governance
Dr Mario Caria
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Dr Mario Caria previously served as International Director and Senior Partner at Sofimac Partners, currently Venture Partner at Sofimac Innovation Paris. Mario has raised and managed several Venture Capital Funds with 40+ Healthcare Companies and cumulated over 20 direct investments and management in Life Science companies, recording up to 26% IRR. Recently exited Centervue SpA for approx 70m€ .
Mario has gathered a broad experience spanning from researcher to entrepreneur and investor across a spectrum of markets. He expanded internationally the managed funds with focus on Healthcare cumulating 100m+€ of direct funds raising in Seed and Development Funds.
Mario co-founded and managed his first Company, Spinelix, which was focused on devices for diagnostic and medical imaging, including an In Vitro Diagnostic subsidiary and closed several rounds of financing and major commercial contracts.
Researcher at CERN Geneva, he led major consortia in EU raising over 15m€. He filed and licensed several patents and wrote hundreds of scientific papers and a book in Statistics for Researchers in Life Science. He was Chair in Medical Biophysics and taught Health Technology Assesment.
Dr Roberto Gradnik
Chairman of the Board
Dr Roberto Gradnik leverages his initial medical training as a cardiologist into his long term roles as a senior executive in the Biotech industry.
Roberto serves as CEO for a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focusing on urinary tract disorders.
He was formerly CEO of Stallergenes, based in Paris, and responsible for the M&A with Greer. Prior to Stallergenes, he served as EVP on the executive management board of MerckSerono, with responsibility for the Neurodegenerative, Autoimmune Diseases Therapeutic Area (TA) with total revenue in excess of over 1 billion$ and for Region Europe.
Roberto has also served as President of Assobiotech, Italy, and of EBE, Brussels.
Following his cardiology training, Roberto joined the pharmaceutical industry at Bracco and gained experiences across several TAs, before joining Knoll (BASF Pharma) as Clinical Director responsible for development of treatment for cardiac ischemia.
Roberto serves on several Boards, such as EBE (European Biopharmaceutical Entreprises), Zambon Pharmaceutical.
Dr Elisabeth Svanberg
MD, PhD
Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Dr Elisabeth Svanberg received her MD and PhD from the University of Gothenburg and is a board-certified general surgeon and associate professor of surgery.
She joined Serono International based in Geneva, Switzerland, initially in the field of metabolism, particularly wasting conditions, as a natural continuation of her academic and clinical work, before taking roles of increasing responsibilities at Serono/Merck Serono’s “New Therapies and Oncology Tas. Elisabeth subsequently joined Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) in the United States in 2007. At BMS, Elisabeth served as development leader (2007 -2011) bringing dapagliflozin (Forxiga/Farxiga), a first in class medicine, to the market for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and subsequently was Vice President and Head of the Intercontinental Medical Department responsible for Canada, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific and Australia/New Zealand (2011- 2014).
In 2014 she joined Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a Johnson & Johnson Company) as Vice President, Head of the Established Products group managing a portfolio of 90 products, used by an estimated 150 million patients globally.
She currently serves as the Chief Development Officer for a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focusing on urinary tract disorders.
Elisabeth serves as a Non Executive Director on the following Boards: Galapagos (Belgium), Pharnext (France), PledPharma (Sweden), Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, SOBI (Sweden)
Dr Jose Kramis
Medical Affairs Analyst
Dr Jose Kramis is a physician and has two master’s degrees, one in Health Systems Administration and the other in Emergencies and Catastrophes. He has more than 25 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry for various companies such as Novartis, BMS, Sanofi, and Actelion, within the medical and marketing areas of orphan and highly specialized drugs. He has also served as Director of Medical Education and Editorial Director for companies such as Smith & Nephew and Springer Healthcare. He has been a consultant for regulatory affairs for Perrigo in Latin America.
He has participated as editor, reviewer, and writer of various medical publications.
He is an international course instructor for the American Heart Association and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. He is also a professor of Public Health and Disasters and coordinator of a scientific article writing course at the Mexican National Institute of Public Health.
Jose has already worked at KUSTE BIOPHARMA as a consultant where he contributed to the analysis in the therapeutic areas of BPS/IC and IBD/UC and a variety of anti-inflammatory compounds.
Nathalie de Valleuil
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Nathalie holds a certification in finance, cost control and reporting from HEC Paris and a degree in Communication from Ecole Supérieure de Publicité (ESP) in Paris.
She has a vast experience in administrative and financial management, and is responsible for all Kuste Biopharma’s financial and administration duties.
Prior to joining Kuste Biopharma, Nathalie held a similar role for a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focusing on urinary tract disorders.
Nathalie has also served as Communication Account Director in various International Advertising agencies in Paris and Geneva.
Bénédicte Freyler
Scientific Affairs/communication
manager
Bénédicte provides and manages the business communication strategy of Kuste Biopharma.
After studying law and communications (EFAP-Lyon 1999) she had a vast experience in pharmaceutical companies like BMS, Pfizer, GSK, UCB, AstraZeneca and most recently at Takeda, where she was in charge of coordinating internal and external communication projects in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
