Staf Van Reet
Chairman
Dr Staf Van Reet is managing director and chairman of Viziphar Biosciences BVBA. He serves on the boards of the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology (VIB), FlandersBio and the Center for Medical Innovation (CMI). Dr Van Reet co-founded Movetis NV, a spin-out of Johnson & Johnson, and chaired its board of directors until the company’s acquisition by Shire Ltd in October 2010. Earlier in his career, he held various positions within Johnson & Johnson, including managing director of Janssen Biotech, chairman of the management board of the Janssen Research Foundation and, from 1991 to 1999, president of the Janssen Research Foundation and managing director of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV. From 2000 to 2004, Dr Van Reet was vice president of the Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, the venture arm of Johnson & Johnson. Dr Van Reet holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences from KU Leuven, Belgium, and is a qualified Belgian and European Patent Authority.
Erwin Blomsma
Managing director
Dr Erwin Blomsma holds a Master’s degree in Bioscience Engineering and a Ph.D. in Applied Biological Sciences (1995) from the KU Leuven (Belgium). After post-doctoral studies at UCB, he started his career at Janssen Pharmaceutica (Belgium) in 1996 in the Chemical Process Technology Group. In 2000, he co-founded Crystallics, a spin-off from the University of Leiden (Netherlands) specialising in preformulation research. Crystallics was absorbed by Avantium Technologies in 2001, and he was appointed COO there in 2004, playing a key role in making the company cash-positive. In 2007, Dr Blomsma joined Dr Stefaan Wera and Professor Johan Neyts as co-founder and CEO of Okapi Sciences.
Luc Basstanie
Non-executive director
Luc Basstanie is senior investment manager of Agri Investment Fund. He holds a Master’s degree in Bioscience Engineering from KU Leuven (1979) and an MBA from Vlerick Leuven (1988). He started his career as a researcher at KU Leuven and Wageningen University. From 1984 he worked for the Aveve Group, the largest supplier to the agricultural and horticultural sectors in Belgium, where he was managing director of the subsidiaries Hermoo and Huntjens, both active in crop protection products, and of Hortiplan, active in automation and supplies for the horticulture sector. Since 2005 he has been division director for business development for the Aveve Group. Luc Basstanie is also a board member of the Capricorn Cleantech Fund, a venture capital fund specialising in clean energy, water, air and soil.
Floris Vansina
Non-executive director
Floris Vansina is the Managing Director of KeBeK Management NV. Mr Vansina was the Managing Director, Member of Investment Committee and Member of the Executive Committee of KBC Private Equity NV. Mr. Vansina served as the General Manager at KBC Investco; General Manager at KBC Securities NV; Advisor at Investco NV; Merger and Acquisition Advisor at Kredietbank NV; and Senior Auditior at Peat Marwick. He served as the Treasurer of European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. Mr. Vansina serves as Chairman of the Board at Applied Maths NV. He serves as Non-Executive Independent Director at Zetes Industries SA. He serves as Member of Supervisory Board of Tatra A.S and served as its Director. He served as a Director of Ceres, Inc. since June 2005. He served as a Director at Tibotec-Virco NV and European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. Mr. Vansina graduated in Applied Economic Sciences from the (UFSIA) University of Antwerp and received an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madisson.
Patrick Chaltin
Non-executive director
Dr Patrick Chaltin is the Managing Director of the Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3) of KU Leuven R&D, an investment fund of 24 million euros established by KU Leuven and EIF in 2006. CD3 focuses on the discovery, development and transfer of new innovative small molecule drugs based on excellent academic biomedical research. Dr Chaltin is a qualified European Patent Attorney and was previously active as IP manager at the IP unit of KU Leuven R&D, which he joined in 2002 and where he was responsible for the management of the IP created by KU Leuven within the pharmaceutical field, especially by the Rega Institute for Medical Research. Patrick was also a member of the deal flow committee of Capricorn Venture Partners for the analysis of new investment opportunities. He studied Pharmaceutical Sciences and obtained a Ph.D. in this field at the laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry of KU Leuven.
Erik Mijten
Non-executive director
Erik Mijten graduated from Ghent University as a veterinarian in 1994. After several years in veterinary practice in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, he joined the Regional Animal Health Centre in Flanders, where he became Director of the laboratory in Lier, Belgium. In 2007, Erik joined the Boerenbond, the leading farmers’ organisation in Belgium, where he works as a Veterinary Advisor. He has expertise in animal health and animal welfare. He represents the Boerenbond in consultations with authorities and other organisations.
Raf Moons
Non-executive director
Raf Moons is senior investment manager at Fortis Private Equity, the captive private equity branch of BNP Paribas Fortis. He acts as board member in several high-tech spin-off companies and is actively involved in managing university-linked seed capital funds. Prior to his career in venture capital, he served as an industrial advisor at the business development group of IMEC and as a scientific researcher at K.U.Leuven. Raf Moons holds a Ph.D. in physics and an MBA (Leuven).
Harrold Van Barlingen
Non-executive director
Dr Harrold van Barlingen is the Managing Partner and founder of Thuja Capital Management (Thuja). Prior to founding Thuja, he headed the life science effort of AlpInvest Partners. Harrold joined AlpInvest from the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked as a consultant in management and strategy. Before BCG, Harrold held a senior role at the Lewin Group, an international firm specialising in the field of health economy. Harrold holds an Msc in Medical Biology and a Ph.D. in Medicine, serves on the supervisory boards of Okapi Sciences, arGEN-X and Galapagos (GLPG, Euronext), and represents AlpInvest on the board of Curacyte.