About us

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Pioneering

Sprint Bioscience is a pharmaceutical company with a focus on developing anti-cancer drugs

The company was founded in 2009 by an entrepreneurial team of five people, four from the Swedish pharmaceutical industry, with the aim of building a pharmaceutical company with cutting-edge expertise in preclinical drug development. The common driving force for everyone in the company is the opportunity to make a difference and to develop drugs that reach the market, something that characterises all activities.

At Sprint Bioscience, we believe that the key to effectively running projects is close collaboration and interaction between the different scientific disciplines involved in the work. To enable this, we have chosen to invest in internal expertise. We have recruited the best in their fields and built up the key competences needed for preclinical drug development.

Sprint Bioscience currently has about 35 employees, the majority of whom work in the laboratory within the company's drug development projects.

By streamlining the process from idea to drug candidate, Sprint Bioscience can build value in drug development.
Management

Meet the management behind our research

Johan Emilsson

Johan Emilsson

Chief Executive Officer
Martin Andersson

Martin Andersson

Chief Scientific Officer

Anne-Marie Wenthzel

Chief Business Officer
Mathias Skalmstad

Mathias Skalmstad

Chief Financial Officer
Board of Directors

Meet the Board of Directors behind the company

Mr Björn Sjöstrand

Björn Sjöstrand

Chairman of the Board of Directors
Svein Mathisen

Svein Mathisen

Member of the Board of Directors
Rune Nordlander

Rune Nordlander

Member of the Board of Directors
Fredrik Lehmann

Fredrik Lehmann

Member of the Board of Directors
Karen From

Karen From

Member of the Board of Directors
Scientific Advisory Board

Read more about the members of the SAB

Sprint Bioscience is strengthening its expertise in oncology and preclinical research through a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to support the development of innovative new cancer programmes. The Board consists of three leading cancer experts, Professor Gunilla Enblad, Professor Robert J DeVita and Professor Lewis C Cantley.

  • Gunilla Enblad

    Read more about Gunilla

    Gunilla is Professor of Oncology at Uppsala University since 2013 and Senior Consultant at Uppsala University Hospital. Her research areas include clinical and tumour biology studies of malignant lymphomas, as well as immunotherapy including clinical studies of CAR T cells.

    Since 2019, she is the chair of the Swedish CAR T-cell group and is also a scientific advisor to XNK-therapeutics and Elicera Therapeutics.

    She is a board member of the Swedish Cancer Society and the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University. Since 2017, she is also a member of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala.

  • Robert J Devita

    Read more about Robert J Devita

    Gunilla is Professor of Oncology at Uppsala University since 2013 and Senior Consultant at Uppsala University Hospital. Her research areas include clinical and tumour biology studies of malignant lymphomas, as well as immunotherapy including clinical studies of CAR T cells.

    Since 2019, she is the chair of the Swedish CAR T-cell group and is also a scientific advisor to XNK-therapeutics and Elicera Therapeutics.

    She is a board member of the Swedish Cancer Society and the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University. Since 2017, she is also a member of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala.

  • Lewis C. Cantley

    Read more about Lewis C. Cantley

    Gunilla is Professor of Oncology at Uppsala University since 2013 and Senior Consultant at Uppsala University Hospital. Her research areas include clinical and tumour biology studies of malignant lymphomas, as well as immunotherapy including clinical studies of CAR T cells.

    Since 2019, she is the chair of the Swedish CAR T-cell group and is also a scientific advisor to XNK-therapeutics and Elicera Therapeutics.

    She is a board member of the Swedish Cancer Society and the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University. Since 2017, she is also a member of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala.

Johan Emilsson

Johan Emilsson

Born in 1984. CEO since 2023.

Education and training

Johan holds a Master's degree in Medical Biology from Linköping University and an Executive MBA from Stockholm School of Economics.

Main experience

Johan has extensive experience from business development in the pharmaceutical industry and joins us from Ferring Pharmaceutials.

Other assignments

No other assignments.

Holdings

20,000 shares and 500,000 warrants of series 2024/2027.

Martin Andersson

Martin Andersson

Born in 1971. Employed since 2009, current position since 2017.

Education and training

PhD in biochemistry, Stockholm University.

Main experience

Martin is a co-founder of the Company. He has previous experience as a researcher at Stockholm University from 2001-2003 and AstraZeneca in Södertälje from 2003-2008.

Other assignments

No other assignments.

Holdings

273,742 shares and 125,000 warrants of series 2024/2027.

Anne-Marie Wenthzel

Born in 1964. Employed since 2011.

Education and training

Licentiate degree in microbiology, Stockholm University.

Main experience

Anne-Marie has previous experience as a researcher in internal medicine at Sahlgrenska University Hospital from 1999-2003. She has also held the position of Product Specialist at AH Diagnostics and Stratagene from 2003-2005, been Key Account Manager at PerkinElmer from 2005-2009 and CEO of Miterovia AB from 2009-2011.

Other assignments

No other assignments.

Holdings

178 049 shares.

Mathias Skalmstad

Mathias Skalmstad

Born in 1973. Chief Financial Officer since 2021.

Education and training

Mathias has a Master of Science in Business Administration from Mälardalen University, specialising in finance, controlling and accounting.

Main experience

Mathias has previous experience from assignments as CFO, controller and business area manager in the education, automotive and telecom industries, including Ericsson, Haldex, AcadeMedia and Hermods, part of the AcadeMedia Group.

Other assignments

No other assignments.

Holdings

72,000 shares and 125,000 warrants of series 2024/2027.

Mr Björn Sjöstrand

Björn Sjöstrand

Born in 1968.

Chairman of the Board since 2021.

Education and training

Master of Science in Economics, Örebro University

Main experience

Björn is CEO and co-founder of Scandinavian Biopharma and has a long experience from the life science industry from leading positions in both Swedish and international companies. He has been CEO of UniTech Pharma AB, CEO of Swiss Berna biotech AG, a Swiss company specialising in the development and distribution of viral and bacterial vaccines, CEO of SBLvaccin in Sweden (a Swedish vaccine company that successfully developed and launched Dukoral®, a travel vaccine) and CBO and Global Head of Vaccine Division at Crucell, a Dutch formerly listed company with facilities in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the US specialising in vaccines and biologics. Mr Sjöstrand has also been an advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has also been chairman and board member of a number of Swedish listed and unlisted life science companies.

Other assignments

Chairman and board member of companies within the Scandinavian Biopharma Holding AB group and board member of B&M Sjöstrand AB.

Holdings

882 354 shares.

Independent in relation to the Company, its senior management and major shareholders.

Svein Mathisen

Svein Mathisen

Born in 1956.

Member of the Board since 2020.

Education and training

MSc. in Engineering Physics from the Technical University of Trondheim, Norway and education in business administration and financial analysis.

Main experience

Svein Mathisen has more than 30 years of experience in management, business development and financing from the life science industry. He has worked with new product development in all types of organisations: startups, medium and large organisations. He has extensive experience in building teams and organisations, creating and building strategic alliances, raising capital, private and public, as well as most aspects of product development in the life science field. In addition, as CEO of a publicly listed company (Bioinvent) for twelve years, he has gained insight into all aspects of what is required to manage such an organisation.

Other assignments

Chairman of the Board of iCell Science AB. Board member of Arild Capital AB.

45 000 shares.

Independent in relation to the Company, its senior management and major shareholders

Rune Nordlander

Rune Nordlander

Born in 1956.

Member of the Board since 2010.

Education and training

Master of Science in Engineering from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Executive MBA from Uppsala University.

Main experience

Rune Nordlander is a partner and founder of First Venture (formerly Första Entreprenörsfonden), where he has been investing in growth companies with strong entrepreneurial teams since 2006. Previously, as founder and CEO, he has, among other things, founded the IT company Endevo AB (which today is part of Symbio) and had the role of CEO and partner in the IT consulting company Frontec AB (which today is part of Acando/CGI). He has also worked with research and development at ABB.

Other assignments

Chairman of the Board of Speedment AB, Zigrid AB, Virtual eTraining Software Stockholm AB and Tribonex AB. Board member of Alelion Energy Systems AB (publ), HumanCap Nordic AB, Första Entreprenörsfonden i Norden AB, CombiQ AB, and Bönhamns fiskehamnsförening, ekonomisk förening. Partner and co-founder of First Venture Sweden AB (publ).

Holdings

10 541 082 shares (private and through companies).

Independent in relation to the Company and its senior executives but independent in relation to major shareholders

Fredrik Lehmann

Fredrik Lehmann

Born in 1976.

Board member since 2019.

Education and training

MSc in Chemistry Uppsala University, PhD Medicinal Chemistry Gothenburg University and Executive MBA from Stockholm School of Economics.

Main experience

Fredrik holds a PhD in medicinal chemistry and has over 15 years of experience in drug development. Previously, he has worked at Pharmacia, Biovitrum, OT Chemistry, Recipharm and Oncopeptides, as well as starting and running a handful of life science companies.

Other assignments

Venture Partner at Industrifonden, CEO and Chairman of the Board OT Pharmaceuticals. Chairman of the Board Synartro AB, Board member AnaCardio AB and Guard Therapeutics. Entrepreneur in residence, Sound Bioventures.

Holdings

50 000 shares.

Independent in relation to the Company, its senior management and major shareholders.

Karen From

Karen From

Born in 1970

Board member since 2023

Education and training

MSc in Microbiology University of Gothenburg, Executive Faculty, Gothenburg School of Economics 2018Ruter Dam 2022

Main experience

Karen From has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. She has been with AstraZeneca since 1997 and has experience in both early and late stage development projects, in-licensing, regulatory interactions and launch of major products. Since 2019, she is Global Franchise Head for Forxiga, AstraZeneca's second largest product with indications in diabetes, heart failure and renal failure. In this role, she is globally responsible for the strategic leadership of development, commercialisation and production.

Other assignments

Board member Bergsbo PF

Holdings

No shares

Independent in relation to the Company, its senior management and major shareholders

About us