Management & Board
Mats Lidgard, Chairman
Mats is a founder of and Senior Partner at Lavindia AB, a company engaged in legal, business, information and management consulting, primarily focused on smaller biotech and pharmaceutical/vaccine enterprises, including investment activities. Mats is also a member of several boards within the Life Science sector
In 2004 Mats engaged himself in the buyout of SBL Vaccin AB and the management of the company. After a successful turnaround, SBL Vaccin was sold to Crucell N.V. in 2006.
Starting 1984 as a company lawyer for KabiVitrum, Mats spent some 13 years with the Group and, as the General Counsel, Mats actively took part in the formation of the new Pharmacia Group through several major mergers and acquisitions.
Mats earned his LLM, at the University of Lund, Sweden in 1980.
Fredrik Henell, CEO
Fredrik spent close to 20 years with Pharmacia and predecessor companies, primarily in Business Development roles in Europe (Sweden, Italy and France) and the US. He held similar roles in the US biotech industry (ZymoGenetics) as well as the generic industry (Hospira, Europe).
Fredrik received an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics and an MD and a PhD from the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Johan Stjernschantz, CSO
Johan was as mentioned under “Company history” a driving force behind the development of Xalatan® during his tenure with Pharmacia. Before joining the company he worked as Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at Yale University from 1981 to 1982. He has also served as Adjunct Professor of Experimental Ophthalmology from 1996 to 1999 and a Professor of Pharmacology and Drug development from 1999, both at Uppsala University, Sweden.
Johan has received numerous awards for his achievements in drug research and development; Pharmacia & Upjohn: ”Achievements in Science & Medicine” Award 1997, Swedish Project Academy: “Swedish Project Leader of 1997”, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology: “Proctor Award 2000”, International Congress of Eye Research Geneva: “Ernst H. Bárány Prize 2002”, Swedish Pharmaceutical Society: “Prize in Medicinal Chemistry, 2004”.
Johan earned an MD (1974) and a PhD degree (1976) from the University of Helsinki, Finland.
Toni Weitzberg
Toni is a Partner at Nordic Capital, a leading European private equity firm. Before joining Nordic Capital in 2000, Toni had held several senior management positions at the Pharmacia Group and predecessor companies. Just before joining Nordic Capital Toni was the Senior Vice President of Pharmacia & Upjohn, Europe with the overall responsibility for the Company’s operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Toni also served as the President of Pharmacia & Upjohn S.p.A,, Italy and on the Pharmacia AB Corporate Management Group.
It was during his tenure as the President of Pharmacia Ophthalmics that Xalatan® was developed. The drug was soon after launch established as the world leading treatment for glaucoma.
Toni was also a Director of Karolinska Institutet and the Chairman of Nycomed Pharma AS prior to the Company being sold to Takeda. Currently Toni is a member of several boards, including the Board of ConvaTec where he serves as Chairman.
He earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, USA and a B.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Uppsala, Sweden.
William Gunnarsson
William started his pharmaceutical career with Bristol-Myers where he held positions of increasing responsibility. In 1983 he was appointed he General Manager of the Scandinavian Pharmaceutical Division of the Company. In 1988 he became the President of Nobel Pharma, Ltd., Japan. In 1990 he moved to France where he founded Orphan Europe, a pharmaceutical company specializing in rare diseases. He served as the Company’s CEO until 2008 when it was successfully sold to Recordati S.p.A., Italy and on whose Board he served until Orphan Europe was fully integrated into Recordati’s operations.
William currently serves on the Boards of several biotech companies where he holds important equity positions, including Axentua Pharmaceuticals AB , Premacure AB, Laccure AB, and Prostalund AB all in Sweden.
William graduated as an officer from the Royal Swedish Naval Academy in 1967 and earned a degree in economics from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden in 1973.
Jan Lombach
Jan is a partner at the law firm Törngren Magnell since 2012. Previously he was a partner at Vinge (1993 – 2008) and White & Case (2008 – 2012), both at their Stockholm offices.
Jan focuses on general corporate and commercial law, Capital Markets and M&A. He represents Nordic and international corporate clients, private equity funds, investment banks, fund managers and financial institutions on a wide range of matters, including IPOs, other securities offerings, tender offers, privatizations, corporate restructurings and regulatory matters. Jan also regularly serves as lecturer or guest speaker and has authored and edited numerous publications on securities regulation and corporate governance, including Karnov’s Swedish Law Commentary.
Jan earned his LLM at the University of Uppsala, Sweden in 1982 and was admitted to the Swedish Bar in 1989.