Thomas Sager has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and more that 24 years of drug discovery experience acquired in the biotech and pharma industry. For more than a decade he has held various leadership roles in R&D drug discovery at Lundbeck A/S, covering both neurology and psychiatry, and has taken through numerous projects from discovery to development. His scientific work generated over 35 peer-reviewed papers. Over the years he served as invited reviewer for many organizations, including the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
In 2012 Thomas Sager joined Business Development at Lundbeck A/S, where he served as Vice President, Head of Business Development, Licensing and Scientific Assessment until November 2020, and established the licensing strategy, was responsible for the execution of scientific assessments and was a project leader for corporate strategy initiatives. As part of his responsibilities in Business Development, Thomas Sager has been involved in multiple licensing, M&A opportunities and deals.
Anders Brandt Elvang holds a M.Sc. in human biology and a Ph.D. in neuroscience and has more than 15 years of broad pharma industry experience. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Copenhagen and Kings College London, and then joined Lundbeck A/S where he worked within Neuroscience Research, Department of Neurodegeneration from 2008 to 2013 as Senior Research Scientist. In 2013, Anders Brandt Elvang moved into Medical Affairs where he as Global Senior Medical Advisor supported Lundbeck´s late stage, mature neurology products within Alzheimer´s and Parkinson´s disease. From 2016 to 2020, Anders Brandt Elvang worked in Corporate Business Development & Strategy at Lundbeck A/S. Before joining Contera Pharma, he held the position of Senior Director, Business Development & Strategy, with focus on M&A, strategic partnerships, and corporate strategy projects.
After working a couple of years as a clinician Anne joined Novo Nordisk in 2011 where she held various positions across pharmacovigilance, medical affairs, and clinical development. She acted as the medical lead for several projects contributing significantly to the clinical development strategy and successful regulatory submissions. In 2019 she joined LEO Pharma Inc., from where she led the global clinical development program for a JAK-inhibitor, playing a pivotal role in the U.S. with the establishment of a Medical & Science Hub, which bridged the company’s headquarters with its U.S. operations. Before joining Contera Pharma, Anne served as Chief Medical Officer at Hedia, overseeing clinical and regulatory affairs with a focus on compliance and innovation in digital health solutions.
Søren Vestergaard Rasmussen, Ph.D., is a seasoned molecular biologist with over 15 years of experience in drug discovery across the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Søren joined Contera Pharma in 2021 as Director of Neuroscience Discovery and Project Management, and currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer as of September 2024.
Before joining Contera, Søren was a Senior Principal Scientist at Roche Innovation Center Copenhagen, where he led several drug discovery project teams in RNA therapeutics and served on Roche’s global governance board for RNA therapeutics. During his tenure, he also led RNA therapeutics strategy processes and co-authored multiple platform and compound patent applications, including rugornersen, which he advanced from discovery to clinical testing as Technical Project Lead.
From 2008 to 2015, Søren held various positions at Lundbeck, where he served as both biology and project lead on small molecule drug discovery programs within neuropsychiatry.
Kathrine Baisgaard Bjerno holds a M.Sc. in Finance and Strategic Management from Copenhagen Business School and has more than a decade of experience from the pharmaceutical industry. After two years in Maersk Group Accounting, Kathrine Baisgaard Bjerno joined Group Finance in Lundbeck in 2012. Having worked with financial and management reporting, financial long-term planning, and strategic finance projects for four years, she moved into the role of Management Assistant to the CFO and later to the CEO of Lundbeck. In these roles Kathrine led several company-wide strategic projects as well as coordinated and executed all Executive Management and Board of Directors meetings. Before joining Contera Pharma in 2024, Kathrine Baisgaard Bjerno was Director in Lundbeck Corporate Business Development for five years working with Alliance Management, out-licensing, valuation of M&A and pipeline projects and strategic partnerships.