About

Catherine Pickering is a highly respected and ambitious life sciences leader. As CEO and Co-Founder of iOnctura, Catherine has built iOnctura as a lean by highly efficient drug development company, supported by more than 15 team members including research scientists, medical professionals and business leaders. Since the company’s inception in 2017, she has raised over €100M in private financing, to progress iOnctura’s pipeline of precision oral small molecules, securing two programmes into mid-stage clinical development and in-licensing another small molecule program against a key cancer target.

She is scientifically curious and is driven by her lifelong commitment to oncology research, striving to bring to market ground-breaking therapies which have the potential to improve – and ultimately extend – healthspan for patients.

Prior to launching iOnctura, Catherine led the global oncology and immuno-oncology licensing and business development function at Merck KGaA and was a core member of the global oncology franchise leadership team.  In this position she was an accomplished deal maker, closing several deals per annum including negotiating the biggest upfront out-licensing deal payment in the industry at the time.

Catherine holds a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the UK’s Institute of Cancer Research and an MBA from Henley Business School.

Lars holds a PhD in chemistry. He is a medicinal chemist with over 20 years of experience in biopharma R&D and delivered multiple clinical candidates and lead compounds for different therapeutic areas including oncology.

Prior to founding iOnctura he has held various positions in project management and project leadership spanning early discovery up to commercial products and dealing with both biologics and small molecules. Lars has previously worked at Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Organon, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Merck.

Michael joined iOnctura as Chief Medical Officer in 2019 after 20 years of industry experience at Eli Lilly and Company, AstraZeneca and Incyte Corporation.

In his career Michael contributed to the development of several new molecular entities, such as small molecule inhibitors (including the ALK5 inhibitor galunisertib and the registration of osimertinib in NSCLC), large molecules, antisense oligonucleotides and vaccines. Michael is passionate about developing novel therapies in cancer and mentoring colleagues in clinical drug development.

David joined iOnctura as VP Finance in 2021 and has extensive experience in publicly-listed growth-oriented biotech and medtech companies.

Before taking charge of global finance operations at iOnctura, he served as VP Head of Finance Europe at NASDAQ listed bluebird bio, and held senior financial positions at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, InterMune Corporation and Stryker Corporation.

Paul has over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceuticals industry, including Bayer, Shire and Blueprint Medicines. Paul has launched products in various therapeutic areas, including oncology and rare diseases, globally and nationally. Having led the European build-out for a biotech and driving the development of global product life-cycle strategies for complex portfolios, Paul has expertise in cross-functional leadership and commercialisation.

At iOnctura, Paul is responsible for Operations and New Product Planning.

Kiran holds a PhD in viral-induced oncogenesis and has 15 years experience in life-sciences commercialisation, business development, strategy, consulting and project and team management.

In her career Kiran has led teams within a number of organisations to get new products to market. At iOnctura she leads on commercial efforts including strategic planning, commercial forecasting, launch strategies, market research and corporate communications.

Giusy holds a PhD in endocrinological cancers. She joined iOnctura as Head of Research in 2022 with over 12 years of experience in onco-immunology and tumor-stroma interactions.

During her career, Giusy has furthered understanding of the molecular and biological interactions that occur within the tumor microenvironment, has uncovered novel preclinical targets, and published over 30 research articles. She is passionate about developing promising cancer therapies that aim to have direct impacts on patients’ lives.

Joanna Horobin M.B., Ch.B. is an accomplished drug developer and biotech leader with over 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector. As well as serving as the Chair of iOnctura’s Board, Dr. Horobin is also a Non-Executive Director on the board of Liquidia Technologies (LQDA: Nasdaq). Joanna has held multiple C-suite roles in biotech companies in the USA, most recently as the Chief Medical Officer at Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ, IDRA) and was also the CEO of Syndax Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ, SNDX). Joanna led a joint venture between Rhone Poulenc and Chugai to develop and launch Chugai’s gCSF product Granocyte in Europe and, as VP Oncology, launched Rhone Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi) as a major player in oncology with the global launch of Taxotere.

After gaining her medical qualifications from the University of Manchester’s Medical School in the United Kingdom, Dr. Horobin initially pursued a career as a General Practitioner, gaining membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners and practicing as a GP in London.

Catherine Pickering is a highly respected and ambitious life sciences leader. As CEO and Co-Founder of iOnctura, Catherine has built iOnctura as a lean by highly efficient drug development company, supported by more than 15 team members including research scientists, medical professionals and business leaders. Since the company’s inception in 2017, she has raised over €100M in private financing, to progress iOnctura’s pipeline of precision oral small molecules, securing two programmes into mid-stage clinical development and in-licensing another small molecule program against a key cancer target.

She is scientifically curious and is driven by her lifelong commitment to oncology research, striving to bring to market ground-breaking therapies which have the potential to improve – and ultimately extend – healthspan for patients.

Prior to launching iOnctura, Catherine led the global oncology and immuno-oncology licensing and business development function at Merck KGaA and was a core member of the global oncology franchise leadership team.  In this position she was an accomplished deal maker, closing several deals per annum including negotiating the biggest upfront out-licensing deal payment in the industry at the time.

Catherine holds a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the UK’s Institute of Cancer Research and an MBA from Henley Business School.

Hakan Goker (Ph.D.) is a senior investment director at Merck Ventures, corporate venture arm of the biopharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Hakan joined Merck Ventures in 2013 and previously was investing as a partner at Aescap Venture and prior to that at Atlas Venture.

Since 2006, Hakan was instrumental in the creation, financing, and strategy of multiple biotechnology companies globally including Asceneuron (CH), Orphazyme (DK), Nimbus Discovery (US), F Star (NL), Bicycle Therapeutics (UK) and Nitec now Horizon Pharma (CH/US). Hakan received his PhD in cancer biology from the Institute of Cancer Research/ University of London and continued his scientific career with post-doctoral work at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Centre/Royal Marsden Hospital.

He gained his BSc Honours, from University College London. Hakan is a board member of Asceneuron, Forendo Pharma, Raze Therapeutics, Tocopherx, Synaffix, and Storm Therapeutics.

Thijs Cohen Tervaert is a Partner at Inkef and has been with Inkef since 2016.

Prior to Inkef, Thijs was a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group with a focus on health care and technology. Thijs worked on projects advising clients in the pharmaceutical industry, health insurers and large hospital systems. Thijs helped to establish the Amsterdam Health and Technology Institute in 2014.

Thijs is a medical doctor and graduated at Leiden University. He has also co-authored several scientific papers in the field of diabetes. Thijs currently also serves on the board of TargED BioPharmaceuticals, Calypso Biotech, Audion Therapeutics, ViCentra, Aidence and Castor.

Laurent is Owner and President of iQone Healthcare Group, a company specialized in building and managing dedicated pharmaceutical sales operations in Europe and selected emerging markets. Laurent was formerly Head of licensing oncology global business development with Merck Serono SA in Geneva, from 2009 until 2011, when he left Merck Serono to run his own company late 2011.

Prior to this, he held several general management and corporate positions in the pharmaceutical industry. Laurent spent several years with Eli Lilly, where he held cross-functional responsibilities at local level in sales and marketing (Zyprexa, Regional Marketing Manager Europe, Middle East, Africa, Sales Manager in the US, Business Unit Director (France) and at a corporate level (Corporate Strategy Manager).

Following this, he became Executive Director European Commercial Operations for Idenix (a US biotech company owned by Novartis) and subsequently, Head of Specialty Franchises for Novartis France (transplantation, ophthalmology, neurosciences, infectious diseases, mature products).

Education: Doctorate in veterinary medicine and an MBA from INSEAD.