Opterion Health strengthens its Management Team
Muttenz, Switzerland, 16 September 2021 – Opterion Health AG, a nephrology company focused on innovation in Peritoneal Dialysis (PD), today announced a significant strengthening of its management team, including the appointments of Daniel Lustenberger as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Peter Reinemer as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Mylène Fleurant has been appointed Head of Quality and Ulrike Grimm Head of Project Management. Andreas Schmidt, whom Daniel Lustenberger succeeds as CFO, will continue to support Opterion Health as a partner.
Opterion Health is developing the first significant innovation in PD in the last 20 years, aimed at improving patients’ quality of life and extending their independence. The innovation will retain the Peritoneum for a longer period of time, reducing the risk of hospitalizations and at the same time reducing dialysis-related healthcare costs substantially. The company successfully secured a bridge financing round earlier this year and opened new offices in Muttenz, Baselland. In March, Opterion Health announced the appointment of Björn Englund, a distinguished expert in dialysis, as CEO to help prepare for the initiation of clinical studies to be commenced in the next one to two years.
Björn Englund, CEO of Opterion Health, commented: “Opterion Health is at a critical phase in its growth strategy, and these key appointments will help us to accelerate the commercialization of our innovative PD solution, which is designed to decrease metabolic challenges, particularly for the estimated 45% of dialysis patients who also suffer from diabetes but also for the non-diabetic patients.” David Ebsworth, Chairman of Opterion Health, said: “I am grateful to Andreas Schmidt for his outstanding contribution to the success of Opterion Health, which is now well-financed and on track to establish a new standard in peritoneal dialysis. As we strive to complete preclinical work and to enter Phase 1 studies, it is essential to have the best possible team in place and I am delighted to welcome Daniel, Mylène, Peter and Ulrike. Their specialist experience and expertise will greatly assist Opterion Health in achieving its goal of bringing much-needed innovation to dialysis patients, improving their quality of life and enabling them to manage the treatment in their own home.”
Biographies
Mylène Fleurant, Head of Quality
Mylène Fleurant spent more than 20 years in leading quality (QA) functions in the life sciences industry. She worked for 10 years as Region Head Quality Europe at Novartis and implemented global quality systems at Merck Serono. Prior to founding her own consulting company in 2019, Mylène was Global Head of QA at Novimmune and VP Quality Affairs at Alvotech.
Daniel Lustenberger, CFO
Daniel Lustenberger is an experienced international finance, accounting and management consulting professional and joined Opterion Health in September 2021 as CFO. He is a Swiss Certified Public Accountant, holds an Executive MBA from IMD in Lausanne and has 20 years of life sciences and technology experience.
Prior to Opterion, he held senior finance positions with Vifor Pharma, Gategroup and DKSH. In his early career, he spent several years with PwC, providing advisory services in M&A, IPOs, process and system improvements, corporate governance and risk management.
Peter Reinemer, Chief Technology Officer
Peter Reinemer has 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He started his career at Bayer Pharma, where he worked for over 10 years in discovery research in Germany and Japan.
Peter subsequently served as Chief Scientific Officer, Head of Business Development, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, of Proteros, a discovery services company based in Munich and Boston. He is also a co-founder of IMD Natural Solutions, developer of the all-natural preservative agent Nagardo®, which was acquired by Lanxess AG in 2017.
Ulrike Grimm, Head of Project Management
Opterion Health engaged Ulrike Grimm in June 2020 to establish project excellence for its development program. Ulrike started her career as a sales representative for Sanol Pharma and joined Merck KGaA in 1997, where she held roles of increasing responsibility, starting as team leader for R&D projects and continuing as product leader for Merck’s second commercial oncology drug.
From 2007 to 2010 she was the Vice President of Project and Portfolio Management at Fresenius Biotech. Ulrike joined Vifor Pharma in 2010 and served as the Vice President for Project and Alliance Management as well as Clinical Operations.
For more information, please contact:
Beatrix Benz at media@opterion.com or +41 79 256 77 73
About Opterion Health
Opterion Health, a Swiss-based life sciences company in the preclinical phase, was founded in 2012 by scientist Guido Grentzmann. The Company has been backed by specialist life sciences investors since 2015. Opterion Health is led by a growing team of scientists and life sciences entrepreneurs and is supported by leading nephrologists in Switzerland and Europe.
The company is developing a novel peritoneal dialysis (PD) solution, aiming to revolutionize the dialysis market. Animal studies have shown the superiority of the Opterion PD solution over the “gold standard” of the current market leader. Website: Opterion Health AG
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