Leadership

Dr. Kim D. Kjøller has been CEO of UNION since January 2021. He brings more than 20 years of experience from various senior executive positions in the pharmaceutical industry, of which the last 10 years were in dermatology.

Before joining UNION, Kim was EVP and Head of R&D at LEO Pharma. Kim also held senior positions in both Strategic Marketing, Medical Affairs, Global Development and as General Manager at Sanofi, Lundbeck, Sanofi Pasteur MSD.

Kim is an MD from Copenhagen University and has authored and co-authored over 35 scientific publications and given presentations at both scientific and pharmaceutical marketing meetings globally.

Morten H. Boesen joined UNION in 2018 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to UNION, Morten worked with EQT, the largest private equity fund in the Nordics, initially as an investment professional and subsequently as an executive director in the EQT-owned global retailer Flying Tiger Copenhagen, where he held responsibility for strategy, business development as well as global commercial and supply chain operations.

Earlier in his career, Morten worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, in the M&A advisory group of Nordea Bank and in the finance department of Novozymes, the world leader in industrial biotech.

Morten holds an M.Sc. in Finance and Accounting from Copenhagen Business School and studied at New York University’s Stern School of Business and Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management.

Rasmus Toft-Kehler is co-founder, board member and Chief Operating Officer at UNION. Rasmus has extensive leadership and strategic development experience from founding and building companies in the life science industry, and he is co-founder and board member of multiple biotechnology and life science companies.

Before going into biotech, Rasmus worked in investment banking and in management consulting, and acted as board member of a family-owned company that was sold in 2005.

Rasmus is the inventor of over 5 patents issued and has published research in leading entrepreneurship and scientific journals such as Journal of Business Venturing and Nature Reviews Microbiology.

Rasmus holds a Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship from Copenhagen Business School and executive education from Harvard Business School.

Morten Sommer is the co-Founder of several biotech companies working within fields of drug development, industrial biotechnology and microbiome research.

Morten is also a Professor and Scientific Director at the Technical University of Denmark with a lab of more than 20 Ph.Ds and Post-Doctorial researchers working primarily in the field of antibiotic resistance and the human microbiome. Morten is the inventor of more than 20 issued patents/patent applications and author of scientific papers in journals such as Science, Cell and Nature. Morten was named among the Top 10 under 40 in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News list of biopharma research and business executives.

Morten holds a M.Sc. in Physics from University of Copenhagen and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Harvard University from the laboratory of Professor George Church.

Per Cantor joined UNION as Chief Medical Officer in April 2021 and brings 30 years of experience from pharma companies in Europe, USA, and China. He spent 14 years at Ferring as SVP of Clinical & Non-clinical R&D, including two years in China to establish the Ferring Institute of Reproductive Medicine in Beijing. Prior to Ferring, he spent 15 years at Eli Lilly in both the Nordic countries and at the Lilly Laboratories in the US, leading major clinical development programs within endocrinology and Women’s Health.

His R&D experience covers multiple therapeutic areas from drug discovery, pre-clinical pharmacology and toxicology, clinical Phase I-IV, product launch, and Life Cycle Management. He is the author of 50+ scientific publications and holder of several patents within prostate cancer therapy.

Per obtained MD and DMSci degrees from the University of Copenhagen and a BACom from Copenhagen Business School.

Eckhard Niemeier is a highly experienced deal maker in the life science sector, drawing on almost 20 years of experience in corporate development, corporate strategy and financial analysis and valuation.

Before joining UNION in June 2021, Eckhard was SVP, Head of Business Development and Portfolio Management at Pieris Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:PIRS), where he was responsible for all business and corporate development activities including establishing strategic partnerships with AstraZeneca, Roche/Genentech, Seagen and Servier.

Prior to joining Pieris, Eckhard held senior business development positions at Gruenenthal Pharma, where he was responsible for international licensing activities across all stages of drug development, and MorphoSys AG, where he negotiated multiple product and technology licensing deals. Eckhard began his career at McKinsey & Company in their Healthcare Practice.

Eckhard holds a M.Sc. in Biotechnology and completed his thesis in Molecular Biology at Human Genome Sciences, now part of GSK.

Dr. Günter Ditzinger has more than 30 years of pharmaceutical innovation experience spanning early development to product launch at Sanofi and subsequently Novartis.

Before joining UNION in 2020, Günter was Chief Technology Officer at Basilea Pharmaceutica, where he was responsible for pharmaceutical, chemical and analytical development as well as the commercial supply chain at the global level. Günter has played vital roles in the successful development and commercial launch of multiple marketed products: Toctino® in chronic hand eczema, Zevtera® in bacterial infections, and Cresemba® in systemic fungal Infections.

Günter is a Registered Pharmacist and holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Technology from Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main, Germany.

Dr. Lutz Wevelsiep has more than 25 years of experience in international regulatory affairs across Europe and the US within multinational and start-up companies. His experience includes EU decentralized and centralized procedures, product development from Phase I through marketing as well as particular expertise in anti-infectives. Lutz has prepared and managed interactions with all health authorities including the FDA, EMA, and EU national agencies.

Prior to joining UNION, Lutz spent 16 years as Head of Global Regulatory Affairs at Basilea Pharmaceutica. His track record includes the successful European marketing authorization applications for Isavuconazole (Cresmba®), Ceftobiprole (Zevtera®) and Alitretinoin (Toctino®).

Lutz holds a Ph.D. and Postdoc in Chemistry from the Max-Planck Institute in Germany.

Per Sørensen joined UNION as VP of Biometrics in February 2020 and brings more than 20 years of experience from the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.

Before joining UNION, Per worked at LEO Pharma, Lundbeck, Genmab and Ferring in different specialist and leadership roles. His experience comes from a wide range of therapeutic areas focusing on data and statistical requirements within clinical drug development. In addition, Per brings experience with regulatory submission and approval in US, EU and Japan, as well as health technology assessments in EU.

Per holds an M.Sc. in Statistics from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Gina Fischer joined UNION in December 2020 as Program Director for orismilast and brings more than 18 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry within project, alliance, and portfolio management.

Before joining UNION, Gina has led several joint developments – and cross-cultural teams in Nycomed as well as in LEO Pharma in various positions across the value chain, from R&D, commercial, manufacturing, and lifecycle management. Her track record includes Global approvals of Tachosil®, Daivobet® gel in China, and Enstilar® in the US and EU.

Gina holds an M.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Copenhagen.

Tanya Arp Regnersgaard joined UNION in July 2021 as Project Director for Niclosamide. Tanya brings more than 16 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.

Before joining UNION Tanya spent more than 11 years in LEO Pharma in various positions in both R&D and Commercial. She has extensive experience with portfolio and project management from early and late-stage development programs including life cycle management. The last three years, Tanya was the Global Launch Lead for tralokinumab, preparing for commercialization in US, EU & Japan of the novel monoclonal antibody to treat atopic dermatitis, which achieved EMA approval in June 2021 (Adtralza) and FDA approval in December 2021 (Adbry).

Tanya holds a Bachelor of Science in Export Engineering from the Engineering College of Copenhagen.

Philippe Andres joined UNION in April 2019 and currently holds the position as Medical Lead of Dermatology.  

Philippe Andres has more than 20 years of experience as dermatologist in the pharma industry, most recently as a member of the executive team at Galderma/Nestlé Skin Health. He has a wealth of experience in encompassing early and late-stage developments, scientific communication, and medical affairs. 

During his career, Philippe has been involved in developing and launching multiple approved products, including topicals calcitriol (Vectical®) and adapalene (Differin®), submitted more than 100 patents and has published numerous scientific papers. 

Philippe is an M.D. and Board-Certified Dermatologist from Nantes University, France. 

Dr. Morten Lind joined UNION in October 2021. Morten brings more than 9 years of experience as medical specialist, project manager and line manager from Novo Nordisk, where he worked across the internal Novo Nordisk portfolio and established external collaboration projects within new ways of doing clinical trials and using data.

Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Morten did his Ph.D. within the research space of medical education, and on how to optimize learning outcomes during the training of professionals. He has also worked clinically as a medical doctor within radiology and surgery.

Morten is an MD from University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Danielle Frederiksen joined UNION in September 2020 as Director of Finance.

Danielle brings extensive experience from auditing and controlling in various companies across several industries.

Most recently, Danielle was responsible for the establishment of the Finance function at AJ Vaccines and instrumental in the cultural transformation of the company as part of the Management team. She has worked with Business Finance for 10+ years and prior to that built her “accounting toolbox” as an auditor at KPMG.

Danielle holds a Master of Science in Business Economics and Auditing from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.

Dr. Jakob Felding joined UNION in December 2021 as VP of Research. Jakob brings more than 20 years of experience in drug discovery.

Before joining UNION, Jakob worked at Lundbeck, Nuevolution, BioImage and more than 15 years at LEO pharma in different specialist roles, including MedChem lead of a topical PDE4 project which identified a clinical candidate. In addition, Jakob held several manager positions at LEO Pharma, among them Director of Front End innovation and Senior Director of the biology function. He was part of the Research management team for 7 years.

Jakob holds a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Peter Nabben joined UNION in March 2021 as General Counsel. Peter has extensive experience acting at the intersection between legal and business in life science. 

Peter has worked in different industries, including more than 13 years with business development and legal in the vaccine and diagnostics industry.  Peter has also been General Counsel for the global retailer Flying Tiger Copenhagen.  

Peter holds a Master in Business Administration and Commercial Law (Cand.merc (jur.)) from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. 

Alex Rodriguez joined UNION in 2021 as Head of Toxicology & Non-clinical Safety. Alex brings 21 years of pharmaceutical, clinical diagnostics and vaccine development experience from companies in USA and Europe.

Before joining UNION, Alex spent 18 years at GSK pharma (RTP, NC) & GSK-vaccine divisions (Wavre, Belgium) as nonclinical Scientific Safety Investigator and Global Regulatory Toxicologist. From 2015-2017 he had a tenure as Director of Toxicology & Genetics at Mako Medical Laboratories, Raleigh, NC.

Alex has a broad toxicology and biomarker experience within multiple therapeutic areas, including vaccines, and has managed IND and NDA enabling tox programs at CROs as well as engaging in numerous F2F and written interactions with global regulatory bodies including the FDA, EMA, PMDA, and CFDA/NMPA.

Alex is a board-certified and registered toxicologist in USA (DABT) and Europe (ERT), and holds a BSci in Microbiology from North Carolina State University and MSci from Campbell University School of Pharmacy, NC.

Asger Bering Kristensen joined UNION in September 2020 and was in 2022 promoted to VP of Clinical Operations. Asger brings 25 years of experience from the pharmaceutical industry, most of which within clinical operations.  

Before joining UNION, Asger spent 5 years with ALK-Abello and 10 years with Lundbeck where he held several management positions.   

Asger holds a master’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Copenhagen and a Diploma in Advanced Studies from University of Basel.

Sarah Toft-Jørgensen joined UNION in October 2021 as Director of Communications and Investor Relations.  

Sarah has worked in the life science industry for the last +10 years, including as Manager of Communications and IR at Zealand Pharma A/S.   

Before joining UNION, Sarah was a Special Advisor in the Life Science Unit at the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs.  

Sarah holds a Master of Science in International Business from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark and is a certified Pharmaceutical Advisor from The Danish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry (LIF).