Management

Axcentua was founded in September 2007 by Anders Berkenstam (CEO), Stefan Rehnmark (CSO) and Michael-Robin Witt (CTO). The team has more than 30 years of experience from leading positions in the pharmaceautical and biotech industry together with a proven track-record of bringing compounds from discovery to early clinical proof-of-concept studies. The strong management skills, documented scientific knowledge and drug development know-how together with a network of complementary clinical, business development and intellectual property expertise makes Axcentua´s management a powerful and committed team.

Anders Berkenstam, CEO - Following studies at medical school, Karolinska Institute where Berkenstam also received his Ph. D. in molecular endocrinology, he spent two years at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany and published several articles in key journals such as Cell, Nature and EMBO Journal. After becoming Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institute Berkenstam has now worked close to 15 years in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry at different positions such as Managing Director and Vice President of R&D and has acquired hands on experience and responsibility of driving projects from early Discovery through IND filing up to and including phase I clinical studies.

Stefan Rehnmark, CSO - PhD in Physiology 1991, Research Fellow Harvard Medical School 1989 -1990, Postdoctoral Fellow UCLA 1992 -1994, Assistant Professor Wenner-Gren Institute 1994 -1998, Associate Professor Wenner-Gren Institute 2000, 10 years of experience from Biotech, holding several positions, such as Project Manager, Head of Pharmacology and most recent Principal Scientist Target Validation.

Michael-Robin Witt, CTO - He graduated in 1986 with an MSc. in Biochemistry at the Freie Universität Berlin and subsequently engaged in Neuropharmacological research at the Research Laboratory of St. Hans Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark, obtaining a Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy. Followng a position as project leader at Neurosearch A/S he became Head of the High-Throughput Screening Section a AstraZeneca CNS & Pain Discovery R&D in Södertälje, Sweden. Dr Witt became Head of Lead Discovery Department at KaroBio AB, Stockholm, Sweden in 2002, becoming Principal Scientist in 2006.