Press Release
Draupnir Bio strengthens senior management with the appointment of Anna Quattropani as Chief Discovery Officer
Copenhagen, Denmark, 12 July 2021 – Draupnir Bio (“Draupnir”), a biotechnology company developing small molecule modulators of PCSK9 to transform the treatment of heart disease, today announces the appointment of Anna Quattropani, PhD, as Chief Discovery Officer (CDO), effective immediately.
Anna brings more than 20 years of experience in drug discovery and development to the role, having established a successful track record in the design of clinical candidates and their development from discovery to the clinic. At Draupnir, Anna will lead internal and external drug discovery and medicinal chemistry efforts in support of Draupnir’s growing preclinical pipeline.
She joins Draupnir from Asceneuron, a biotechnology company focused on neurodegenerative disorders, where she held a series of leadership roles, most recently Executive Vice President and Head of Non-Clinical Development and Medicinal Chemistry. In this role she oversaw all non-clinical development activities, comprising medicinal chemistry, CMC, pharmacology, and toxicology, in addition to leading the cross-functional discovery and development team, sitting as a member of the Executive Committee, and participating in fundraising.
Before Asceneuron, Anna worked at Serono, prior to and following its acquisition by Merck to become Merck Serono. There, she held the role of Principle Scientist and led drug discovery programmes for neurodegenerative diseases.
Anna holds a PhD in Organometallic Chemistry and an MSc in Chemistry from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She is the inventor of 48 patents and the author of 20 peer-reviewed publications.
Andrew Hotchkiss, Chief Executive Officer of Draupnir Bio, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Anna to the team here at Draupnir. She is an outstanding scientist with expertise in the design and optimisation of small molecule programmes towards clinical candidate selection. Her extensive leadership experience in drug discovery and development will prove invaluable as we progress the development of novel therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases.
“Anna’s appointment follows the appointment of our Chief Operating Officer, Margrit Schwarz, a life science executive and entrepreneur with decades of experience in the cardiometabolic drug discovery space, including with the preclinical development of Repatha (AMG145). Margrit has held senior leadership roles in the global biopharma industry, including Roche, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and Amgen. These strong additions to our executive team bolster the Company’s expertise and will help drive us towards our ambition of transforming the treatment of heart disease.”
On her appointment to Chief Discovery Officer, Anna Quattropani, PhD, commented: “Draupnir’s research into small molecule modulators of PCSK9, a highly validated target for lowering cholesterol, has the potential to establish a new standard of care for people with cardiovascular disease. I’m excited to be working alongside the skilled team at Draupnir Bio, which is primed to drive the discovery and development of ground-breaking therapeutics in this space.”
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For more information, please contact:
Draupnir Bio
Andrew Hotchkiss, Chief Executive Officer
info@draupnir.bio
Consilium Strategic Communications
David Daley, Genevieve Wilson, Alexander Bridge
Phone: +44 (0)20 3709 5700
Email: draupnirbio@consilium-comms.com
Notes to editors
About Draupnir Bio
Draupnir Bio is a Danish biotechnology company developing small molecule therapeutics to transform the treatment of heart disease, based on proprietary structural insights and the biology of Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin Kexin Type 9 (PCSK9), a protein that enables a key step in the control of plasma low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) levels. The company was founded in 2017 as a spin-out from Aarhus University, Denmark, and the Max-Planck Institute, Germany. Backed by a syndicate of leading European investors, in 2019 Draupnir Bio completed a Series A funding round, raising €30 million Euros with participation from Gilde Healthcare Partners, Inkef Capital, Novo Seeds and High-Tech Gründerfonds. The Company is headquartered in Copenhagen, with research operations centered in Aarhus, Denmark.
For more, visit our website at draupnir.bio and follow us on LinkedIn.