NECSTGEN announces the appointment of Sander van Deventer to its strategic advisory board. Sander van Deventer adds both scientific as well as commercial expertise in the field of cell and gene therapy. He is professor of Translational gastroenterology at the Leiden University Medical Center and partner at venture capital firm Forbion. Among others, he co-founded gene therapy developer uniQure and played a crucial role in the commercialization of the first gene therapy Glybera.

“There is a lack of early phase development and manufacturing capacity, in The Netherlands. Hence, we are in danger of falling behind internationally. I am happy to support NECSTGEN’s vision, to answer to this clear market need and advance the field of cell and gene therapy.” Says Prof. van Deventer.

Prof. van Deventer is certified internist and gastroenterologist. He received his medical doctorate from the University of Amsterdam, and worked as a scientist in the Laboratory for Medical Biochemistry, Rockefeller University, New York. He was the first to administer the first commercial monoclonal antibody (Remicade®) to patients with Crohn’s disease. Also he had a critical role in the development of other therapeutic interventions, targeting cytokines, cytokine receptors, T‐cells and signal transduction pathways, using small molecules, antibodies, peptides, proteins and antisense DNA technologies. He supervised the development of Glybera, the first gene therapy product to be approved in Europe, and several other gene therapy products. In 1995, he became director of the laboratory for Experimental Internal Medicine at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. In 1998 Prof. van Deventer co-founded uniQure B.V., developing AAV-based gene therapy products and now listed on Nasdaq, acting subsequently as CSO, CMO and CEO. He furthermore headed Dezima Pharma, that was later acquired by Amgen. From 2001 until 2004, he chaired the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. In 2006, Sander van Deventer co-founded as Managing Partner and subsequently as Operating Partner the venture capital firm Forbion Capital Partners. Until recently, he served on the scientific advisory boards of Argos, Engene, Staten and Hookipa Pharma. Since 2018, he is professor of Translational Gastroenterology at the Leiden University Medical Center, authoring over 400 peer-reviewed scientific papers.