De-Risking Emerging New Chemical Modalities with Speed & Funding

Simon Birksø Larsen is the Founder & CEO of PipelineClarity, a strategy consultancy helping biotech and pharma companies sharpen R&D decision-making and improve portfolio outcomes. With more than 15 years of industry experience across startups, mid-size biotech, and global pharma, Simon has held leadership roles in portfolio management, operations, and competitive intelligence at companies including Lundbeck, SNIPR Biome, Zealand Pharma, and Novo Nordisk. He brings deep expertise in R&D productivity, decision science, and strategic portfolio design. Simon works with leadership teams to reduce complexity, optimize pipelines, and translate strategic intent into execution clarity, ensuring that R&D investments deliver measurable value and investor confidence. Simon holds a PhD in drug discovery and computational medicinal chemistry from the University of Copenhagen.

Jan Neelissen, PhD, serves as the associate director of DMPK advisory services. He has over 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in the field of DMPK. In his current role, he advises drug innovators in developing new therapeutics and designing tailored formulation, delivery, and manufacturing solutions. Neelissen is a trained biologist and holds a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences from Leiden University.

Stephen Tindal is the Director of Science and Technology at Catalent. His work is largely focused on preclinical to phase 1 development and is based on assessing preclinical data to help define any challenges to dosage form development. Tindal has more than 36 years’ experience at Catalent, where he has held roles of increasing responsibility and has demonstrated expertise in root cause investigation, technology innovation and supporting business development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Analytical Science from Loughborough University, Loughborough, U.K.

Guillaume Enderlin is Associate Director of Pharmaceutical Development on the Catalent Beinheim site (France). He has worked for 15 years in softgel R&D, from formulation to manufacturing process development, building expertise to cover the whole Rx Pharmaceutical Development now. Guillaume Enderlin is Pharmacist (Pharm.D) and a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Engineering.

Ronak Savla is the Director, Strategic Ventures at Catalent Pharma Solutions. In his role, Ronak is responsible for expanding and nurturing the company’s strategic partnerships with life science venture capital firms, biotechnology incubators, consulting firms, and academic technology transfer offices. Previously, Ronak led the Medical Affairs and Competitive Intelligence functions at Innate Pharma, a biotechnology company harnessing the innate immune to develop novel therapeutics. Ronak has a Pharm.D. and Ph.D. from Rutgers University and a M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University – Carey Business School.

Inés de Andrés is an Account Director at Catalent, responsible for the Nordic region. With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, she has held key roles across CDMOs in Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium. In her current role, she supports pharmaceutical clients from preclinical through Phase 2 development, delivering tailored solutions across formulation, manufacturing, and clinical supply. With a strong customer focus, Inés brings expertise in sales, business strategy, project management, and customer service. Inés holds a degree in Pharmacy from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Michael joined Venture Investments in November 2020.From 2006–2020, Michael was employed at Genmab in various positions with increasing responsibility; starting in Project Management taking daratumumab / DARZALEX® into the clinic. Between 2010–2018 he led Clinical Development and was part of the senior leadership team that repositioned and rebuilt the company into a global cancer and antibody powerhouse. From 2018 he led R&D Operations preparing the company for filing of its first own product. Prior to Genmab, Michael worked as Associate at BankInvest Biomedical Venture and as Licensing Associate in Scientific Licensing at Novo Nordisk A/S, after having spent 7 years as Research Scientist at Novo Nordisk A/S covering areas such as endocrinology, metabolic disease, cancer and inflammation.
Before joining the industry, Michael worked for 6 years at the Research Centre for Developmental Medicine & Biology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, investigating causes and possible treatment modalities of intra-uterine growth restriction. Michael earned a Masters (Dipl. Ing. agr.) in Agricultural Science from the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Science – summa cum laude – from the University of Göttingen, Germany.

Jacob joins from Novo Nordisk A/S where he has worked for 15 years, most recently as Head of Corporate Strategy supporting its Executive Management and Board of Directors. Jacob has a deep understanding of the pharma industry across all parts of the value chain and many disease areas. He has significant experience with strategy development and execution and has been a trusted advisor to senior leadership in Novo Nordisk. Jacob holds an MSc in Biochemistry and a PhD from the University of Copenhagen. Jacob is the author of more than 25 peer-reviewed scientific publications, including several in high-ranking journals such as Nature and Science, and the recipient of three prestigious awards for young researchers, including the Lundbeck Foundation Talent Prize.

João Ribas joined Seed Investments in 2018, focusing on early-stage investments and venture creation. He currently holds several board positions and has led investments in companies like Asgard Therapeutics, Tribune Therapeutics, and Orbis Medicines. João often combines his investment role with interim operational responsibilities in portfolio companies. Prior to Novo Holdings, he was a Fellow at M Ventures (corporate VC of Merck KGaA), involved in the entire investment process including deal sourcing, investment selection, and due diligence. Before this, João founded new ventures in the U.S. and Europe, earning several entrepreneurial awards. During his Ph.D., he was part of MIT Hacking Medicine and led a non-profit organization in the U.S. João earned his Ph.D. from the University of Coimbra, conducting research at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He regularly creates content on biotech innovation, venture creation, and entrepreneurship.

Tobias is a physician and holds a BA in Law. Tobias started his career working as a physician in the clinic and later transferred to the pharmaceutical industry, where he spent several years in various regional and global leadership positions for Sanofi Genzyme and Y-mAbs. Tobias is experienced within rare diseases, immunology and oncology, developing and managing strategy, product launches and drug positioning with R&D. Tobias is also the founder of a medtech startup company, Connect2Treat.com, that digitalises HCP and pharma interactions. Tobias is based in Copenhagen.