Contera Pharma, a subsidiary of Bukwang, announced that it elected Dr. Thomas Sager as CEO while further expanding the executive management team to include representatives for Business Development and R&D

  • Chief Executive Officer; Thomas Sager, PhD.
  • Chief Business Officer; Anders Brandt Elvang, PhD.
  • Chief Science Officer; Kenneth Vielsted Christensen, PhD.

Thomas Sager, received his PhD in Neuroscience from University of Copenhagen in 1997. He has more than 20 years of pharma industry experience, mainly from working at Lundbeck A/S, a company specialized in developing and commercializing treatments for diseases of the central nervous system. At Lundbeck, Thomas Sager served in various leadership roles in R&D, while he since 2012 has been working in Business Development and was Vice President, Head of Business Development, Licensing and Scientific Assessment until Nov. 2020.

Contera Pharma also elected Dr. Anders Brandt Elvang (PhD), who was former Senior Director, Business Development & Strategy at Lundbeck, as a CBO, and Dr. Kenneth Vielsted Christensen (PhD) who was former Research Program Director at Servier (France) as a Chief Science Officer. Together, they bring substantial CNS experience, including science and business expertise, to Contera Pharma.

Contera Pharma has several programs in its development pipeline, including the lead program, JM-010, which is currently under development for treating dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease. The company recently raised 51 billion KRW (38m EUR) in a Series B financing round to go public on the KOSDAQ. Proceed from the financing will be used to accelerate the currently ongoing US and EU Phase 2 clinical studies in Parkinson’s disease dyskinesia. In addition, it will also be used to accelerate the preparation for the Contera Pharma listing in the KOSDAQ market.

Bukwang’s representative said “Contera is a company with significant competitive and technological advantage. It is currently having ongoing Phase 2 clinical studies not only in the EU but also in the US. In addition, the preparation for the Contera listing has been very positive and on the right track so far. All of these factors play an important key role in the success of current recruitments”.