Board and management
Johan Säfholm
Johan Säfholm graduated with an MSc in Applied Physics from Linköping University in 2003. Since then, he has gained international experience in the development and manufacture of consumer electronics in a variety of roles as team leader and product manager. Johan has worked at Sony Ericsson, ST-Ericsson, Axis and Flatfrog, companies with between 40 and 5,000 employees and a global presence. He also co-founded Swed Ventures AB.
Holds shares in SWIPP.
Christer Sjögren
Christer Sjögren is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), has a PhD, and was Associate Professor of pharmacology at The Royal Veterinary College (Kungliga Veterinärhögskolan) until 1975. Christer is also a former consulting professor in experimental obstetrics and gynaecology at Uppsala University. He has more than 45 years’ experience from senior operational management positions at big pharma companies, including Pharmacia and Novo Nordisk, and from similar positions and Board seats at smaller companies, such as Perstorp Pharma, LIDDS AB, Peptonic Medical AB and Juvantia Pharma OY. Christer has also held senior positions at the clinical contract research organisations Quintiles and CDC, has chaired the working group for Clinical Operations and Regulatory Affairs at the industry association SwedenBIO, and has been a board member of VINNOVA’s industry research programme SAMBIO.
Holds shares in SWIPP.
Bengt Westrin
Bengt Westrin has over 30 years’ experience from the life science industry, ranging from start-ups to big pharma companies, and areas ranging from product development and regulatory affairs to project management and business development.
Prior to SWIPP he was CEO at CombiGene AB, AcuCort AB, Idogen AB and Lipopeptide AB, as well as VP Business Development at Camurus AB. Bengt has also carried out numerous consulting assignments for various companies and public organisations. He has an MSc in Chemical Engineering and a PhD from LTH at Lund University, where he has also been an honorary Associate Professor since 1999. During his time at AcuCort AB, he laid the groundwork for what is now an approved oral film product: Zeqmelit® (dexamethasone) for the treatment of acute allergic reactions, croup, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and is also approved for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. Bengt Westrin is named inventor on five patent applications in the film field.
Holds shares in SWIPP.
Annette Säfholm
Annette Säfholm has close to 20 years’ experience from the life science industry, most recently as CEO of Gedea Biotech from the company’s spin-out from university research in 2016 until 2026, when the company had an EU approved product to treat vaginal infections. Prior experience includes project management and business development at Reccan Diagnostics AB (in vitro diagnostics for early detection of pancreatic cancer) and Idogen AB (autologous dendritic cell therapy for immune regulation), as well as being co-founder of WNT Research AB (adjuvant cancer treatment).
She holds a PhD in Medicine from Lund University, a Master’s degree in Medical Biology from Linköping University, and an Executive Management education from Executive Foundation Lund (EFL).
Annette is Board member of Gedea Biotech AB and has served as Chair of the Board of the fertility monitoring medical device company Pharmista Technologies since 2023.
Holds shares in SWIPP. the
Bruno Loiseau
After four years as a strategy consultant at A.T. Kearney, Bruno Loiseau joined Burgundy Ventures Group in 2005 and helped to found AdhexPharma, which subsequently acquired Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ transdermal products. With Bruno as Managing Director, AdhexPharma has seen annual growth of more than 30% since 2007, has registered four new medicinal products as a CDMO, and is currently developing a number of oral films and transdermal patches. AdhexPharma is part of Adhex Group, which has sales in excess of MEUR 130 and approx. 650 employees. Bruno has an MBA from ESSEC Business School and is a French citizen.
Holds shares in SWIPP (through AdhexPharma).