Board

Mikael Ørum - Chairman

Mikael Oerum is co-founder and Partner of Ventac Partners since 2002. He holds more than 30 years of executive experience in the biotechnology and finance sectors. He has a proven track record in identifying business opportunities, developing and executing strategic business plans, fund raising, and international deal making. Since 2005, Mikael Oerum serves as CEO and Chairman (and co-founder) of Avexxin.

Mr Oerum is serving as Board Member and Chairman of several biotech companies. These include Neuroscience Technologies S.L.P. (Spain), and Neuroscience Technologies Limited (UK), and HUNT Biosciences AS (Norway) and Idogen AB (Sweden). Furthermore, he serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Virginia Tech Bioinformatics Institute (USA) and as Vice Chairman of Medicon Valley Alliance (Denmark/Sweden), and Nansen Neuroscience Network (Norway). In 1995, he co-founded Exiqon A/S (Denmark), and served as CEO of the company until 2002. The company is listed on the Nasdaq OMX Stock Exchange. He is also co-founder of Cureon A/S, now Santaris Pharma A/S (Denmark).

Within the life science sector Mikael Oerum has over time served on several government committees, and has participated in international projects focusing on healthcare, industrial growth and biotech initiatives. Among these he has headed two major projects in 2003-04 and 2008-09 covering Hong Kong and mainland China for HKSAR/HKSTP.Mikael Oerum has an education in banking, finance and law from Copenhagen Business School, Danish Bankers Academy, Copenhagen Business College and Copenhagen University.

Bård Helge Hofstad - member

Bård Helge Hofstad serves as Director of Staff and Projects at the Central Norway Health Authority. He has more than ten years of experience in the Health Industry, previous positions in the Health Authority have been Director of Projects and Technology, and Director for Hemit (Helse Midt-Norge IT, the ICT Service for hospitals in Central Norway).
 
Mr. Hofstad serves at Board Member in NTNU Technology Transfer AS, the commercialization arm of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
 
Mr Hofstad has worked as a Business Consultant, with managerial positions at Arthur Andersen Business Consulting and Capgemini. He has extensive experience with Oil Industry ICT solutions, from around ten years with managerial positions in the international energy company Statoil.
 
Bård Helge Hofstad has a Civil Engineer degree in Computer Science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Hilde Grimstad - member

Pål Hofstad - member

Pål Hofstad serves as Business Developer at NTE Holding as, a major energy utility company in Norway.

Mr Hofstad has previously held positions as Senior Project Manager at SIVA - The Industrial Development Corporation of Norway, as CFO at Aker Verdal, an major offshore construction yard at Verdal - Norway and CEO at IndPro, within the area of business incubator/ project development.

Unni Storstad- member

Ole Jørgen Marvik - member

Ole Jørgen Marvik, Sector Head, health and life sciences, Innovation Norway.

Marvik is the founder and former CEO of the antibody therapeutics company Affitech and has also been co-founder of several other biotech start-ups.

He has been active in industry policy through many board and advisory positions. Recent projects focus on industry cluster development and national initiatives in areas such as medical biobanks, neuroscience, marine bioprospecting and industrial biotechnology.

Marvik holds a PhD in molecular and structural biology and a master's degree in business management.

Astrid Lægreid - member

Astrid Lægreis holds a professorship of Functional Genomics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, in Trondheim.

Dr Lægreid has initiated and led several large, multidisciplinary projects that use a systems biology approach to cancer research.

She gained managerial experience as Pro-Rector of Research and Innovation at NTNU 2005-2009 and has served on university and governmental committees addressing medical technology, functional genomics, research ethics, equal gender opportunities, academic leadership training and young researcher recruitment.