Catherine Pickering is a highly respected and ambitious life sciences leader. As CEO and Co-Founder of iOnctura, Catherine has built iOnctura as a lean by highly efficient drug development company, supported by more than 15 team members including research scientists, medical professionals and business leaders. Since the company’s inception in 2017, she has raised over €100M in private financing, to progress iOnctura’s pipeline of precision oral small molecules, securing two programmes into mid-stage clinical development and in-licensing another small molecule program against a key cancer target.

She is scientifically curious and is driven by her lifelong commitment to oncology research, striving to bring to market ground-breaking therapies which have the potential to improve – and ultimately extend – healthspan for patients.

Prior to launching iOnctura, Catherine led the global oncology and immuno-oncology licensing and business development function at Merck KGaA and was a core member of the global oncology franchise leadership team.  In this position she was an accomplished deal maker, closing several deals per annum including negotiating the biggest upfront out-licensing deal payment in the industry at the time.

Catherine holds a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the UK’s Institute of Cancer Research and an MBA from Henley Business School.

Lars holds a PhD in chemistry. He is a medicinal chemist with over 20 years of experience in biopharma R&D and delivered multiple clinical candidates and lead compounds for different therapeutic areas including oncology.

Prior to founding iOnctura he has held various positions in project management and project leadership spanning early discovery up to commercial products and dealing with both biologics and small molecules. Lars has previously worked at Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Organon, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Merck.

Michael joined iOnctura as Chief Medical Officer in 2019 after 20 years of industry experience at Eli Lilly and Company, AstraZeneca and Incyte Corporation.

In his career Michael contributed to the development of several new molecular entities, such as small molecule inhibitors (including the ALK5 inhibitor galunisertib and the registration of osimertinib in NSCLC), large molecules, antisense oligonucleotides and vaccines. Michael is passionate about developing novel therapies in cancer and mentoring colleagues in clinical drug development.

David joined iOnctura as VP Finance in 2021 and has extensive experience in publicly-listed growth-oriented biotech and medtech companies.

Before taking charge of global finance operations at iOnctura, he served as VP Head of Finance Europe at NASDAQ listed bluebird bio, and held senior financial positions at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, InterMune Corporation and Stryker Corporation.

Paul has over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceuticals industry, including Bayer, Shire and Blueprint Medicines. Paul has launched products in various therapeutic areas, including oncology and rare diseases, globally and nationally. Having led the European build-out for a biotech and driving the development of global product life-cycle strategies for complex portfolios, Paul has expertise in cross-functional leadership and commercialisation.

At iOnctura, Paul is responsible for Operations and New Product Planning.

Kiran holds a PhD in viral-induced oncogenesis and has 15 years experience in life-sciences commercialisation, business development, strategy, consulting and project and team management.

In her career Kiran has led teams within a number of organisations to get new products to market. At iOnctura she leads on commercial efforts including strategic planning, commercial forecasting, launch strategies, market research and corporate communications.

Giusy holds a PhD in endocrinological cancers. She joined iOnctura as Head of Research in 2022 with over 12 years of experience in onco-immunology and tumor-stroma interactions.

During her career, Giusy has furthered understanding of the molecular and biological interactions that occur within the tumor microenvironment, has uncovered novel preclinical targets, and published over 30 research articles. She is passionate about developing promising cancer therapies that aim to have direct impacts on patients’ lives.