Our Leadership Team
Our founders are globally acknowledged scientists and drug development leaders whose vision is to make a difference in AML patient care.
Leadership Team
Florent Gros
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Stephan Oehen
Chief Operating Officer and Founder
Philippe Lievre
Chief Business Officer and Founder
Brice Suire
Chief Financial Officer and Founder
Elisabeth Kueenburg
Chief Medical Officer
Florent Gros
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND FOUNDER
Florent Gros is CEO and Co-Founder of Priothera. He has held various leadership positions in venture, intellectual property and transaction matters at Nestlé, Pasteur Merieux Connaught and Novartis in Switzerland, Europe and North America. Florent is a Kaufmann Fellow, a certified European Patent Attorney, and he holds two Master’s degrees, in Biotechnology Engineering and Private Law. At Novartis Venture Funds, Florent led investments and served in 17 start-up companies, of which 12 were exited. Since 2019, Florent is also Founder and CEO of Handl Therapeutics, a gene therapy company focusing on AAV-based neurodegenerative therapies.
Stephan Oehen
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND FOUNDER
Immunologist, PhD with 21 years’ experience in biotech and pharma, a strong science (University Basel, University Hospital Zürich, UC San Diego), and drug development background in Autoimmunity, Transplantation and Inflammation (ATI). Stephan has an expert track record in Program Management and held several leadership positions in biotech (Cytos Biotechnology) and big pharma (Novartis Pharma). In 2006 he joined Novartis Research (NIBR) holding positions as Project Management Director ATI and Therapeutic Area Head of the Project Management Office. In his roles he managed the KRP203 program from inception to today. In 2018, he moved to Novartis Global Drug Development (Global Health) as Global Program Director (GPD) for out-partnering and as GPD of the Transplant Global Program Team.
Philippe Lievre
CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER AND FOUNDER
A UK Pharmacist with an MBA from Temple University. Philippe started his career at Warner-Lambert and went on to Rhone-Poulenc as Director of Pharmaceutical Affairs of the Joint-Venture created with Tanabe Seiyaku. A few years later, Philippe created Tanabe Pharma in Paris and ultimately relocated to Osaka as Deputy General Manager in the Licensing and Business Department of Tanabe. Philippe joined Novartis in 2002, initially as a Marketing Manager (Transplantation Unit) in Tokyo, and later joined Novartis in Basel as an Alliance Manager for the Neuroscience Franchise. Philippe returned to Japan in 2014 to lead and reshape the Novartis Japanese BD&L organization. In 2017, Philippe joined the Basel BD&L group to head the Global Pharma Alliance Management Team. He has successfully managed many major in-licensing transactions.
Brice Suire
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND FOUNDER
Brice has over 25 years’ financial experience in the life science sector, having worked as CFO and Financial consultant for several biotech and medtech companies including Gensight, Vivet and Oculis. Before that he worked for over 15 years at Novartis in Finance positions of increasing responsibility, including as Global Head of Finance Supply Chain Pharma. Prior to that, Brice played a significant role in establishing the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA, where he worked as Head of Finance for Research Collaborations and Global Head of Financial Reporting and Accounting for Research (at 6 different Novartis sites). Brice started his career with Audit Consultancy firms Mazars in Paris and London and Price Waterhouse Coopers in Madrid. He has a Master’s in Finance from Paris Dauphine, CPA, an IEP from INSEAD, and completed the Novartis Harvard Finance Leadership Program at Harvard Business School.
Elisabeth Kueenburg
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER
Elisabeth Kueenburg received her Medical Degree from the University of Vienna, Austria and afterwards completed her fellowship and specialization in Internal Medicine and Hematology/Oncology. She joined industry in 2006, supporting the newly created Austrian affiliate of Celgene and became Austrian Medical Director during the period when the company was building up in Europe. She continued her career by moving across to working with the European headquarter in Switzerland in medical disease lead functions as well as co-chairing cross functional disease teams. For more than ten years, she served within Clinical Development as well as Medical Affairs. Before joining Priothera she held the position of a Clinical Development Lead. During her time at Celgene, then a BMS company, she was involved in all aspects of drug development as well as regulatory submissions in hematology.
Department Heads
Malika Souquières
Head Clinical Sciences & Operations
Karen Von Graevenitz
Head Regulatory Affairs
Frédéric David
Head Technical Development
Dymphy Huntjens
Head Clinical Pharmacology
Velina Georgieva
Head Quality Assurance
Malika Souquières
HEAD CLINICAL SCIENCES & OPERATIONS
Malika has over 20 years’ clinical research experience, having worked as Clinical Research Associate, Project Manager and Clinical Scientist for Pharma Companies (LFB, Novartis), Clinical Research Organization (PPD) and Patient Association specialized in Gene Therapy (Genethon).
In 2016 she joined Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research (NIBR) as Senior Clinical Scientist in Autoimmunity, Transplantation and Inflammation (ATI) where she worked on the KRP203 program as the Lead Clinical Scientist. After, she moved to a Clinical Sciences and Operations Head role in Clinical Sciences and Innovation, managing a large and diverse team of Clinical Scientists and Study Operations Managers. Malika has a MSc in Biochemistry from the University Claude Bernard in Lyon and studied Biology in University Rene Descartes in Paris and University of Montreal.
Karen Von Graevenitz
HEAD REGULATORY AFFAIRS
A Pharmacist from University of Basel with over 30 years’ of experience in Pharma. Karen started her career at Roche in Basel (Switzerland) in Medical Marketing and seven years later, she moved into Global Drug Development Regulatory Affairs. During this period, she was involved and leading many meetings with all major Health Authorities, mainly in the cardiovascular & metabolic, CNS and breast cancer space. In 2014, Karen joined Novartis Oncology as a Sub-Region Head Oncology for AsiaPacific in Regulatory Affairs and in 2017, she became Head of New Product Planning Oncology for Asia, Middle East and Africa region. She has successfully managed major filings and approvals for NDAs and new indications. Karen joined Priothera on 1st April 2021.
Frédéric David
HEAD TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT
French Chemical engineer with 24 years’ experience of the Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls of pharmaceutical products. After 12 years working for Pfizer then Allergan in Scientific and Regulatory roles, Frédéric advised numerous small biotech to large corporations as a member of Fred-CMC a small consultancy he co-founded in 2009. In this role he insured design and manufacturing of innovative products for clinical use (Bepo® / MedinCell, Servier, Oculis, …) and life cycle changes to marketed products (Galderma, Bayer, Stallergenes, …) are approved by health authorities around the world.
Dymphy Huntjens
Head Clinical Pharmacology
Dymphy brings over 20 years of international experience in the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in pre-clinical and clinical quantitative drug development. She holds a PhD in Pharmacometrics from Leiden University in the Netherlands, where she also studied Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dymphy began her career as a clinical pharmacometrician at Grünenthal in Aachen, Germany. Before joining Priothera, she served as Scientific Director at Johnson & Johnson. As a global clinical pharmacology and pharmacometrics lead, Dymphy has overseen projects spanning both early and late stages of development. She has designed, executed, and analyzed innovative clinical development plans and studies. Her expertise spans a range of therapeutic areas, including infectious diseases, neurosciences, and oncology. Throughout her career, Dymphy has played a pivotal role in advancing drugs from the pre-clinical stage to first-in-human trials, through proof of concept, and ultimately to successful regulatory filings.
Velina Georgieva
Head Quality Assurance
Velina brings over a decade of clinical research experience from her roles in Contract Research Organizations (CROs) such as Comac Medical and IQVIA, as well as in pharmaceutical companies like Octapharma. Her work is characterized by a strategic and forward-thinking approach, firmly grounded in Quality by Design (QbD), risk-based methodologies, and principles of continuous improvement. Velina holds a master’s degree in pharmacy in addition to an MBA, positioning her uniquely at the intersection of science, business, and quality leadership. Her solid academic foundation and certifications—such as her ISO 9001:2015 internal auditor credential—enhance her ability to navigate complex regulatory landscapes within a GxP environment while advancing strategic initiatives that promote the development of robust Quality Management Systems. With hands-on experience in implementing electronic systems, managing cross-functional partnerships, and ensuring comprehensive vendor oversight, Velina brings a holistic industry perspective and a results-oriented mindset. Additionally, she is a passionate advocate for ESG integration and inclusive leadership, ensuring that quality is not only a function but a shared value throughout the organization.
Board of Directors
Our supervisory board is composed of venture capital leaders from leading international venture funds, also joined by Dr. Dhaval Patel, leader in S1P receptor drug developments (Gilenya®).
Manus Rogan
Chair
Dhaval Patel
Director
Marten Steen
Director
Henry Skinner
Director
Lionel Carnot
Director
Manus Rogan
CHAIR
Dr Manus Rogan is a Managing Partner and co-founder of Fountain Healthcare Partners. He has over 27 years of investment and operating experience in the life science sector in both the US and Europe. Manus earned a PhD in Chemistry from the University of York (sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline) and an MBA from Trinity College Dublin.
Manus began his career in product development at GlaxoSmithkline in the UK and in 1996 joined Elan Corporation’s business development group. For four years he was responsible for licensing products and drug delivery technologies in Europe and Japan. In 2001, Manus joined Elan’s Corporate Venture Capital group in New York where he invested in private and public biotechnology companies. Investments included Sirna (acquired by Merck, 2006) and Beyond Genomics (IPO, 2011). In his seven years at Elan, Manus concluded over twenty-five investment and technology licensing transactions involving companies in the US, Europe and Japan.
Manus led Fountain’s investment in Innocoll Inc. and currently serves on the board of Neuromod Devices and Priothera Ltd. He previously represented Fountain on the boards of Inflazome (acquired by Roche), Amarin Corporation, Opsona Therapeutics and Mainstay Medical (IPO, 2014). He was formerly Chairman of the Irish Venture Capital Association (‘IVCA’).
Dhaval Patel
DIRECTOR
Dhaval is an EVP and CSO of Sana Biotechnology. He received an MD and PhD (Microbiology and Immunology) from and further clinical training in Internal Medicine, Rheumatology, Allergy, and Clinical Immunology at Duke University. Prior to joining the industry in 2006, he was an Eminent Professor of Medicine, Chief of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and Director of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. During a 10 year career at Novartis, he led Research in Europe and Autoimmunity, Transplantation and Inflammation Disease Area which developed the S1PR modulators fingolimid and siponimod as well as several other medicines. He was also an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Novartis Venture Fund, and serves on several biotechnology boards. Prior to joining Sana in 2024, Dhaval served as EVP and CSO of UCB.
Marten Steen
DIRECTOR
Dr. Mårten Steen. Partner of HealthCap. Previously, he has worked with business development at Merck Serono focusing on both product and technology licensing. Mårten is a Medical Doctor trained at Lund University. He has pursued research in the field of protein chemistry and coagulation at Lund University and Novo Nordisk, rendering him a PhD in Clinical Chemistry. He is the author of numerous scientific papers and published in peer-reviewed journals. He has also a B.Sc. degree in Business Administration from the Lund University School of Economics and Management.
Henry Skinner
DIRECTOR
Dr. Skinner is Senior Vice President, Venture at Tekla Capital Management. Prior to joining Tekla, Dr. Skinner served as Deputy Head and Managing Director of Novartis Venture Fund. In addition, Dr. Skinner has been CEO of SelectX Pharmaceuticals and NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals and has held positions in Business Development for Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Pfizer, Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn and Lexicon Genetics. Dr. Skinner was a postdoctoral fellow at Baylor College of Medicine in the department of Human and Molecular Genetics, earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology and M.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois and M.S. and B.S. in Biology/Biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Lionel Carnot
DIRECTOR
Lionel Carnot is a Partner at Earlybird. Before joining Earlybird in 2016, Lionel was a Managing Director at Bay City Capital after having been extensively involved in the firm’s activities as part of The Pritzker Organization. Prior to The Pritzker Organization, Lionel was a Principal at Oracle Partners, a healthcare hedge fund. He also held several positions in the pharmaceutical industry, including Product Manager for Prozac at Eli Lilly and several sales and marketing positions at Sanofi-Aventis. He was also a strategy and management consultant to the biopharmaceutical industry at Booz Allen & Hamilton, and Accenture Strategic Services. Lionel holds an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD and an M.Sc. in Molecular Biology from the University of Geneva.