2020-01-27
"To keep up with the potential of this field we need to think and work innovatively, not competitively"
Effective 1 February 2020 CAMP Internation Advisory Board member Karin Hoogendoorn will be joining Lonza as Head Pre-Clinical Services CGT in Mammalian & Microbial Development & Manufacturing (MMDM). Karin will be using her extensive experience in both commercial and academic roles to develop the services needed for successfully developing Cell&Gene Therapy products from candidate selection to filing an Investigational New Drug Application (IND)/Clinical Trial Application (CTA). LONZA has more than 40 years of experience in normal human cells and best-in-class cGMP compliance as well as 20 years experience in cellular therapies with Lonza Walkersville, Inc. being the industry leader in development, manufacturing and testing services for cell-based therapeutics.
“I am very much looking forward to developing the critical services that will assist in effective development and commercialization of commercial and academic ATMPs” says Karin.
Positions at Novartis AG, Janssen Biologics BV and Leiden University Medical Centre have given Karin a special blend of expertise, contacts and experiences to bring to this new role. “There are different challenges and advantages to working in academic and industry settings, the secret is to bring the best of both worlds together in an effective manner”, says Karin. “There are things to learn from the way the Swedish ATMP field, through CAMP and other initiatives, is working in such an open and collaborative manner. To keep up with the potential of this field we need to think and work innovatively, not competitively.”
While born and based in the Netherlands, Karin is actually a Swede at heart. She dreamed of Scandinavia as a child and chose to study at Uppsala University from 1994 to 1995. The dream lived up to expectation, Karin loved the Swedish nature and people and in a short time learned Swedish. While she was offered to pursue a PhD at Karolinska Institutet, life took Karin home to the Netherlands where she received a Masters degrees in Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy and a post graduate education in Pharmacy (PharmD) from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. But Sweden was calling her back…literally! In 2015 Dr. Karin Sewerin contacted Karin to let her know about a new exciting opportunity emerging from Gothenburg. The biotech company Immunicum AB was looking for a head of CMC and Karin jumped at the opportunity. Through this role Karin met Agneta Edberg who brought another exciting Swedish opportunity, board member at the Lund based cell therapy company Idogen AB, and most recently an International Advisory role for the Centre for Advanced Medical Products (CAMP).
Karin hopes to continuedly support the Swedish ATMP field in the exciting journey from concept towards curative treatments. “det är mycket spännande!”, she says.
Meet Karin at our ATMP Sweden 2020 conference April 1-3, 2020.
Brought to you by SWElife-ATMP and the Centre for Advanced Medical Products (CAMP).