Thinking of Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) out of the box

Antonio Chiesi is the Founder and CEO of Exosomics Inc and HansaBioMed Ltd, both established to bring to commercial exploitation products for exosome research and exosome-based diagnostics emerging from his previous research at the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) in Rome, where he acted as Head of Clinical Research for over 20 years. At the ISS, before leading intramural research in the exosome and cancer metabolism in the early years 2000, he led programs in Neuro HIV at a national level since 1990 and was engaged in several plans for early clinical development of anti-HIV drugs at EU Commission level. As a Startupper he raised over 10M euro from VCs and Industries (Lonza and Agilent) on Exosomics Inc up to the acquisition by Lonza of the business unit based in Siena, and brought to global commercial success HansaBioMed as the only and oldest exosome focused company. Currently he is engaged in Rivela Diagnostics, the new spin off of Exosomics Inc, aimed at bringing to the market a ground breaking approach to multi-cancer early detection.

Antonio graduated as a Medical Doctor at the University of Roma La Sapienza in 1988 where he obtained a Specialization in Neurology in 1992.  

 - 30+ years as a Chartered Accountant
 - Deep experience in Administration and finance
 - Auditor of accounts in banks and companies
 - Expertise in mergers and acquisitions

Professor at the Klinikum der Universität München (KUM) and Group Leader at the Helmholtz Centre Munich.

Prof. Zeidler lab identifies new tractable target molecules specifically exposed on the surface of tumors and generates and characterizes corresponding first-in-class monoclonal antibodies for future clinical applications. The focus is on actually intracellular molecules that – for unknown reasons – are translocated to the plasma membrane of cancer cells rendering them accessible for targeted therapies.

- Senior researcher - Istituto Superiore di Sanità - Italian Center for Global Health.

- Member of the Italian National Institute of Health committee for the approval of oncologic Phase I clinical trials, as expert for the evaluation of preclinical phase studies.

- Molecular and cellular biologist, he has long experience in molecular biology and signaling mechanisms of cancer, with a special attention to cancer alterations of cytoskeleton, apoptosis, tumor metabolism, vesicular trafficking and exosome release.

- He has discovered the importance of TM9SF4 in cancer as a marker of malignancy, characterizing the role of this protein in pH alterations in cancer tissue, and its importance in metastaic progression.

- Head of Exosome Development and Site Head at Lonza.

- 8 years Head of R&D at Exosomics Inc.

- Scientific leader reputation in exosome biology in the Biotech & Pharma industry

Natasa Zarovni is a trained molecular biologist and physiologist with a PhD in Molecular Medicine from Open London University and University Vita Salute in Milan, and an over decade long academic research and project management experience in gene therapy, cancer immunology, stem cells, functional genomics. She has joined HansaBiomed and Exosomics as a member of the founding team and has worked as the R&D and Strategic Innovation Leader on building up the team, the IP portfolio, product pipeline and grants supported projects. Over last 13 years she has established herself as an “Exosome expert and enthusiast”, with excellent scientific and non-dilutive fund-raising track record. Through her active promotion and participation in over 20 collaborative projects, she has been supporting the growth of the overall EV Innovation and Research-to-Business ecosystem across EU.

With 20 years of experience in core lab, Point-of-Care  immunoassay, and molecular diagnostics markets, Pete Corish has focused on commercialising R&D  and third-party innovative technologies in a number of Life Science and IVD businesses in the UK and US. This  has included applications for novel nanoparticle biolabels, DNA microarray analysis , genomic technologies for drug development, and new platforms for rapid, in-field diagnostics with digital connectivity. As the former CTO of BBI Solutions, a leading independent provider of IVD reagents, Pete was responsible for M&A, Commercial Strategic Partnerships and R&D, building out product and innovative technology portfolios. This is where he gained an initial interest in exosomes, and why he  recognises the world-leading experience of the Rivela team in exosome biology and the potential transformative impact on oncology, and other, diagnostics.

With nearly 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Stéphane Altaba is a seasoned professional. He earned an Engineering degree in Agronomy from ENSAIA, a PhD in biotechnology at INPL, and a business degree from ESCP-Europe. Following a post-doc at RIKEN in Japan, Stéphane dedicated over 12 years to various roles within the Sanofi Group, ranging from R&D to Industrial Affairs and Business Development. His final position at Sanofi was Group Licensing Director Oncology.

During his nine-year tenure at Nordic Pharma, Stéphane established strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and orchestrated the creation of a subsidiary network in Europe to market the company's flagship products. He served also as General Manager of Nordic Italy for 4 years.

In 2015, he joined Genomic Vision, a molecular diagnostics company, where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Stéphane successfully reorganized the company, focusing on key markets such as diagnostics, bioproduction, and precision medicine, resulting in a significant boost in company development.

In 2020, Stéphane founded Strad Healthcare to offer consultancy services to Biotech and Medtech companies, assisting them in their commercial endeavors and the establishment of strategic partnerships. Concurrently, he assumed the role of CEO at LX Repair, a diagnostic company that developed a DNA repair assay to prevent radiotherapy side effects.

Dr Steve Arlington has considerable experience of working in and consulting to the pharmaceutical, diagnostics and biotech industry, including digital services. Steve is a seasoned board room advisor ( global lead partner at PwC) who has worked with many of the industry top tier businesses throughout his career. He is experienced in the areas of strategy, new product and business development as well as manufacturing across the healthcare industry. He is well known to many executives in the top 20 Pharmaceutical and Life Science Companies.He began his career in research and development progressing to lead research and management of R&D. He has worked in the development and launch of diagnostics and medical devices.  Steve maintains an extensive network spanning pharmaceutical and life science companies as well as global regulatory and HTA agencies. More recently he has been involved with the implications of digital health in all of its forms and the wide-ranging opportunities and challenges this poses to healthcare. Steve until recently was the President of the NFP (not for profit) global R&D Pistoia Alliance where he led their effort to promote pre-competitive collaboration across the Pharma and Life Sciences Industry and built a powerful advisory board drawn from industry, financiers and regulators.Steve now works exclusively in the life sciences industry and has held several NED roles.