Our management team is comprised of world-class leaders with a vocation for innovation, efficacy and people. They are bound to the highest ethical standards, which are in turn the motor of our organization’s transparent, equitable and excellence-driven approach.
This team is the reason you can trust Viralgen as your partner.
Jimmy Vanhove
Chief Executive Officer
Jimmy Vanhove brings extensive experience in strategy, operational management, and digital transformation in the biotech/pharma industry. He has held various leadership positions with increased responsibility in manufacturing and strategy consulting at multinational companies like GSK Vaccines, Bayer, and Roland Berger. Before j...
Jimmy Vanhove brings extensive experience in strategy, operational management, and digital transformation in the biotech/pharma industry. He has held various leadership positions with increased responsibility in manufacturing and strategy consulting at multinational companies like GSK Vaccines, Bayer, and Roland Berger. Before joining Viralgen in 2021, he worked as the chief of staff for Bayer Pharma Product Supply. Jimmy holds a master’s degree in Bioscience Engineering from KU Leuven, and in General Management from Vlerick Business School. He has also received executive training in Digital Transformation at IMD, Lausanne, and Executive Management Development at IESE business school, Barcelona.
Javier García Cogorro
Chairman of the Board
Almost 30 years of experience working in healthcare and the biopharmaceutical industry. Since 2009, Mr. García has focused on life science venture capital investing, where he focuses on private company investments in the biopharmaceutical, life science and medical technology sectors. Mr. García received a bachelor's in mathemati...
Almost 30 years of experience working in healthcare and the biopharmaceutical industry. Since 2009, Mr. García has focused on life science venture capital investing, where he focuses on private company investments in the biopharmaceutical, life science and medical technology sectors. Mr. García received a bachelor's in mathematics (Statistics and Operations Research) from Universidad Complutense of Madrid and an MBA from ICADE (Spain). He's also president and founder of Columbus Venture Partner, and co-founder of Columbus Children's Foundation.
César Trigueros, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Doctor in Molecular Biology. Over 20 years of leadership experience in the biotechnology field with special interest in gene therapy and immunology in both industry and academic settings.
Doctor in Molecular Biology. Over 20 years of leadership experience in the biotechnology field with special interest in gene therapy and immunology in both industry and academic settings.
Andy Holt
Executive Vice President, Commercial Development
Comes to Viralgen with more than a decade’s experience in biotech business development across the contract testing and manufacturing industries. He has worked with AAV companies bringing therapies to the clinic and market since 2008 and remains as passionate and awestruck about the power of this technology as he was when he firs...
Comes to Viralgen with more than a decade’s experience in biotech business development across the contract testing and manufacturing industries. He has worked with AAV companies bringing therapies to the clinic and market since 2008 and remains as passionate and awestruck about the power of this technology as he was when he first had a chance to be a part of it. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he holds a BSc in Applied Biology from Georgia Tech and calls Raleigh, North Carolina home.
Kontxi San Juan
Chief Human Resources
Highly experienced lawyer specialized in People Management. Over the past 25 years, she has worked on Team and Management Development, gaining expertise in a variety of international companies dedicated to various fields including the financial, industrial, health, distribution and aeronautics industries. She also has a strong a...
Highly experienced lawyer specialized in People Management. Over the past 25 years, she has worked on Team and Management Development, gaining expertise in a variety of international companies dedicated to various fields including the financial, industrial, health, distribution and aeronautics industries. She also has a strong academic foundation: a degree in law and a master’s degree in human resources. After searching for a company committed to human development where challenges are available, Kontxi comes to Viralgen as Chief Human Resources to contribute to the business growth.
Marta Labayen
Chief Financial Officer
With a degree in Business Administration and Management from the Public University of Navarra, over 15 years Marta has worked and gained expertise in the field of financial auditing, strategic consulting and financial control. She comes to Viralgen with the aim of ensuring the correct use of the company's financial resources and...
With a degree in Business Administration and Management from the Public University of Navarra, over 15 years Marta has worked and gained expertise in the field of financial auditing, strategic consulting and financial control. She comes to Viralgen with the aim of ensuring the correct use of the company's financial resources and for its well-being and economic stability.
Philippe Moullier, MD, PhD
Senior advisor
Joined Viralgen in May 2017 after working as collaborator of Bamboo Therapeutics from March 2015 through July 2016. Philippe Moullier was the founder and, until Dec 2016, the Director of the research INSERM Unit UMR 1089 entitled « Translational Gene Therapy for Retinal and Neuromuscular Diseases » at the University of Nantes, F...
Joined Viralgen in May 2017 after working as collaborator of Bamboo Therapeutics from March 2015 through July 2016. Philippe Moullier was the founder and, until Dec 2016, the Director of the research INSERM Unit UMR 1089 entitled « Translational Gene Therapy for Retinal and Neuromuscular Diseases » at the University of Nantes, France. In January 2018, Philippe Moullier was appointed as Chief Development Officer at Viralgen VC in San Sebastian, Spain. Philippe also serves as the Chief Scientific Officer for AskBio Europe. His dual appointments allow the reinforcement of the US-Spanish strategic partnership.
Ana Barbas
Head of Strategy and Business Excellence
Ana Barbas is the Head of Strategy and Business Excellence at Viralgen: she is a leader with more than 15 years of experience in Biologics R&D in antibody lead discovery and production of recombinant proteins and antibodies. She has been working in the Cell & Gene Therapy field since 2019— Prior to joining Viralgen in January 20...
Ana Barbas is the Head of Strategy and Business Excellence at Viralgen: she is a leader with more than 15 years of experience in Biologics R&D in antibody lead discovery and production of recombinant proteins and antibodies. She has been working in the Cell & Gene Therapy field since 2019— Prior to joining Viralgen in January 2023, Ana was the Director of Oncology Cell Therapy Platform Strategy for Bayer Pharma Cell and Gene Therapy Unit, and before this, she was Group Leader and Coordinator of the Bayer Satellite Laboratory @ iBET for Bayer Pharma Biologics Research. Ana is a Chemist by training and holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from ITQB in Lisbon, where she also completed her Post-Doc, both in the field of RNA biology.
María Iglesias
Head of Digital and IT
María Iglesias is the current Head of Digital and IT at Viralgen. She is a seasoned leader with over 12 years of experience in generating value through data in the process industry, with the last 7 years specializing in the field of bioprocesses. She joined Viralgen in 2020, having previously worked at Bayer's Engineering and Te...
María Iglesias is the current Head of Digital and IT at Viralgen. She is a seasoned leader with over 12 years of experience in generating value through data in the process industry, with the last 7 years specializing in the field of bioprocesses. She joined Viralgen in 2020, having previously worked at Bayer's Engineering and Technology division focused on process design and optimization. During her time at Viralgen, María was responsible for creating the Data Science department with the aim of leveraging the full potential of the Pro10™ Platform process and supporting data-driven decisions along the customer journey. Since January 2023, she has taken on a new role as Head of the Digital and IT unit, where she drives the digital strategy to support Viralgen's success in business and continuous scientific development. María is a Chemical Engineer by training and holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany.
Darío Sánchez
Head of Engineering
Darío Sánchez currently holds the position of Head of Engineering at Viralgen. He has been with Viralgen since early 2017, and within his first years in the company led the Engineering and Quality Assurance departments. Before joining Viralgen in 2017, Darío was the Head of QA and Engineering of Cell Therapy Facilities for the C...
Darío Sánchez currently holds the position of Head of Engineering at Viralgen. He has been with Viralgen since early 2017, and within his first years in the company led the Engineering and Quality Assurance departments. Before joining Viralgen in 2017, Darío was the Head of QA and Engineering of Cell Therapy Facilities for the Clinical Hospital of Murcia, from 2010 until 2017 in the Cell Therapy Unit of the University-Clinic Hospital in Murcia. A Chemical Engineer by profession, he has 3 Masters Degrees (Quality Systems, Advanced Therapies, and Clinical Trials) and 13 years of experience in the Biotech sector.
Christophe Darmon
Head of Program Management
Christophe Darmon is the head of Program Management at Viralgen, with 24 years of experience in viral vectors production and process development. Prior to Viralgen, from January 2015 to December 2018, he was a translational project manager at the INSERM Unit UMR1089 entitled 'Translational Gene Therapy for Genetic Diseases' at t...
Christophe Darmon is the head of Program Management at Viralgen, with 24 years of experience in viral vectors production and process development. Prior to Viralgen, from January 2015 to December 2018, he was a translational project manager at the INSERM Unit UMR1089 entitled 'Translational Gene Therapy for Genetic Diseases' at the University of Nantes, France; here he was responsible for the transfer of processes and products from the research laboratory bench to the GMP-compliant clinical scale. Between 2009 and 2014, he managed the production department at EFS-Atlantic Bio GMP, a GMP facility dedicated to ATMPs manufacturing, where he supervised the production of several GMP-grade AAV batches. Additionally, Christophe is familiar with the cGMP requirements and operations, as he served as a gene therapy external expert to the French Regulatory Agency ANSM in the CMC field from 2003 to 2015. From 1999 through 2009, Christophe headed the research-grade vector core at the INSERM Unit UMR1089 at the University Hospital of Nantes; in addition, from February 2005 to June 2011, he also served as QA Manager and supervised the ISO9001 standard approval for the research, development, and production activities of the laboratory. Christophe obtained his M.Sc. from the University of Nantes.
Francisco Diez
Director of Quality
Francisco joined Viralgen in 2021 and currently holds the position of Director of Quality. He brings over two decades of biotechnology industry experience to Viralgen, where he will set and oversee the Quality strategy. Francisco has held various leadership positions with increased responsibility at multinational companies, incl...
Francisco joined Viralgen in 2021 and currently holds the position of Director of Quality. He brings over two decades of biotechnology industry experience to Viralgen, where he will set and oversee the Quality strategy. Francisco has held various leadership positions with increased responsibility at multinational companies, including GSK, Genentech, Lonza, and mAbxience, where his achievements included obtaining numerous global regulatory approvals from the FDA and EMA. During this period, Francisco has held key positions mainly within Quality and Operations in addition to global roles where he played an important role in the transition of numerous biotechnology products from clinical to commercial. Francisco is a Chemist by training and holds a PhD in Analytical Chemistry.
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