ABILITY PHARMA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Legal Counsel
- Member of the Operating and Strategic Advisory Board
Albert holds a Bachelor of Law degree (University of Barcelona, Spain) and also a Juris Doctor of Law degree (accredited by The American Bar Association, USA). He has been a member of the Barcelona Bar Association for more than 10 years and he specializes in Intellectual Property rights, as well as innovation and entrepreneurship, focusing on the Life Sciences and Healthcare. He regularly advises companies in the technological and biotechnological sector, mainly in the area of research and development, as well as in the protection, exploitation and transfer of their technology. He also has extensive experience in litigation and transactions relating to patents, designs, trademarks, trade secrets, know-how and unfair competition. Albert is involved in many technological companies as an external legal advisor.
Antoni obtained a BSc degree in chemistry from the University of Barcelona and a PhD degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of London.
He worked for 27 years at the research center of Almirall, SA, as head of the pharmacokinetics and metabolism department, director of preclinical development and preclinical scientific director.
Antoni has a comprehensive knowledge of preclinical drug development, including bioanalysis, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, toxicology and clinical pharmacology, gained through over 35 years of experience in pharmaceutical companies and CROs.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Co - Founder
- Executive Chairman
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Executive Chairman & CEO of Ability
- Executive Chairman / Executive Chairman, CSO and Co - Founder of Ability Pharmaceuticals, SL
Carles obtained a BSs/MSc degree in biology (first class honors) from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and also a PhD degree in cellular biology from the same University, working at the Council of Science Research (CSIC). He has additional business training at ESADE business school and other business programs.
After his career in CSIC in Barcelona (1985-89) and at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York (1990-1992), he held senior positions at Almirall, SA (1992-2003) as Manager and Head of Business Development and Licensing and Lacer, SA (2005-2007) as Director, Business Development and Licensing.
Carles has also 4 years experience in biotech venture capital and business angels associations and has also been collaborating with government innovation agencies. Between 2004 and 2005 he was Director, Biotech Investments at the seed venture capital firm Barcelona Emprèn, SCRSA. During 2008-2009 he collaborated with agencies of the Government of Catalonia as Director, Technology Transfer and Valorization and as Managing Director, Investment and Enterprise Growth. He had under his responsibility the seed venture capital company Invertec, SA and the entrepreneurship finance programs Genesis Capital and Concept Capital. Since July 2009 he also advises Keiretsu Forum Barcelona in biotech investments.
Carles Domènech, Executive Chairman & CEO of AbilityPharma, Will Attend ESMO Congress in Paris for a Meeting with some of the most Relevant Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) in the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer + info
Dr. Jordi Rodón is a specialist in medical oncology at the Department of Oncology at Vall d'Hebrón University Hospital. He also holds the positions of Chief of the Early Clinical Drug Development Group, director of the Molecular Therapy Cancer Research Unit (UITM), assistant professor of oncology at the International University of Catalonia, among others. At the Vall d'Hebrón Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Dr. Jordi Rodón is expert in conducting complex clinical trials with drugs in the early stages of development (Phase I and Phase II trials), focusing on new specific molecular targets. Dr. Jordi Rodón is currently visitor investigator at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
After extensive training in the United States and Head of the Hematology and Oncology Service for more than 15 years at the New Jersey State Medical School, Prof. Pere Gascon was the Director of the Medical Oncology Service and Scientific Coordinator of the Clinical Institute for Hemato-Oncologic Enema (ICMHO) of Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. He currently serves as Senior Consultant for the same Service, as well as Editor-in-Chief of Clinical and Translational Oncology, Vice President of the Foundation for Excellence and Quality of Oncology (ECO), Senior Lecturer And director of the CELLEX chair of Oncology and Multidisciplinary Knowledge, among other occupations.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Chairman, Clinical Advisory Board
Dr. Pérez has more than 29 years experience in pharmaceuticals including Head of Development of Anti-Infectives at Novartis and at Roche´s spin-off, Basilea Pharmaceutica, both in Basel, Switzerland; Almirall (Head of Development) and Esteve (Medical Director and Board member), Barcelona, Spain. Nowadays he is consultant for drug development. In some companies is acting as Chief Medical Officer, Medical Director or Chairman of the Advisory Board.
Job Titles:
- Market Research and Strategy Advisor
Esperanza Regueras obtained a degree in Pharmacy at Univerity of Navarra in Pamplona and a MBA at IESE business school in Barcelona. For more than 8 years she has worked as employee in pharmaceutical companies in a multinational environment. In 2004, following its entrepreneurship instints, she founded Axis Pharma firm, specialized in strategic consulting and market research services for pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Axis Pharma has provided its services to more than 20 big multinationals and has helped many biotech companies and R&D groups. Its large experience in a such a innovative sector has provided to her a deep background in innovation and improvement.
Francesca obtained a Master's degree in Auditing and Accounting from the Abat Oliva CEU University and an Expert Postgraduate in Business Restructuring from the Catholic University of Ávila.
Francesca has extensive financial experience in companies from different sectors, PYMES and big company , national and international companies, with German and Dutch parent companies.
Job Titles:
- VP, Clinical & Regulatory Affairs
Gemma obtained a BSc degree in Pharmacy from the University of Barcelona and a Master degree in European Regulatory Affairs from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Gemma has a broad experience in the regulatory area acquired in several pharmaceutical companies. She started at Lacer, S.A., from 1990 to 1993, as Regulatory Affairs manager. From 1993 to 1997, she worked at Merck Farma y Química as Senior Regulatory Affais manager. From 1998 to 2004, she was Head of Regulatory Affairs at Laboratorios Vita, S.A.
Then, with the acquisition of Grupo Vita by Procter & Gamble in 2004, she became Regulatory Affairs Director for Spain and Portugal, assuming additional responsibilities in pharmacovigilance until 2009. After the acquisition from Warner Chilcott, Gemma assumed the regulatory responsibilities for all European countries from 2009 to 2012. After that, Gemma was appointed as Head of Regulatory Affairs in Bayer Hispania, SL, from 2012 to 2014, assuming responsibilities in clinical trials submissions as well.
Gemma joined Ability Pharma in 2015 as Clinical & Regulatory Affairs VP.
Job Titles:
- VP, Operations and Research and Development
Héctor obtained his BSc degree in Biology in 2005 and his Ph.D. in Biology in 2010 at University of Alicante. In 2006 he moved to University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas (EEUU), to start his career developing novel therapeutic antibodies in murine models of human autoimmune diseases and under the supervision of Dr. Sally E. Ward, a worldwide outstanding investigator in the field of autoimmune diseases and cancer.
After obtaining his Ph.D., he combined two postdoctoral grants in Barcelona (Metastasis and Transformation group in Bellvitge Biomedical Research Center - IDIBELL) and in Valencia (Autoimmune Pathology Lab in Principe Felipe Research Center). In between, he worked as a coordinator of an animal experimentation laboratory from a private company, developing novel therapeutic agents for autoimmune diseases and cancer.
During the 10 years of experience accumulated, animal research has characterized most of his work, accumulating large experience working with a large panel of murine models of different autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis or Rheumatoid Arthritis, and in cancer, including the "Patient Derived OrthoXenograft" technique. His work always focused in understanding the molecular pathophysiological mechanisms leading to autoimmunity and cancer development, investigating mechanism of action of newly developed molecules to treat such diseases. He has collaborated in the publication of several articles in peer reviewed journals, abstracts in scientific meetings and patents.
In 2015 Héctor joined Ability Pharmaceuticals SL as a Director of Biological Research.
Job Titles:
- Research Advisor and Co - Founder
Jordi obtained a BSc/MSc degree in biochemistry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and also a PhD degree (Doctorate Extraordinary Award) from the same University. During his doctorate, Dr. Espadaler collaborated actively with Prof. Andrej Săli, a world-recognized expert in structural biology, and did several stays in his laboratory, both at the Rockefeller University (New York) and the University of California San Francisco.
In 2006 he joined AB-Biotics SA when the company had just two employees and helped it to grow from a small start-up to a publicly traded company with around 40 employees.
Jordi has published 10 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 3 patents (two of them are international patents), and is also a visiting professor since 2008 at the Master of Bioengineering of the Institut Químic de Sarrià (Ramon Llull University, Barcelona).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- General Secretary / Lawyer, Partner and Founder of the Law Firm Alliant Abogados
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board
- Director of the Department
- Professor ( Associate )
Dr.Lizcano is Professor (Associate) and director of the Department of Biochemistry of School of Medicine at the Universitat Autonoma Barcelona (UAB). After receiving his PhD degree (Biochemistry) in 1994 at the UAB, Dr. Lizcano completed his training at the Laboratories of Prof. Keith F Tipton (Trinity College Dublin) and Prof. Sir Philip Cohen and Prof. Dario Alessi (MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, Dundee UK). In 2005 he founded the UAB Protein Kinases and Signal Transduction Laboratory, to dissect the new cellular signaling pathways ruled by protein kinases that play fundamental roles in driving cancer. He has published more than 50 papers in international refereed journals, and his work has been cited more than 3.000 times.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Chairman / Former Chief Executive Officer and Co - Owner of Laboratorios Gelos, SA. President of AB Biotics, SA
Job Titles:
- Member of the Operating and Strategic Advisory Board
- Patent Attorney
Lídia has a degree in Biochemistry and she is Qualified European Patent Attorney (EQE-2014). She is a professional with 15 years experience in Intellectual Property, especially in the fields of biotechnology and biomedicine. She has held different positions at a university technology transfer office, at a law firm working as patent advisor, in the private sector working as chief IP officer and as a professor in this area. She has gained experience and knowledge in all technical aspects related to patents (e.g. state of the art analysis, patentability and freedom-to-operate reports, patent drafting, patent prosecution, due dilligence) but also in the management of patent portfolios, patent lifecycle and in defining strategies aligned with company's business and research. Besides her knowledge of the European patent system, her knowledge in patent systems of around 20 different countries gives her a global vision. She has recently created her own project of patent consultancy, Patent Riders. Lídia works for Ability Pharmaceuticals as external IP Manager, managing all the aspects of IP of the company.
Job Titles:
- Manager, Clinical Research
Marc obtained his degree in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Barcelona in 1993. He started his medical activities as a volunteer at the refugee's camps of the former Yugoslavia. In 1994 he moved to London (UK) where he participated in different clinical practices at the Vascular Surgery Department of Saint Mary's Hospital and at the Accident and Emergency Department of the Middlesex Hospital. In 1995 became a consultant at the Accident and Emergency Department of Hillingdon Hospital. In 1996 moved to Switzerland entering in the International Committee of the Red Cross where learnt about laws of war and international conflicts and was finally sent to the civil conflict in Peru as a medical delegate to organize medical services.
In 1998 moved back to Barcelona to perform different jobs as a medical doctor at the Public and Private Health Services, on the Emergency, Orthopedics and work medicine, starting also medical management at hospitals and insurance companies, as well as organizing clinical trials to develop new therapeutic molecules in oncology as a clinical investigator.
In 1994 Marc had an International Law of War training in Geneva, Switzerland. After that, he obtained a Master's degree in Tropical Medicine at the University of Barcelona (1998), a Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health in Les Heures University, Barcelona (2003) and a Master in Innovation by the School of Industrial Organization of Madrid, Madrid (2013); Lastly, he pursued an ICSR (Individual Case Safety Reports) Course, management and processing of communications to the European Medicines Agency, London (2014).
Miguel F. Segura graduated in biochemistry in 2000 at the Universitat de les Illes Balears and received his PhD in 2006 from the University of Lleida, Spain. In 2007, he moved to New York University School of Medicine for his postdoctoral training. In 2012, he was recruited by the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute with a tenure-track position to apply his experience in translational research in cancer to paediatric tumours. In 2017, he obtained the tenure position and is now the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Neural Tumours. His research is focused on the development of epigenetic therapies and non-DNA-damaging agents for the treatment of nervous system tumours such as neuroblastoma.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Chief Executive Officer and Co - Founder of AB Biotics, SA
Job Titles:
- Member of the Operating and Strategic Advisory Board
Roger Torrent obtained his Chemical Engineering Degree at the Institut Quimic de Sarrià (IQS), Barcelona, and he is currently Senior Consultant for national and international public grants. He joined Inveready in 2012 and his work focuses on identifying, preparing and monitoring public funding for innovative business projects, and R&D lines, both nationally and internationally.
Previously, he worked as a grant manager for 4 years at the biotechnology firm AB-Biotics, a probiotics and pharmacogenetics company in the field of neurospiquiatría, obtaining financing for the development of their projects, and accompanying it from its initial stages until the exit to the alternative stock market. He has also worked as a consultant in the Euro-Funding firm, specialized in obtaining public funds for business development projects.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Venture Capital Partner at Fitalent ( Grup Everis )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Operating Partner & Life Sciences Investment Director of Inveready Asset Management
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Chief Executive Officer and Co - Founder of AB Biotics, SA.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- VP, Administration and Accounting
Vanessa obtained a degree in economics (BEc/MEc) at the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona. She specialized in business administration.
Vanessa collaborates with Ability Pharmaceuticals since 2010. Prior to joining the company, for 2 years she was the Chief Financial Officer of Sevibe Cells, a health services company specializing in the preservation of stem cells derived from umbilical cords.
Job Titles:
- Director, Clinical Operations
Yolanda joined Ability Pharma in July 2020 as a Clinical Operations Manager.
Yolanda Obtained a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Barcelona and a Master in Marketing direction in EADA.
She has 21 years of experience in coordinating the whole process of implementation, commissioning, and closure of clinical trials from phase 1 to phase 4, in different therapeutic areas in Merck Sharp and Dohme. She was involved in clinical site management and monitoring activities in compliance with principles of ICH-GCP guidelines, SOPs, local laws and regulations, study protocol(s), applicable study plans and working guidelines.
Since 2013, she was responsible to organizing and managing the Clinical Operations Department ensuring good quality in all processes of clinical trials in Recerca Clinica SL. She served as the primary project contact with the client and leaded and managed cross-functional project teams. She was also responsible of the preparation and trial submission to the Ethics Committees/Institutional Review Boards and Competent Authorities, in collaboration with involved in-house functions and CRO, if applicable.