agenda at the meetings included monitoring of the operation in relation to the Company’s budget and strategic plan. In addition, the Board of Directors has considered and resolved on issues pertaining to research and development, financing, intellectual property, strategic focus and planning, the budget, essential agreements, audit, financial reporting, and compensation related issues.
The Board of Directors conducts an annual structured evaluation of the Board of Directors and the CEO, and the result of this evaluation is shared with the Nomination Committee. The evaluation is conducted with the purpose to develop the Board of Directors’ procedures and efficiency. The evaluation takes the form of a questionnaire that the Board members answer, after which the responses are compiled and presented to the Board of Directors and the Nomination Committee along with the results of the evaluations carried out in the two preceding years.
Leonard Kruimer
Natalie Berner
Elin Birgersson
Leonard Kruimer
Chairman of the Board since 2018. Member of the Remuneration Committee and the Audit Committee. MBA, CPA. He served as a Board Member in BioInvent between 2016–2017. He was CFO and member of the board of Crucell NV from 1998 to 2011 and has held senior executive positions at Royal Boskalis N.V., GE Capital and Continental Can Company. Born 1958.
Other board appointments: Board member in Zealand Pharma A/S, Basilea International AG and Pharming Group NV. Director in AI Global Investments (Netherlands ) PCC Ltd.
Shareholding: 27,538
Independent in relation to the Company, senior executives, and major shareholders.
Natalie Berner
Member of the Board since 2022.
BA in Community Health from Brown University and a Certificate in Premedical Sciences from Columbia University. Previous Research Associate at the New York University School of Medicine. Currently Managing Director, Therapeutics at Redmile Group, LLC. Born 1990.
Other board appointments: Redx Pharma Plc and Sensorion SA.
Shareholding: -
Independent in relation to the Company and senior executives. Dependent in relation to major shareholders.
Elin Birgersson
Member of the Board since 2023.
M.Sc. in Chemical biology. Elin has worked at the university (KTH) and pharma and biotech industry since 2011 and has experience in antibody discovery and high-throughput analysis. Born 1985.
Other board appointments: -
Shareholding: 92 (affiliated holdings)
Conditional Employee Options: Option program 2022/2024: 2601, option program 2023/2025: 768
Kristoffer Bissessar
Thomas Hecht
Laura Lassouw-Polman
Kristoffer Bissessar
Member of the Board since 2020.
Broad experience from the financial industry, operative in banking and finance between 1989 – 2012, with experience from asset management, institutional equity sales and investment banking. Previously held senior positions at Svenska Handelsbanken AB, Deutsche Bank AG and Nordea Bank AB and served as board member of the Swedish Securities Dealers Association. Board member of BioInvent during 2018-2019. Born 1968.
Other board appointments: Xbrane Biopharma AB.
Shareholding: 29,000
Independent in relation to the Company, senior executives, and major shareholders.
Thomas Hecht
Member of the Board since 2020.
Doctor of Medicine. Previously experience as Vice President Marketing at Amgen Europe, and has held various positions of increasing responsibility in clinical development, medical affairs and marketing at Amgen between 1989 and 2002. Prior to joining the biopharmaceutical industry, Thomas Hecht was certified in internal medicine and served as Co-Head of the Program for Bone Marrow Transplantation at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Currently Managing Partner at HHC Healthcare Consulting. Born 1951.
Other board appointments: Chairman of the board of Orion Biotechnology Ltd., Affimed N.V., and Aelix Therapeutics S.L.
Shareholding: -
Independent in relation to the Company, senior executives, and major shareholders.
Laura Lassouw-Polman
Member of the Board since 2024.
Chief Operating Officer at Sairopa BV, the Netherlands, since 2021. Laura has a Master of Science in Health Sciences from Maastricht University and has previously worked at several companies in the pharmaceutical sector, including the AstraZeneca Group (Acerta Pharma), PPD and ICON Clinical Research, conducting clinical studies for cancer treatment in senior positions. Born 1979.
Other board appointments: -
Shareholding: -
Independent in relation to the Company, senior executives, and major shareholders.
Nanna Lüneborg
Vincent Ossipow
Martin Pålsson
Nanna Lüneborg
Member of the Board since 2022.
PhD in Neuroscience from University College London, MBA from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Physiology and Psychology from the University of Oxford. Currently General Partner at Forbion. Prior experience with Apposite Capital and Novo Ventures, one of the largest healthcare investors globally, where Nanna was a key member of the European deal team focusing on late-stage biopharma investments across Europe. Nanna Lüneborg has previously served on the Board of Directors of publicly traded and privately held companies, including Lava Therapeutics (LVTX), Numab (private), ReViral (acquired by Pfizer), NBE Therapeutics (acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim), ObsEva (OBSV), IO Biotech (IOBT), Inventiva (IVA), Orphazyme (ORPHA), NodThera (private), MinervaX (private), and Stargazer (private). Born 1975.
Other board appointments: Board member in F2G, Inversago Pharma and Noema Pharma, board observer in Numab Therapeutics.
Shareholding: -
Independent in relation to the Company, senior executives, and major shareholders.
Vincent Ossipow
Member of the Board since 2021.
CFA Charter, Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. Partner of Omega Funds and former Chief Scientific Officer of Omega Alpha SPAC. He served as a Board Member in BioInvent between 2016–2020. Former partner in Private Equity Sectoral Asset Management. Researcher at University of Geneva. Research analyst at Pictet Bank. Born 1968.
Other board appointments: Board member of Sophia Genetics, Immunic, Aerium Therapeutics and FoRx Therapeutics and board observer of Anaconda Brain.
Shareholding: -
Independent in relation to the Company, senior executives, and major shareholders.
Martin Pålsson
Member of the Board since 2022.
Martin has worked in the pharma and biotech industry since 2003 (QPharma, Novozymes and Repligen), and has extensive experience in GMP and chromatography. Born 1979.
Other board appointments: -
Shareholding: -
Conditional Employee Options: Option program 2022/2024: 3,483, and Option program 2023/2025, 1650
Bernd Seizinger
Bernd Seizinger
Member of the Board since 2018.
Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Neurobiology. Previous experience as CEO and President of GPC Biotech, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Genome Therapeutics Corporation and Vice President of Oncology Drug Discovery and, in parallel, Vice President of Corporate and Academic Alliances, both at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Senior faculty positions at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Princeton University. Born 1956.
Other board appointments: Board member and chairman of multiple public and private biotech companies in the United States, Europe, and Canada, including Oxford BioTherapeutics, CryptoMedix Inc., Oncolytics Biotech Inc., Aprea AB, Nykode AS (formerly Vaccibody), and Aptose Inc. Advisory board member/Senior Advisor to Biotech Venture Capital Funds such as Pureos BioVentures and Hadean Ventures.
Shareholding: 66,000
Independent in relation to the Company, senior executives, and major shareholders.
Auditors
According to the Articles of Association, BioInvent shall appoint a registered auditing Company for a term of two years. The auditor attends at least one Board meeting a year not attended by the CEO and other members of the Company’s senior management. The AGM 2020 elected KPMG AB to serve as the Company’s auditors for a two-year mandate. Linda Bengtsson, authorized public accountant, is principal auditor.