Board of Directors

Martin Nicklasson Ph.D. (1955) has served as Chair of the Board of Directors since December 2021. From 2007 to end 2010, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Biovitrum AB and Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi). From 1999 to 2007, he held various Executive Vice President positions at AstraZeneca PLC and was a member of the Senior Executive Committee. Martin has held and holds various chair and board member positions in biotech and biopharma companies. Currently, he serves as chair of Zealand Pharma A/S and on the board of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. Martin is a certified pharmacist and holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Technology from Uppsala University, Sweden. He is a Swedish citizen.

Harald Arnet (1961) has served on the Board of Directors since May 2023. He serves as Chief Executive Officer, president and partner of the Datum Group, an investment company based in Oslo, Norway, a position he has held for over 25 years. Datum Group is the largest shareholder of Nykode. Prior to joining the Datum Group, he held management positions at former Samuel Montague & Co., HSBC and Handelsbanken, where he served as General Manager, Banking and led the Corporate Finance department in Norway. He holds several board positions in both listed and non-listed companies. Harald holds a BSBA from the University of Denver, USA, and has completed executive management courses at the London Business School. He is a Norwegian citizen.

Bernd R. Seizinger, M.D., Ph.D. (1956) has served on the Board of Directors since 2014. His previous roles include CEO and Senior Executive positions at GPC Biotech, Genome Therapeutics Corporation and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Before entering the biotech and pharma industries, he was a Senior Faculty Member of Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital and Princeton University. Bernd serves as chair or board member of several public and private biotech companies in the U.S. and Europe, including Aprea, Aptose, BioInvent, CryptoMedix, Oncolytics and Oxford BioTherapeutics. In addition, he serves on the advisory board of Pureos BioVentures (Zurich) and is senior advisor to Hadean Ventures (Stockholm and Oslo). Bernd is a medical doctor and holds a Ph.D. in neurobiology. He is a German citizen.

Elaine Sullivan, Ph.D. (1961) has served on the Board of Directors since May 2022. She is a Senior pharmaceutical and biotech industry executive with over 25 years of international experience with a successful track record in science, investment, business development, and start-ups. She has extensive global leadership experience including membership of the top senior global R&D management teams at Eli Lilly (US) and AstraZeneca (UK). She was a Member of the corporate steering and investment committees. She has developed new molecules in therapy areas including virology, cancer, ophthalmology, respiratory and inflammation. Other former positions include co-founder and CEO of Carrick Therapeutics, which developed a novel oncology pipeline rapidly transitioning from a preclinical start-up to a clinical stage oncology company. She sits on several international boards for companies in the biotech, services and adjacent areas. Elaine holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Virology from the University of Edinburgh and she was Named Ernst Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year (Ireland). She is a British and Irish citizen.

Birgitte Volck, M.D., Ph.D. (1962) has served on the Board of Directors sin May 2021. She most recently served as Executive Vice President, Interim Chief Medical Officer and Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs of Ascendis Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ASND). Previous senior positions in big pharma and biotech also include: President, Head of R&D, Avrobio Inc; Head of R&D in Rare Diseases for GlaxoSmithKline; and Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Development at Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi). Birgitte serves as a non-executive director of Soleno Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: SLNO). Her career also includes previous non-executive director positions at Ascendis Pharma, Wilson Therapeutics, TFS International as well as various positions at Amgen Inc., including Executive Development Director of Bone, Neuroscience & Inflammation. Birgitte received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She is a Danish citizen.

Anne Whitaker (1967) has served on the Board of Directors since May 2022. She is an experienced executive with more than 30 years of experience in the life sciences industry, spanning large pharmaceutical, biotech, and specialty pharmaceutical companies. Her extensive leadership background includes CEO roles at three clinical-stage biotech businesses: Aerami Therapeutics, Synta Pharmaceuticals and Novoclem Therapeutics. This is complemented by significant experience in larger pharma, notably at Bausch Health, Sanofi and GSK. At GSK, she held senior commercial roles at both local U.S. and global levels and was responsible for running Sanofi’s North American commercial and medical operations. She also serves as a non-executive director of several international companies. Anne holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of North Alabama, USA. She is a U.S. citizen.

Christian Åbyholm (1972) has served on the Board of Directors since January 2020. He is a partner at Andenæsgruppen, a shareholder of Nykode. His prior professional experience and past roles include M&A, business development and equity research with Norsk Hydro, Aker RGI, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Christian is a CFA Charter holder, has an MBA from IMD, and holds a business degree (siviløkonom) from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. In addition, he completed the first two years of law school at the University of Oslo. He is a Norwegian citizen.

Einar Greve (1960) has served as Board Member since May 2024, prior to which he served as a Deputy Board Member since May 2022 and as a Board Member as from January 2020. He works as a strategic advisor with Cipriano AS. He was previously a partner at the law firm Wikborg Rein & Co and a partner of Arctic Securities ASA. He has held and holds various positions as chair and board member of both Norwegian and international listed and unlisted companies. Einar holds a Master of Law degree (cand.jur.) from the University of Oslo. He is a Norwegian citizen.

Trygve Lauvdal, Ph.D. (1969) has served as Observer to the Board since December 2021, prior to which he served as a Board Member from April 2020. He is an Investment Director with RASMUSSENGRUPPEN AS, a shareholder of the Nykode. Prior to joining RASMUSSENGRUPPEN AS, he worked as an equity analyst with DNB Markets and as product manager with ABB. He has held several board positions with Norwegian companies. Trygve holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Cybernetics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He is a Norwegian citizen.