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About us

Scenic Biotech, the neurometabolic company developing disease-modifying therapies

Advancing first-in-class drug targets into transformative medicines for neuro- and metabolic diseases

Scenic Biotech is a biotechnology company headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Backed by leading European VCs BGV, Inkef, BioMed Partners, Eir Ventures, Vesalius Capital, and OSE, Scenic combines cutting-edge target discovery with drug discovery to uncover novel therapeutic opportunities and translate them into first-in-class disease-modifying medicines for patients with high unmet medical need.

An ambitious team of scientists,
entrepreneurial thinkers, and
recognized leaders

Aleksei mindich scb

Aleksei Mindich

Medicinal Chemistry
Cara jamieson scb

Cara Jamieson

Discovery Sciences
Carola jongerius scb

Carola Jongerius

People & Culture
Charles henry fabritius scb

Charles Fabritius

Medicinal Chemistry
Charlotte blessing scb

Charlotte Blessing

Business Development & Alliance Management
Chiara angiolilli scb

Chiara Angiolilli

Discovery Sciences
Darja polpeter scb

Darja Pollpeter

Translational Sciences
Dino ossola

Dino Ossola

Translational Sciences
Elmar de pauw scb

Elmar de Pauw

Intellectual Property
Erika van der zwaag scb

Erika van der Zwaag

Office Management
Hilaria mollica scb

Hilaria Mollica

Analytical Sciences
Jasper mullenders scb

Jasper Mullenders

Project Lead
Jeroen van ameijde scb

Jeroen van Ameijde

Analytical Sciences
Judy walker

Judith Walker

CMO
Kees albers scb

Kees Albers

Human Genetics
Komoliddin salokhiddinov scb

Komol Salokhiddinov

Finance
Loes doornbos

Loes Doornbos

Translational Sciences
Margot hoppe scb

Margot Hoppe

Legal
Maroeska oudshoorn scb

Maroeska Oudshoorn

Discovery Sciences
Martina moeton scb

Martina Moeton

Analytical Sciences
Matthijs raaben scb

Matthijs Raaben

Discovery Sciences
Milan dorscheidt scb

Milan Dorscheidt

Discovery Sciences
Oscar izeboud scb

Oscar Izeboud

CEO & Executive Director
Peter ros scb

Peter Ros

Finance & Operations
Roland bürli

Roland Bürli

CSO
Headshot black white

Sebastian Franzinger

Business Development
Tatjana heidebrecht scb

Tatjana Heidebrecht

Analytical Sciences
Timea gandek

Timea Gandek

Discovery Sciences
Vincent blomen scb

Vincent Blomen

Discovery Sciences

Board of Directors

Alexander vos scb

Alexander Vos

Chairman of the Board
Ben machielse scb

Ben Machielse

Independent Non-executive Director
Edward van wezel scb

Edward van Wezel

Non-executive Director
Michael wacker scb

Michael Wacker

Non-executive Director
Nick dixon clegg scb

Nick Dixon-Clegg

Board Observer
Oscar izeboud scb

Oscar Izeboud

CEO & Executive Director
Sebastian nijman scb

Sebastian Nijman

Founder & Board Observer
Stephan christgau scb

Stephan Christgau

Non-executive Director
Stephane verdood scb

Stéphane Verdood

Non-executive Director
Thijs cohen scb

Thijs Cohen Tervaert

Non-executive Director

More about our Board of Directors

Alexander brings over 30 years of CEO and Board member experience across the biotech industry, growing and advancing biopharmaceutical companies with a focus on rare and orphan diseases.

Alexander began his career at McKinsey & Co. in 1989 after which he joined Genzyme Europe in 1994. At Genzyme, he held several executive roles, including leading a global joint venture with Pharming NV to develop and commercialize the enzyme human alpha-glucosidase as a treatment for Pompe’s disease. Thereafter he led a number of public and private biotech companies across Europe, including two towards successful investor exits. He currently serves on the boards of several biotech companies in the USA, the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Alexander holds an MS in Pharmacy and Pharmacology from the University of Amsterdam and an MBA from Stanford University.

Ben brings over 25 years of industry experience across all stages of drug development, including rare disease indications like Niemann-Pick Disease. He served as CEO of Vtesse and oversaw the completion of the pivotal study as well as the subsequent acquisition by Sucampo Pharmaceuticals in 2017.

Before this, Ben was COO at Omthera where he played a crucial role in the development and approval of the company’s candidate for hypertriglyceridemia, Omthera’s IPO and eventual acquisition by AstraZeneca.  Earlier in his career, Ben held executive positions in development, quality and operations at MedImmune, Xoma Corporation and Centocor BV. He also currently serves as chairman of the board at Mosanna Therapeutics.

Edward is Founder and Managing Partner at BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) and combines over 20 years of experience in venture capital, pharma licensing, drug development and translational research.

He was founding investor and board member of Acerta Pharma (acquired by Astra Zeneca for $7B) and currently serves on the boards of several BGV portfolio companies.

Michael is an experienced life science entrepreneur and General Partner at BioMedPartners. Michael serves on the board of directors of various portfolio companies.

In addition, he coaches start-ups in Switzerland for Innosuisse, the governmental commission of technology and innovation. Before joining BioMedPartners, Michael was founder and CSO of GlycoVaxyn (acquired by GSK) and chairman of Inositec (acquired by Vifor).

Nick serves on the board of Scenic as an Observer, representing investor Oxford Science Enterprises, where he is a Partner. He brings experience from a career spent in investing and corporate finance.

Nick  joined Oxford Sciences Enterprises from Valiance, a MedTech-focused venture capital firm. He was previously an investor at large cap buyout private equity firm Nordic Capital. Prior to that he began his career as an investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

25 years of experience in biotech, including 14 years in investment banking. Oscar joined Scenic in July 2020 as CEO and Board Director.

He is involved as NED with a number of other biotech companies across Europe and co-owner of Kaapse Brouwers in Rotterdam.

Co-founder of Scenic Biotech, Haplogen, and Haplogen Genomics.

Former member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Oxford, principle investigator at CeMM, Vienna, and postdoc at the Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA.

Stephan is founding partner of the Nordic Life Science Venture fund, Eir Ventures. Prior to launching Eir Ventures, Stephan was part of setting up Novo Seeds, the early stage company creation and investment arm of Novo Holdings.

During his 12 years at Novo Seeds, he led creation and funding of more than 25 companies in Europe, with a particular focus on Scandinavia. Stephan has extensive operational experience from management and research scientist roles in European and US Biotech and holds a PhD in Protein Chemistry and immunology from UCSF.​

Stéphane Verdood has an MBA and a Master’s degree in commercial engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven. Stéphane is a recognized venture capitalist. 

He started his career with Arthur Andersen as information technology auditor. After having led the mergers and acquisitions division of Arthur Andersen in Belgium from 1989 to 1995, he founded and led Arthur Andersen’s business consulting division in Belgium and Luxembourg. He served on the European Board of Partners of Arthur Andersen. Since October 2000, before he joined Vesalius Biocapital, Stéphane has been active as a venture coach for early-stage companies. He was a founder and managing partner at Value4Growth, a specialized Life Science consulting firm supporting start-up companies in all aspects of company formation, product strategy and fund raising.Stéphane is a founding partner of Vesalius Biocapital Funds specialized in venture capital for European biotechnology companies. Since 2007 Vesalius has invested in more than 20 biotech companies. During his career he has worked in the US, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, the UK and Portugal. Fund raising to set up Fund I in 2007 and Fund II in 2011.

Thijs is a Partner at Inkef and has been with the firm since 2016. He combines his medical background with strategy consulting experience, focusing on healthcare and technology investments.

Prior to Inkef, Thijs was a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and helped establish the Amsterdam Health and Technology Institute in 2014. He is a medical doctor who graduated from Leiden University and has co-authored several scientific papers in diabetes.

Thijs currently serves on the boards of TargED BioPharmaceuticals, iOnctura, ViCentra, Castor, and Scenic Biotech, with previous board positions at Aidence (acquired by RadNet) and Calypso Biotech (acquired by Novartis).

More about our Development Advisory Board

Ann is a proven leader and drug developer who has successfully brought multiple rare disease medicines through clinical development. Her prior experience includes positions at CAMP4, Agios Pharmaceuticals, Shire, Johnson and Johnson.

Camille brings nearly 30 years of experience in building successful clinical development and translation research programs. She is currently CMO at Amylyx, and prior to that at Ultragenyx, Alexion and Ariad Pharmaceuticals.

Cristina is a biopharmaceutical executive, independent board director, former CEO, VC, and strategic advisor for biotechnology companies, NIH, and patient foundations.

During more than 30 years with Abbott and Abbvie, Jim held various senior R&D leadership roles, including VP of Neuroscience Research, focussed on the discovery of new drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, pain, and psychiatric disorders.

Olivier is a senior leader in pharma strategic development for early- and late-phase products, bringing years of scientific, clinical and regulatory hand-on experience, and business insights, in rare genetic metabolic disorders and orphan drugs.

He has a strong industry track record, most recently as co-founder and former CEO of Azafaros focused on small molecules for lysosomal storage disorders, and before that as Senior Director Rare Disease (Idorsia), Global Life Cycle Leader (Actelion), Scientific Expert & Program leader (Hoffmann-La Roche). He is also a Venture Partner at BiomedVC.

Dr. Kiener is an industry veteran with extensive experience in drug development across the entire value chain of biopharmaceutical research and development and has led or contributed to the development and regulatory approval of multiple drugs. Peter was the former CSO at Sucampo, until the company’s acquisition by Mallinckrodt in February 2018. Peter held several executive leadership roles including as the Executive Vice President and Global Head of Biologics Research and Development at MedImmune LLC, which became the global biologics arm of AstraZeneca.

Dr. Kiener earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Lancaster, UK and a doctorate of philosophy in biochemistry from the University of Oxford. He has published more than 120 papers in peer-reviewed journals and is an inventor on more than 40 patents and patent applications.

More about our Founders

Co-founder of Scenic Biotech, Haplogen, and Haplogen Genomics.Former member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Oxford, principle investigator at CeMM, Vienna, and postdoc at the Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA. Sebastian is also a Scenic Board Observer.

20+ year career in award-winning Genomics research. Scientific Director and Group Leader at The Netherlands Cancer Institute and former Fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge USA.

Co-founder of Haplogen, Haplogen Genomics and Scenic Biotech.

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Careers

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