Lovisa Afzelius is an origination partner at Flagship Pioneering and the former SVP of Strategy & Operations at Flagship-founded Cogen Immune Medicines, now known as Repertoire Immune Medicines. A computational scientist by training, she has two decades of leadership experience and a passion for data-driven drug discovery, from early inception to clinical development across multiple therapeutic areas.

Previously, Lovisa built and led Pfizer’s systems immunology function and served as executive director of clinical programs. In this role, she launched several Phase II studies across autoimmune indications and as a member of the Inflammation & Immunology Research Unit leadership team, Lovisa co-managed the portfolio from early target discovery to Phase II clinical trials across all immunological assets. In addition, she served on Pfizer’s Worldwide R&D Data Strategy Committee.

In 2017, Lovisa co-founded Elsa.science, a digital health company in the rheumatoid arthritis space where she serves as chairman of the board. She also serves on the board of the Swedish New England Chamber of Commerce. Before moving to the US in 2013, Lovisa was CEO of BioChromix Pharma.

Lovisa began her career at AstraZeneca as Project Director, Global In Vitro Metabolism Leader and Computational Chemist across cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Lovisa has received numerous accolades for her work: she was included in the top 100 ​“most influential persons under age 40 in Sweden” by Affärsvärlden, and ​“scientist of tomorrow” at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations’ 30th anniversary. Lovisa received the Rosenön Award for best thesis of the year within the field of pharmacodynamics/​pharmacokinetics in Sweden.

Lovisa holds a Ph.D. in computational chemistry from Uppsala University, a Master of Science in integrative pharmacology from Gothenburg University as well as an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Theonie is a principal at Flagship Pioneering where she conceives, builds and grows the science, intellectual property and business strategy that form the foundation of Flagship’s next breakthrough startups. She co-founded Alltrna and serves as its chief innovation officer. 

Prior to joining Flagship, Theonie completed her graduate studies in cell and molecular biology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focused on replication fork dynamics in the context of cancer development and therapeutics. Theonie has received several awards and has been granted multiple fellowships for her academic work, including an NIH NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship. During her graduate studies, Theonie held multiple leadership positions on Executive and Curriculum Committees. She also completed a Wharton Business Foundations Specialization and was a mentor at the yearly Larta Institute NIH CAP FeedForward Sessions. 

Theonie is a Business Advisory Board member of the Harvard Institute for RNA Medicine and a member of the Bioscience & Investor Inclusion Group (BIIG) Diverse Talent Network Group. Theonie’s work has resulted in multiple pending patents and publications, including articles in Nature Biotechnology, Molecular Cell and Journal of Biological Chemistry.

91. tRNA therapies, Lovisa Afzelius, Founding CEO, Theonie Anastassiadis, Co-founder & CIO, Alltrna

Synopsis:

Dive into this episode of Biotech 2050 where host Rahul Chaturvedi interviews Jeb Keiper, CEO of Nimbus Therapeutics. Discover Jeb's fascinating journey from MIT chemist to industry leader, and the unique strategies that have driven Nimbus's success. Jeb discusses the evolution of biotech financing, the importance of taking bold risks, and the innovative approaches Nimbus employs in drug development. He also shares insights on building a resilient team, navigating challenging capital markets, and fostering a collaborative ecosystem in biotech. This episode provides valuable lessons for aspiring biotech leaders and a deep dive into the intricacies of managing a cutting-edge biotech company.

Biography:

Jeb Keiper, M.S., M.B.A., has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our board of directors since October 2018. He previously served as Chief Business Officer from November 2014 to October 2018 and as Chief Financial Officer from February 2017 to October 2018. Since joining Nimbus, Mr. Keiper has overseen the discovery and development of three programs into clinical testing across a range of indications, over $400M raised in equity funding, executed deals worth over $7B, and the return of over $4B in gains back to equity holders.
Prior to joining Nimbus, Mr. Keiper served as the Vice President of Business Development at GSK Oncology (a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK)) from March 2011 to October 2014, where he was responsible for identifying and concluding several critical collaborations for GSK in Oncology, including the Novartis-GSK Oncology integration, and spent a decade at GSK in various business development leadership roles. Prior to GSK, Mr. Keiper was a consultant at McKinsey & Company starting in September 2000-2002, then September 2004 to 2005, after having started his career as a pharmaceutical chemist at Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) in 1998.
Mr. Keiper currently serves as a member of the board of directors at private biotechnology companies Cardurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and ROME Therapeutics, Inc.
Mr. Keiper received two B.S. degrees, one in Chemistry and one in Chemical Engineering, as well as an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management with joint program in Biomedical Enterprises with the Harvard Medical School.

Biotech Breakthroughs: Jeb Keiper, CEO of Nimbus Therapeutics, Discusses Their Innovative Journey

Biotech2050 Podcast is a think tank chronicling the disruptions changing the biotech industry over the next 50 years.

Biotech Breakthroughs: Jeb Keiper, CEO of Nimbus Therapeutics, Discusses Their Innovative Journey

Biotech2050 Podcast

Related tracks