About

We are on a mission to bring treatments to millions at risk of cancer with no options.

About Astrivax Therapeutics
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Astrivax Therapeutics (Astrivax) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company on a mission to end virus-driven cancer, the second leading preventable cause of cancer after smoking. Its clinically validated Launch-iT platform generates durable, antigen-specific T-cell responses that clear virus-infected cells, supported by a scalable, tech-transfer–ready manufacturing process.

Astrivax’s lead program targets human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16), a leading cause of virus-driven cancers, including cervical cancer and head and neck cancer. The company is advancing its platform toward clinical proof-of-concept for persistent HPV infections and plans to expand across additional HPV-driven cancers. Beyond oncology, Astrivax is exploring applications in autoimmune diseases where viral infections are increasingly recognized as drivers of disease, and is open to partner on global health pahogens’.

Our core values

Authentic

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We are genuine, We embrace honesty, accountability, transparency and openness. We work towards a common goal.

Entrepreneurial

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We innovate with passion for science. We are curious and take ownership to explore solutions. We are courageous and dare ‘to do’.

Disciplined

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We plan and execute on our goals with determination. We strive for excellence and challenge ourselves and our work. We value timely, informed decision-making.

Caring

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We care for each other and believe in the power of collaboration. We create fun in our workplace and care for the patients by relentlessly searching transformative cures.

Experienced team delivering results

Leadership

Team

hanne callewaert
Hanne Callewaert, PhD
CEO / Co-founder
wilfried dalemans
Wilfried Dalemans, PhD
Chief Technical Officer (ad interim)
mathieu peeters
Mathieu Peeters, MD
Chief Development Officer
greg fanning
Gregory Fanning, PhD, PhD
Scientific and Business Strategic Advisor
thomas vercruysse
Thomas Vercruysse, PhD
Head of R&D
isabelle decoster
Isabelle Decoster
HR Lead
an huysmans
An Huysmans
Finance Lead
frederik pauwels
Frederik Pauwels, PhD
Vaccine Development Lead
sophie olivier
Sophie Olivier, MD
Chief Medical Officer (ad interim)

Scientific Advisory Board

Team

emmanuel hanon
Emmanuel Hanon, PhD
Chair of Scientific Advisory Board
peter piot
Peter Piot, MD, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board member
patrick soentjens
Patrick Soentjens, MD, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board member

Board of Directors

Team

hanne callewaert
Hanne Callewaert, PhD
CEO / Co-founder
dieter weinand
Dieter Weinand
Chairman
jeanne bolger
Jeanne Bolger, MB BCh BAO
Non-Executive Director and Independent Board member

Investors

Astrivax has secured a seed round of €30 million with a strong and diverse investor syndicate to continue building our virus-targeted immunotherapy platform and bring the first treatments into clinical development. Astrivax also secured grants from VLAIO and the Gates Foundtation.

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Vacancies

Hanne Callewaert

Hanne Callewaert has over 20 years of life science industry expertise. Previously, she was Chief Operating Officer at the publicly listed biotech company Oxurion, leading multidisciplinary teams and has gained extensive vaccine development expertise in several roles at GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines. Hanne initiated her career at Gevers Patents as Patent Attorney Trainee. She has obtained a master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and a master’s degree in intellectual property law and a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Leuven.

Wilfried Dalemans

Wilfried Dalemans has 35 years of experience in Biotech. He was CTO of TiGenix where he was responsible for the global technical operations, encompassing product development and life-cycle in R&D, Industrialization, and clinical and commercial manufacturing. His regulatory expertise was key for the approval of ChondroCelect and Alofisel. He held also senior management positions at GSK Biologicals, both in global regulatory affairs and in vaccines R&D. At Transgène he was responsible for the cystic fibrosis research program. Wilfried holds a Masters degree in Zoology from the University of Antwerpen and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Universities of Hasselt and Leuven.

Mathieu Peeters

Mathieu Peeters, M.D., has 20+ years of experience in life sciences, including substantial biotech experience and in-depth knowledge of various vaccine types, prophylactic and therapeutic, and their development paths. He has held senior positions at GSK Vaccines, ThromboGenics (now Oxurion) and Biopharma. In previous roles, he was involved in the clinical development of several candidate vaccines for respiratory diseases including RSV, COPD and influenza, among others, and most recently a therapeutic HSV vaccine.

Gregory Fanning, PhD

Prior to joining AstriVax, Dr Fanning spent over 20 years working for Janssen Pharmaceuticals in increasing roles of responsibility in the areas of gene therapy and small molecule drug discovery, in Australia, Belgium and Shanghai. In the years since he has served as an advisor for a number of Biotech companies, including SCG Cell Therapy (TCR T platform), CommBio Therapeutics (Live Bacterial Products), RNAssist (formulation) and Exevir (Nanobodies). Dr Fanning earned a DPhil from Oxford University.

Thomas Vercruysse

Thomas Vercruysse holds a Master in Bio-Engineering Sciences and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences both from the KU Leuven. He worked for more than ten years as post-doc at the KU Leuven Rega Institute in the field of virology and anti-cancer therapies. Before joining Astrivax he was heavily involved in the development of the KU Leuven YF17D based COVID-19 vaccine candidate and preparation of the spin-out of Astrivax.

Isabelle Decoster

Isabelle Decoster is a HR lead with 20+ years of experience in HR generalist roles in various industries. She works in biotech since 2013. First at Oxurion (former ThromboGenics), where she held different HR positions of increasing responsibility and as HR Director for Cellaïon (former Promethera BioSciences).

An Huysmans

With more than 20 years of experience in finance, An Huysmans brings extensive expertise across accounting, reporting, and financial management. Before joining AstriVax, she held different finance roles with increasing responsibility at Oxurion and began her career at a Big Four firm. She holds a Master’s degree in Commercial Sciences.

Frederik Pauwels

Before joining AstriVax Therapeutics, Frederik Pauwels built an 18-year career at Janssen Pharmaceutica (J&J Innovative Medicine), advancing from postdoctoral scientist to senior leadership roles in infectious diseases. Throughout his career, he was deeply involved in drug discovery at the crossroads of virology and immunology, leading and supporting multidisciplinary teams working on the discovery and development of novel therapeutic modalities, and contributing across the full R&D spectrum.
Frederik earned his PhD in Biochemistry from Ghent University and brings a strong understanding of drug discovery, immunology and strategic portfolio management.

Sophie Olivier

Dr. Sophie Olivier brings extensive experience in clinical development across both large pharma and biotech organizations. She previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Genticel, Lysogene and Atamyo Therapeutics. At Genticel, Dr. Olivier oversaw the clinical development of a therapeutic vaccine candidate against high-risk HPV, including IND/CTA application and full execution of a Phase 2 clinical study in Europe. Earlier in her career, Dr. Olivier was a Scientific Officer in the Pediatric Team at the European Medicines Agency and led clinical development programs in women’s health diseases at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in US. Dr. Olivier holds an M.D. in Obstetrics and Gynecology from the University of Marseille and an M.Sc. in Biology of Reproduction from the University of Paris.

Emmanuel Hanon

Emmanuel Hanon, PhD, has a background in veterinary medicine and brings over twenty years of experience in vaccine research and development. At GSK, he ran global vaccines R&D for seven years, driving discovery, development, and life-cycle management of one of the largest vaccine portfolios in the industry. He oversaw the discovery and development of vaccines against quadrivalent influenza (Fluarix and Flulaval Quadrivalent), shingles (Shingrix), malaria (Mosquirix), and RSV in older adults. He has been an internal advisor for therapeutic vaccines at AstriVax since the start and will continue to combine his new role as scientific advisory board chair at the company with his role as scientific advisor to CEPI and his CEO role at Vicebio.

Peter Piot

Microbiologist Peter Piot, MD, PhD, is the former Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. After co-discovering the Ebola virus in 1976, he led pioneering research in HIV, women’s health, and infectious diseases. He was the founding Executive Director of UNAIDS, under the Secretary-General of the UN. Professor Peter Piot has held positions at leading universities around the world. He is Special Advisor on COVID-19 to the President of the European Commission. He serves on numerous committees, funds, and boards dedicated to global health. His long list of accolades includes the Robert Koch Medal, the Gairdner Award in Global Health, the 2014 Time Person of the Year, and the Belgian title of Baron. He has published over 600 scientific articles and 16 books.

Patrick Soentjens

Patrick Soentjens, MD, PhD, is an infectious disease specialist with clinical expertise in travel medicine, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, tropical diseases, and severe multi-resistant infections. He is the Chief Physician at the Polyclinic of the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) and chair of the Belgian Study Group of Travel Medicine. He also consults for the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group and serves on several advisory boards. His team’s work on alternative vaccination schedules for rabies led to a revision of existing WHO recommendations. Professor Patrick Soentjens’ current research focuses on improving vaccination regimens for travellers and military staff who need protection against yellow fever, tick-borne encephalitis, rabies, and other travel-related diseases. Under his leadership, the ITM launched a new clinical trial centre for vaccines in 2021.

Hanne Callewaert

Hanne Callewaert has over 20 years of life science industry expertise. Previously, she was Chief Operating Officer at the publicly listed biotech company Oxurion, leading multidisciplinary teams and has gained extensive vaccine development expertise in several roles at GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines. Hanne initiated her career at Gevers Patents as Patent Attorney Trainee. She has obtained a master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and a master’s degree in intellectual property law and a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Leuven.

Dieter Weinand

During his career, Dieter Weinand has held a number of senior roles leading business operations around the world for companies including Bayer, Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb and Sanofi. He has led the development, launch and marketing of products in therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular disease, oncology, immunology, respiratory and inflammatory diseases. Mr. Weinand is currently a member of the Board of Coya Therapeutics and Replimune, Chairman of the Board of Confo Therapeutics, and Executive Chairman of the Board of Mnemo Therapeutics. He earned an M.S. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Long Island University, New York, and a B.A. in Biology from Concordia College, New York.

Jeanne Bolger

Dr. Bolger has over 35 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in management roles across R&D, Commercial and Business Development (BD) and Venture Investments at Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC and at GlaxoSmithKline. She has been leading investments across Europe in start-up and early stage life science companies and represented JJDC on the Board of Directors of over a dozen companies. She is also a Venture Partner at Seroba Life Sciences Venture Capital and serves on several government taskforces and advisory boards. She is a visiting lecturer on the MSc Pharmaceutical Medicine at Trinity College Dublin. Dr. Bolger received her medical degree from University College Dublin. She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Ireland (RAMI).