Anke Arnold-Tugulu, PhD

Chief Regulatory Officer

Anke Arnold-Tugulu joined Azafaros as Head of Regulatory Affairs in 2022 bringing more than 15 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry.  when she joined Azafaros as Head of Regulatory Affairs in early 2022. An expert in the field, Anke  has worked in various disease areas and at all stages of drug development, playing a key role in bringing vital new treatments onto the global market. Prior to joining Azafaros she led regulatory efforts within rare disease drug development in different disease areas in the European biotech companies Agios, Zug CH, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum and Basel CH. Earlier in her career Anke worked in different roles within regulatory affairs driving drug registration at Hoffmann La Roche, Actelion Pharmaceuticals and CSL Behring.  

Anke received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. 

Christian Freitag, MD

Chief Medical Officer

Christian Freitag, a medical doctor, joined Azafaros in 2022 as Chief Medical Officer.  Chris  has spent over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, leading teams in pharmacovigilance and medical affairs at Hoffmann-La Roche. He later moved to Shire, as VP Global Clinical Development and Innovation and to BTG plc in the UK as head of Vascular Medicine, later becoming responsible for global clinical development. Prior to joining Azafaros Chris was at Debiopharm International where he led clinical R&D, managing international drug development across Phase I to Phase III, and was Chief Medical Officer at Dynacure, responsible for medical and regulatory strategy, including clinical development of the lead compound in Centronuclear Myopathies  

Chris obtained his medical degree from Kiel University, Germany. 

Kyle Landskroner, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

An industry expert with over 25 years experience, Kyle Landskroner joined Azafaros in 2020, bringing  vast experience of drug development, including early-stage discovery, pharmacological sciences, pharmacokinetics, toxicology and pharmacodynamics. Previously Kyle worked for Novartis International holding positions as Director of the Global Integration and Separation Office, Director of Portfolio Management, Global Drug Development, Portfolio Strategy and Innovation, where he was responsible for strategic reviews, clinical projects within therapeutic areas, and value-driven decision analyses for the development portfolio. 

From 2008 until 2012, Kyle headed Preclinical Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics at Actelion Pharmaceuticals within lysosomal storage diseases and pulmonary hypertension. Prior to Actelion, he worked for Bayer Corporation in the USA in various roles in toxicology and pharmacology. 

Kyle received his Ph.D. from the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University in the USA. 

Gisela Linthorst

Head of Patient Engagement and Advocacy

Gisela Linthorst joined Azafaros in 2021 bringing more than 20 years’ experience in rare disease within the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining the company she was European and Global Head of Patient Advocacy at Sanofi Genzyme having held a number of roles previously in Genzyme where she developed  patient engagement strategies for Lysosomal Storage diseases such as Pompe-, Gaucher-, Fabry and Gaucher disease and set up the first homecare projects for ERT treatments in the Netherlands. Over the years Gisela has built strong relationships with patients and patient organizations in the EU, US, and around the world, including the Niemann Pick community and international umbrella organisations such as EURORDIS and RDI. 

Gisela  started her career as an oncology and hematology nurse at the Dutch Oncology Institute (NKI) in The Netherlands.  

Henrik Torp Nielsen, MBA

Head of Finance

Henrik Torp Nielsen joined Azafaros in 2023 having worked for more than 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry and prior to that a number of years in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry in different financial roles.  Henrik has significant international and cross-functional experience gained from high-profile roles working both at a country, region and global level in areas including Commercial, Business Development, Innovation, Medical, Market Access, Manufacturing, and Development. 

Prior to Azafaros Henrik was European Head of Business Development (Finance) for Oncology at Novartis’ Swiss headquarters, where he supported and closed key business development deals. He also held other senior roles  at Novartis, including Nordic Chief Financial Officer and Head of Commercial and Medical Finance, Oncology Europe. Before moving to Switzerland, Henrik spent ten years at the Kellogg Company in different positions in Denmark, the UK, and the US and for Xerox in Denmark. 

Henrik obtained his master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. 

Silvia Ragno, PhD

Chief Operating Officer

Silvia Ragno joined Azafaros in 2023 with more than 25 years' experience in the global biopharmaceutical industry, spanning both large pharma and small biotech companies. 

Prior to joining Azafaros  Silvia was the co-founder of Stargazer Pharmaceuticals Inc and was their Chief Operating Officer (COO) from 2018. Silvia co-led the formation of the company by setting and driving the product strategy, organizational vision, and operational strategy to develop a new treatment for Stargardt disease, a rare inherited retinal disease. Her execution of program strategy saw the company’s preclinical GxP activities right through to Ph3-ready clinical stage. 

Prior to the inception of Stargazer Silvia worked at Takeda Development Centre Europe, in  a group called TAKcelerator TM. Here she led programs in rare diseases through to translation into novel therapies, raising financing and securing out licensing deals for further compound development. Silvia also spent almost ten years at Novartis Pharmaceutical UK, and was Head of Pharmacology at Celldex Therapeutics (ex Lorantis Ltd, Cambridge, UK) and worked in academic research at the Medical Research Council (London, UK). 

Silvia received her  Ph.D. in Immunology from Queen Mary University in London.