About Citryll

Targeting ETs, transforming inflammatory disease outcomes

Citryll is pioneering an innovative approach to immune mediated inflammatory diseases. Targeting ETs as a fundamental but previously unaddressed driver of inflammation, Citryll is going beyond individual pathway management and symptom treatment to reduce inflammation at its core. By targeting ET biology, Citryll aims to establish a new class of therapeutics designed to deliver broader and more durable disease control.

Our science and products

Citryll’s lead asset, CIT-013, targets ETs via a dual mechanism of action, inhibiting the formation of new ETs and enhancing the clearance of existing ETs. This is achieved through selective binding to citrullinated histones. By selectively binding extracellular targets and not entering cells, CIT-013 is designed to minimize off-target effects while preserving normal cellular function. Through its dual mechanism and upstream positioning, CIT-013 has the potential to become a cornerstone therapy across multiple immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

While many current therapies target individual cytokines or receptors, Citryll’s approach addresses a shared driver of inflammation. Citryll’s targeted approach has applications in many inflammatory diseases. Its current focus is on rheumatoid arthritis and hidradenitis suppurativa, with clinical development programs underway for both diseases. Citryll has the potential to create a new class of therapeutics for a wide range of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Our team

Eduardo Bravo

CEO

Eric Meldrum

CSO

Maarten Kraan

CMO

Renato Chirivi

CTO

Sjoerd van Gorp

COO/CFO

Tim Schenk

CBO

Leonie Middelink

Head of Clinical Operations

Mukesh Sehdev

Head of CMC

Irvan Masyulhak

Finance Business Partner

Katerina Pardali

Head of Translational Medicine

Peter van Zandvoort

Director Bioanalytics

Maarten van der Linden

Director Disease Biology

Frank van Aarle

Head of Bioanalytics

Mark Krebs

CMC Director

Dorus Wilderbeek

Sr. Clinical Project Manager

Sanne van der Made

Sr. Clinical Project Manager

Catarina Antunes

Program & Communications Manager

Sangeeta Kumari

Sr. Scientist

Stephanie van Dalen

Sr. Scientist

Reza Nadafi

Sr. Scientist

Annemarie Kip

Scientist

Joël Guillaume

Scientist

Dirk Boreel

Clinical Data Analyst

Rezie te Poele

Bioanalytical Scientific Expert

Tirza Bruurmijn

Sr. Research Associate

Eline Zwiers

Sr. Research Associate

Kelsy Waaijenberg

Research Associate

Josephine Stein

Research Associate

Hennie Schouten

Research Associate

Simone Kazemier

Quality Assurance Officer

Ghislaine Monchen

Sr Executive Assistant

Board of Directors

Paul Peter Tak

Chair of the Board of Directors

Eduardo Bravo

Executive Director

Fiona MacLaughlin

Non-executive Director

Geert-Jan Mulder

Non-executive Director

Florian Muellershausen

Non-executive Director

Nora Frey

Non-executive Director

Daniela Couto

Non-executive Director

Martin Münchbach

Observer

Helmuth van Es

Observer

Advisory Board

John Hamilton

Scientific Advisor

Paul Kubes

Scientific Advisor

Tim Hammond

Scientific Advisor

James Krueger

Clinical Advisor

John Frew

Clinical Advisor

Patrick Verschueren

Clinical Advisor

Citryll investors

Citryll is supported by an international syndicate of world-class investors with a shared commitment to advancing breakthrough therapies.

Clinical trial opportunities for patients

Citryll is conducting clinical trials for CIT-013, an investigational therapy developed to address Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS). This clinical research seeks to understand CIT-013’s potential effectiveness, safety, and impact on patient quality of life. We expect two clinical trials to start by mid 2025.

Eduardo Bravo at Citryll

Eduardo Bravo

CEO

Eduardo has over 25 years of senior management and board experience in the biopharmaceutical sector, having held the position of CEO at Nordic Nanovector, TiGenix and Cellerix. As CEO at TiGenix, he oversaw several financing rounds, the company’s IPO on NASDAQ, and its eventual acquisition by Takeda. Most recently, Eduardo was the CEO of EBAC, an EQT backed SPAC that successfully merged with the clinical stage Swiss biotech Oculis in March 2023.

Earlier in his career, Eduardo held several senior management positions at Sanofi-Aventis and SmithKline Beecham.

He is currently Chairman of the Board at Vivet Therapeutics, Engitix and Ariceum Therapeutics. Eduardo was President of the European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises Board of Directors between 2016 and 2018, and was also member of the Executive Committee of Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. He holds a degree in Business Administration and an MBA from INSEAD.

Eric Meldrum at Citryll

Eric Meldrum

CSO

Eric Meldrum has 12 years of drug discovery experience at GSK in Switzerland and the UK. Until 2005 he was head of the Asthma and Rhinitis Disease Biology Department responsible for drug development up to Phase 2 proof of concept. Since then, Eric has been active as CSO in several biotech companies and brings Citryll a depth of experience in translational approaches to prioritise therapeutic opportunities and the strategic considerations behind successfully enhancing asset value and progression to clinical proof of concept. He was most recently CSO at ENYO Pharma, a French biotech currently in Phase 2 in Chronic Hepatitis B and NASH. Eric is responsible for the overall preclinical and clinical scientific and therapeutic strategy and to develop partnerships with pharma.
Maarten Kraan at Citryll

Maarten Kraan

CMO

Maarten Kraan is a rheumatologist and holds an M.D. and Ph.D. in Immunology from Leiden University. Dr. Kraan has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical experience. Most recently, he was CMO at AM-Pharma. At Pierre Fabre S.A., he acted as the head of Research & Development and was responsible for their R&D strategy.

Previously, Maarten was head of R&D at Stallergenes Greer Ltd. and CMO at Therachon, which was later acquired by Pfizer. Dr. Kraan also held the positions of Senior Vice President and Head of Innovative Medicines Respiratory and Inflammation at AstraZeneca, as well as the Vice President and Head of Clinical Research and Experimental Development Inflammation at Hoffmann-La Roche. Before this, Dr. Kraan was the Vice President of Immunosciences at Bristol Myers-Squibb and was the Senior Global Director at Schering-Plough, which is now part of MSD (trademark of Merck & Co., Inc., USA). Notably, Dr. Kraan was also involved in the development of Orencia (abatacept), Remicade (infliximab), Humira (adalimumab) and fostamatinib for rheumatoid arthritis.

Renato Chirivi at Citryll

Renato Chirivi

CTO

Renato Chirivi is co-founder of Citryll and previously CSO. He has been central, with former CEO Helmuth van Es in bringing Citryll to its current clinical develpment status. He is the co-inventor of therapeutic anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (tACPA), antagonists of NET biology, and an expert on antibody discovery, engineering, production, and protein citrullination. He has numerous years of experience in cancer, neurobiology and molecular immunology which he gained at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Italy, The Scripps research institute in California, USA, the Nijmegen Center for Molecular Life Sciences, and ModiQuest BV, the Netherlands. Renato is responsible for technology development, intellectual property and specific therapeutic areas.

Sjoerd Van Gorp Citryll

Sjoerd van Gorp

COO / CFO

Sjoerd van Gorp has 12 years of experience in the life sciences and healthcare sector in various roles within translational academic research, investment banking and venture capital. Most recently Sjoerd was Senior Investment Manager at BOM Brabant Ventures where he was instrumental in fundraising and strategic support of numerous early-stage life sciences companies. Prior to joining BOM, Sjoerd gained experience as an equity analyst at Kempen & Co, a life sciences investment bank in the Netherlands, where he covered public European biotech and medtech companies and was involved in capital market transactions.

In addition, he has worked on translational academic research projects at the Image Sciences Institute at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands and Yale University, USA. Sjoerd will bring a complementary set of skills to the management team that will enable Citryll to assess additional strategic options to unlock the full potential of CIT-013 and enable treatment for a growing list of diseases that are associated with Extracellular Trap (ET) biology.

Tim Schenk at Citryll

Tim Schenk

CBO

Tim brings over 20 years of industry experience in early-stage startups, mid-size biotech and pharma in business development, commercial and as general manager. During his PhD work, Tim was instrumental for the successful startup of biotech company Screentec, which later became Kiadis Pharma. Subsequently, he held positions in Crucell, first as business development director and later became responsible for the Travel Vaccines Business Unit, being based in Switzerland. After the acquisition of Crucell by Johnson & Johnson, Tim was asked to lead the full vaccine business globally in J&J. In 2014 Tim accepted the challenge to take the responsibility for the oncology business of Jansen Germany. Before joining Citryll, Tim was based in the Nordics (Stockholm) where he held the commercial responsibility for the full product portfolio of Janssen and was general manager of Janssen Finland.

Tim holds a masters’ degree in bio-pharmaceutical science, a PhD in analytical chemistry (both from the University of Leiden) and a MBA from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Leonie Middellink at Citryll

Leonie Middelink

Head of Clinical Operations

Since 2013 Leonie is working as an independent Clinical Research Executive for (academic) hospitals (Amsterdam UMC, Dutch Cancer Institute, UMC Utrecht, Radboud University) and biopharmaceutical companies (Roche, Enceladus, Arthrogen, Audion). Before being self-employed she headed the Clinical Operations Department at Roche Pharmaceuticals.  She has > 20 years experience in biopharmaceutical research covering phase I-IV trials (industry and academically driven), in a wide variety of disease categories.

Leonie was board member of the Dutch Association of Pharmaceutical Medicine from 2012-2018 and member of several task forces within the Dutch Clinical Research Foundation.

Mukesh Sehdev

Mukesh Sehdev

Head of CMC

Mukesh Sehdev brings over 30 years of experience in the development of recombinant protein products, having previously held various senior positions within the industry. Most recently, he was Head of CMC at Akari Therapeutics, where he led CMC activities of Nomacopan, a second generation compliment inhibitor. Additionally, he was Head of CMC at Precigen ActoBio where he played a key role in the development of AG019, an engineered bacteria genetically modified to express human proinsulin and human IL-10 for Type 1 diabetes to Phase 3 readiness.

Mukesh’s successful track record was further proven at Ablynx, acquired by Sanofi for EUR 3.9 billion, where he led CMC activities resulting in FDA and EMA approvals for a nanobody-based drug Cablivi® (Caplacizumab). At ThromboGenics he played a crucial role in the global development and commercial launch of Jetrea® and Celltech/UCB where he was a founding team member of Cimzia®, a novel pegylated anti-TNF and screened the first approved antibody drug conjugate Mylotarg®. He holds various patents in the manufacture of antibody and antibody fragment-based drugs.

Mukesh received a BSc in Immunology from the University of East London and a MSc in Pharmaceutical Medicine from the University of Surrey.

Irvan Masyulhak at Citryll

Irvan Masyulhak

Finance Business Partner

Irvan has approximately 18 years of experience in Finance Controlling and Business Partnering. His experience spans diverse geographical region including: Netherlands, Singapore, and Indonesia, and various industries: biotechnology & pharmaceuticals, FMCG, and Oil & Gas. Most recently, he served as the Head of Finance at Polpharma Biologics in Utrecht. His previous roles at multinational companies including Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi, Vico Indonesia and KRAFT Foods Singapore, have equipped him with a wealth of knowledge and expertise.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Universitas Andalas, Indonesia, and a MBA degree from Tias Business School, Netherlands.

Additionally, Irvan is a Certified Coach from International Coach Academy, highlighting his commitment to professional development and leadership.

Katerina Pardali at Citryll

Katerina Pardali

Head of Translational Medicine

Katerina Pardali is a molecular cell biologist with a Ph.D. from the Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research at Uppsala University, supervised by Carl-Henric Heldin. She completed her postdoctoral research in Ulf Landegren’s laboratory of molecular medicine, funded by the Swedish Scientific Council.

In her corporate career, Katerina has held prominent roles, including Head of Precision Medicine Discovery at AstraZeneca, Senior Translational Director at AM-Pharma, and Translational Medicine Director at Novo Nordisk. She has led translational and biomarker strategies to mitigate risks for various small and large molecule therapeutics across multiple therapeutic areas. Katerina has successfully secured funding from local and EU sources and has co-supervised industrial Ph.D. students and postdocs, collaborating on scientific projects with both industry and academic institutions.

Renowned for her innovative methodologies in clinical trials, Katerina focuses on uncovering the molecular drivers of disease and their interactions with specific therapies. She is responsible for the translational strategy, bridging research with clinical development, fostering key partnerships with CROs and academic collaborators to enhance project outcomes.

Peter Van Zandvoort at Citryll

Peter van Zandvoort

Director Bioanalytics

Peter has over twenty years’ experience in working in the R&D of the international pharmaceutical companies MSD/Organon, Khondrion and Aduro Biotech Europe, The Netherlands. At Aduro, a company advancing novel antibody therapies for immune-oncology Peter served as the Bioanalytical Lead and contributed extensively in the development of two clinical and one pre-clinical stage antibodies APRIL (BION-1301), CTLA-4 (ADU-1604) and SIRP (ADU-1805), respectively.

Peter’s contribution at Khondrion in the development of unique live-cell imaging patient derived bioassays led to the selection of clinical candidate KH176 (Sonlicromanol), which was granted an orphan drug designation by EMA/FDA and entered Phase IIb KHENERGYZE study to treat a range of mitochondrial diseases. At MSD/Organon, where he headed the cell-based bioanalytical group, he gained a lot of expertise in the performance of bioanalysis of samples from (pre)clinical trials up to Phase III with investigational biological pharmaceuticals in compliance to GLP, which resulted in the launch of Elonva®.

Prior to joining MSD/Organon, Peter worked at the Wageningen University Research Centre and at the Department of Human Genetics at the Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen, respectively. At Nijmegen he contributed substantially to the founding of the Nijmegen DNA diagnostic services.

Maarten Van Der Linden at Citryll

Maarten van der Linden

Director Disease Biology

Maarten performed his Ph.D. research at the University Medical Center Utrecht (The Netherlands), Laboratory of Translational Immunology under supervision of Professor Linde Meyaard, working on immune regulation in autoimmune diseases with the focus on inhibitory receptors and NETosis.

Maarten is responsible for further unravelling the mechanism of action (MoA) of Citryll’s antibody drug candidate, the incorporation of new MoA insight into the drug development plan and identifying new therapeutic applications for tACPA.

Frank Van Aarle at Citryll

Frank van Aarle

Head of Bioanalytics

Frank has over twenty five years of experience in working in the R&D of the pharmaceutical companies MSD/Organon the Netherlands, Merck USA and Byondis the Netherlands. At MSD/Organon, Frank served as the Bioanalytical Lead and contributed extensively in the development and launch of Arixtra (fondaparinux sodium) and ELONVA (long acting FSH). At Merck in the USA, Frank continued his work as Bioanalytical Lead and contributed to the development and launch of Keytruda (anti-PD1) and Tildrakizumab (anti-IL23). Frank’s contribution at Byondis, a company developing novel biopharmaceuticals, was mainly focussed on QC processes, where he lead the team that supported all stability and release analyses for the production of drug substance/product in compliance with GMP.

At MSD/Organon he headed the large molecule bioanalytical group, and at Merck USA, he lead the bioanalytical group in charge of sample analysis. In these positions he gained a lot of expertise in the performance of bioanalysis of samples from (pre)clinical trials up to and including Phase III with investigational biological pharmaceuticals in compliance with GLP.

Mark Krebs

CMC Director

Mark has had an international career, starting work at UCB/Celltech in the UK, moving to Wyeth/Pfizer and Biogen in the US, and Janssen Vaccines, 3D-PharmXchange and now Citryll in the Netherlands. Starting in research, he characterised antibodies and related/derived multi-valent structures, implementing strategies to maximise information with minimal protein use. Moving to development, he led teams that formulated proteins, antibodies and different viral vaccines. In parallel he did CMC work for early- and mid-stage projects, including contributions to multiple INDs. As a consultant at 3D-PharmXchange, Mark contributed to multiple projects including small molecule, protein and gene therapies, from early stage right through to (successful) BLA-application support. He was project lead for a cell therapy project, tech transferring the manufacturing and analytical process to a CDMO and filing an IMPD for a first-in-human clinical trial.

At Citryll, his role is to help develop and execute the CMC strategy, including process- and formulation development for future phases of the project, clinical manufacturing, quality control strategies and regulatory positioning. He provides the day-to-day leadership for drug product development and manufacturing.

Dorus Wilderbeek at Citryll

Dorus Wilderbeek

Sr. Clinical Project Manager

Dorus Wilderbeek is a Clinical Project Manager with 15 years of experience in global and local trial management, biomarker operations, and people management. He has held leadership positions at Acerta Pharma, Novo Nordisk, and Roche, managing teams and overseeing clinical operations across multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, diabetes and rheumatology. Dorus is skilled in project management, vendor management, and people management with expertise in phase I-III trials. He holds Master’s degrees in Science and Business Management and Biomolecular Sciences from Utrecht University.

Dorus will be responsible for the setup and conduct of clinical trials with CIT-013.

Sanne Van Der Made at Citryll

Sanne van der Made

Sr. Clinical Project Manager

Sanne van der Made is a Clinical Project Manager with over 10 years of industry experience in clinical research and a solid scientific foundation. She earned her PhD in Health Sciences from Maastricht University and began her career as an R&D Project Manager at Newtricious, where she advanced to the role of Senior R&D Manager. In this position, she was responsible for managing, initiating, and disseminating several research lines. More recently, Sanne worked as a Clinical Team Manager at a major global CRO, providing Trial Manager services to Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine and Novartis. She managed phase I-III clinical trials across both local (Belgium and The Netherlands) and EMEA levels, in therapeutic areas such as oncology and immunology. Sanne will oversee the setup and execution of clinical trials involving CIT-013.

Catarina Antunes at Citryll

Catarina Antunes

Program & Communications Manager

Catarina Antunes obtained her BSc in Bioengineering from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro and her MSc in Medicine and Molecular Oncology from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, where she specialized in cancer biology and drug resistance.

Catarina joined Citryll in July 2023 as Operations Manager. In this role, she supported operational activities across the organization and developed a strong interest in program management and strategic coordination within drug development.

Her role has since evolved into Program & Communications Manager, where she supports the execution of Citryll’s development program and strategic initiatives. Working closely with cross-functional teams and leadership, she helps drive alignment across the organization and contributes to both internal and external communications.

Sangeet Kumari at Citryll

Sangeeta Kumari

Sr. Scientist

Sangeeta got her PhD from NCCS, Pune (India) where she studied host pathogen interactions. She moved to Finland for her postdoc where she joined Prof. Sirpa Jalkanen lab in Turku University and studied the role of Stabilin-1 molecule in Acute myeloid leukemia. Continuing her research in the Netherlands, she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Jeanette Leusen at the UMC Utrecht, where she developed expertise in antibody related work. She has a keen interest to pursue her career in the development of therapeutic antibodies and joined the Citryll team in October 2019. She is now part of the Translational Medicine team, supporting the development of CIT-013 through biomarker research and the translation of scientific insights into clinical development strategies.

Stephanie Van Dalen at Citryll

Stephanie van Dalen

Sr. Scientist

Stephanie obtained her Ph.D. at the department of Experimental Rheumatology, part of the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences of the Radboud university medical center in Nijmegen. She studied the inhibition of synovitis, the driving force of osteoarthritis, either via neutralization of single inflammatory mediators or via application of versatile adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) which broadly reduce synovial inflammation. She investigated the working mechanism of ASCs in experimental osteoarthritis, and clarified the close interaction of ASCs with neutrophils.

She is now part of the Translational Medicine team, supporting the development of CIT-013 through biomarker research and the translation of scientific insights into clinical development strategies.

Reza Nadafi

Sr Scientist

Reza Nadafi is a Translational Scientist with a strong background in immunology and biomarker-driven clinical research. He earned his PhD in Immunology from Amsterdam UMC under the supervision of Prof. dr. Reina Mebius.

Reza has experience in first-in-human and early-phase clinical trials in immuno-oncology and has held translational science roles across both academia and industry. He has contributed to the development of immunotherapy programs, including cell-based therapies, oncolytic virotherapy, and bispecific antibodies. He is passionate about precision medicine and advancing biomarker-guided strategies to improve patient outcomes.

Annemarie Kip at Citryll

Annemarie Kip

Scientist

Annemarie has obtained her MSc degree in Biology from Wageningen University, after which she started working in biomedical research. She has gained experience in molecular biology, viral vector mediated gene therapy and developing conjugated antibodies for nuclear medicine.

Her great interest in antibody biology made her join Citryll in June 2021. Annemarie participates in the Disease Biology Team, studying the working mechanism of CIT-013.

Joël Guillaume

Scientist

Joël obtained his PhD at the Technical University of Aachen, where he worked on the role of antigen presentation by intestinal macrophages in shaping local T cell responses. At the Utrecht UMC, he worked in collaboration with Argenx on developing and testing various antibody formats in different tumor models. Driven by his interest in antibody biology, Joel joined Genmab in 2023 as a scientist, where he worked in the Antibody Discovery team. He was responsible for execution and management of projects that led to the generation of diverse antibody panels.

At Citryll, Joël focuses on the further clarification of the mechanism of action of CIT-013 and to investigate potential new therapeutic areas.

Dirk Boreel

Clinical Data Analyst

Dirk Boreel completed his BSc in Biology at the University Utrecht, followed by a MSc in Biomolecular Sciences at the VU Amsterdam. During this period, he did several internships in academic centers and a biotech company. At the AUMC, Princes Maxima Center and AM-Pharma he specialized in immunotherapy, cell labelling, cellular therapy, and sepsis. 

At Citryll he works as a Clinical Data Analyst supporting the clinical team and broadening the scientific foundation for CIT-013 in clinical context.     

Rezie Te Poele at Citryll

Rezie te Poele

Bioanalytical Scientific Expert

Rezie has  worked for >25 years in the pharmaceutical industry  (Organon, MSD, Aspen) and has a wide experience in protein purifications and different analytical techniques, including 10 years in ELISA assay development & troubleshooting.

At Citryll she joined the bioanalytics team responsible for the development and qualification of CMC, PK and biomarker assays that will support the clinical trials.

Tirza Bruurmijn at Citryll

Tirza Bruurmijn

Sr. Research Associate

Tirza obtained her bachelor’s degree Biology and Medical Research at the Avans University. During a previously completed education clinical chemistry and hematology and various internships she has gained experience in molecular biology, protein chemistry, cell biology and assay development. Here at Citryll she is a member of the Bioanalytics Team where assays are developed to support the clinical trials.

Eline Zwiers at Citryll

Eline Zwiers

Sr. Research Associate

Eline has obtained her MSc degree in Biomedical Sciences form Radboud University in Nijmegen. During various internships she gained experience in cell biology and molecular biology of both the innate and adaptive immunity. Here at Citryll, she works within the Disease Biology Team to provide insight on the working mechanism of CIT-013 and to investigate potential new therapeutic areas.

Kelsy Waaijenberg at Citryll

Kelsy Waaijenberg

Research Associate

Kelsy has obtained her MSc degree in Biomedical Sciences with specialization in Inflammation and Pathophysiology from Maastricht University. During previous internships she has gained experience in molecular biology and cell biology. At Citryll, she works within the Disease Biology Team to provide insight on the working mechanism of CIT-013.

Josephine Stein at Citryll

Josephine Stein

Research Associate

Josephine is a research associate that recently got her bachelor’s degree of Biology and Medical Research at Avans University. During several internships, she gained a lot of experience in organoid culturing, lenti-virus production, qPCR and flowcytometry. At Citryll it is her job to develop ELISA assays for the Bioanalytics Team, run biomarker assays in serum, plasma, and synovial fluids for the stratification of patients.

Hennie Schouten

Research Associate

Hennie obtained her master’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences from Utrecht University, where she gained strong hands-on experience in molecular and cell biology. She first joined Citryll as an intern, further expanding her experience in immunology and assay development. Following the successful completion of her internship, Hennie joined Citryll as a Research Associate and is now an integral part of the Translational Medicine Team.

Simone Kazemier

Quality Assurance Officer

Simone obtained her BSc. in Applied Biology at HAS University of Applied Sciences in ’s‑Hertogenbosch. She began her career in toxicological and QC laboratories, where she developed a strong foundation in GLP- and GMP‑regulated environments. In May 2026 she joined Citryll as part of the Quality team. In her role as Quality Assurance Officer, Simone contributes to maintaining the QMS, supports documentation processes, strengthens the quality culture, and assists in both internal and external audits.

Ghislaine Monchen Citryll

Ghislaine Monchen

Sr Executive Assistant

Ghislaine is a driven and versatile management support person on our team. With her years of experience as an independent entrepreneur and her background in hospitality and entrepreneurship, she brings knowledge and flexibility. She supports the team in various areas and enthusiastically picks up diverse projects of importance to the organization. Thanks to her proactive attitude and structured approach, Ghislaine ensures that everything runs smoothly, allowing the team to perform at its best.

Paul Peter Tak at Citryll

Paul Peter Tak, M.D. Ph.D. FMedSci.

Chair of the Board of Directors

Paul Peter Tak received his medical degree cum laude from the Amsterdam University Medical Center (AUMC) and was trained as an internist, rheumatologist and immunologist at Leiden University Medical Center, where he also received his PhD. He has worked as a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of California San Diego. Next, he served as Professor of Medicine and founding Chair of the Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at the AUMC. His scientific work includes pioneering work on the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (inflammatory reflex) in models of chronic inflammation and he led the first clinical trial of vagus nerve stimulation in rheumatoid arthritis. This work has provided a platform from which to explore bioelectronics as a therapeutic approach in autoimmune disease.He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals (> 600 publications, H-index 151, ranked #123 in the 2024 Edition of the World Ranking of Top 1000 Scientists in the area of Immunology), and served on numerous editorial boards, including as Co-Editor of Arthritis & Rheumatism.

He received the Medal of Honour from the Netherlands Society for Rheumatology, was elected ‘Toparts Reumatologie’ (Elected by peers as ‘Best Rheumatologist’ in the Netherlands based on his clinical work making innovative therapies accessible to patients), was awarded Honorary Membership by EULAR and has been elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in the U.K. He is a 2021 PharmaVOICE100 honoree (100 most inspiring people in life sciences) and included in ‘The Medicine Maker Power List’ in 2023 and 2024 (30 influential and inspirational leaders across small molecule, biopharmaceutical, and cell and gene therapy development and manufacture).

At GlaxoSmithKline he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Immunology Officer, and Global Development Leader. He oversaw the creation of a portfolio of new medicines, including belimumab sc (approved in 2017 [Benlysta® sc]), mafodotin (approved in 2020 [Blenrep®]), cabotegravir/rilpivirine (approved in 2021 [Cabenuva®]), tapinarof (acquired by Dermavant Sciences; approved in 2022 [VTAMAR®]), and gepotidacin (approved in 2025 [Blujepa®]). He was the Chair of the Scientific Review Board, the governing body accountable for the scientific assessment of GSK’s R&D portfolio.

He has served as President and CEO of Tempero Pharmaceuticals (acquired by GSK), President and CEO of Kintai Therapeutics (acquired by Senda Biosciences), and is currently Board Director of Sitryx Therapeutics (co-founder), , Levicept, and Citryll (Chair). In addition, he is the President & CEO of Candel Therapeutics, where he oversaw the IPO on the Nasdaq

Fiona MacLaughlin at Citryll

Fiona MacLaughlin, Ph.D.

Non-executive Director

Fiona is a Senior Director, Venture Investments, at Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc, the strategic venture arm of Johnson & Johnson. Prior to joining JJDC, Fiona was a Director at Inkef Capital, where she led both pharma and MedTech investments, and held board seats in a number of portfolio companies. As a qualified pharmacist, Fiona is passionate about helping early-stage companies establish a value-building trajectory by engaging and challenging management, and creating optimal development plans. Fiona began her career in biotech focusing on the development of non-viral gene therapy and other novel delivery solutions. A fundamental interest in philanthropy led her to the Wellcome Trust and a focus on translational funding, including establishing a fund to support the development of affordable healthcare technologies in India. Fiona’s transition to venture investing began with a move to Advent Life Sciences, where she was involved in helping shape and build a number of early-stage companies, including Arrakis Therapeutics. Fiona is a pharmacist by training and has a Ph.D. in drug delivery from Nottingham University.

Geert Jan Mulder at Citryll

Geert-Jan Mulder, M.D.

Non-executive Director

Geert-Jan Mulder MD, is one of the co-founding Managing Partners at Forbion and led the firm’s investments of several portfolio companies including Mariana (sold to Novartis in 2024), Sanifit (sold to Vifor in 2021), KaNDy Therapeutics (sold to Bayer in 2020), Enterprise Therapeutics (sold to Roche in 2020), Promedior (sold to Roche in 2020), Exsosome (sold to Bio-Techne in 2018), bluebirdbio (IPO on Nasdaq 2013: BLUE), Acorda (IPO on Nasdaq 2006: ACOR), PanGenetics (sold to Abbott in 2009) and Transave (reverse-merged with Insmed, listed on Nasdaq in 2010: INSM). In this capacity, Geert-Jan has authored and co-authored several scientific publications from Forbion and Forbion-portfolio companies.

Before joining the venture industry in 2001, Geert-Jan spent several years in the pharmaceutical industry in clinical development and global medical marketing for Searle (now Pfizer) and Byk Gulden (now Takeda). Geert-Jan received his Medical Degree from the University of Utrecht (NL) and spent two years of residency in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University Medical Centre of Utrecht.

Florian Muellershausen at Citryll

Florian Muellershausen, Ph.D.

Non-executive Director

Florian Muellershausen, Ph.D., is a Managing Director at the Novartis Venture Fund in Basel, Switzerland. Prior to joining NVF, he worked as a Scientific Manager for the R&D Committee of the Novartis Board of Directors. Before that, he held various drug discovery roles in Novartis R&D including positions as Laboratory Head in target discovery, and as Translational Medicine Expert, Autoimmunity in early clinical research. Florian received his MSc degree in Biochemistry from Free University Berlin, his PhD with great distinction in Biochemistry from Ruhr University Bochum, and his postdoctoral training at Novartis in Switzerland.
Nora Frey at Citryll

Nora Frey, Ph.D.

Non-executive Director

Nora brings more than 23 years of professional experience in healthcare research, investment, management and business development. She co-founded several companies and has assumed board- and chairman-ship roles over the years of companies in different sectors including biotech, nutrition and financial/investment.
She studied modern biology and economics in Basel and holds a masters degree in Microbiology and a PhD in Biochemistry in the field of Immunology from the University of Basel.

Nora was part of the BB Biotech management team (Bellevue Group, Switzerland) managing USD 4 bn in public and private biotech investments. Nora then founded Adamant Biomedical Investments AG in Basel, Switzerland, a successful healthcare asset management boutique, managing different healthcare funds. As CIO, she headed research and portfolio management. Among several other awards, Nora was voted finalist in the Ernst&Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Switzerland.

After selling the company to Zürich Cantonal Bank, Nora co-founded Cederberg GmbH, a Swissmedic-registered and regulated company licensing and distributing prescription pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
Nora also has been involved in the project management of several pre-clinical stage molecules. In 2019, Nora joined Seventure Partners as venture partner based in Basel.

Daniela Couto at Citryll

Daniela Couto, Ph.D.

Non-executive Director

Daniela Couto is a Partner with BGV (BioGeneration Ventures). She joined BGV in 2015 and serves on the board of Catalym, an antibody oncology company.

Daniela served as Managing Director of cardiovascular-focused Staten Biotech, an antibody company that is now collaborating with Novo Nordisk (€ 430 million potential deal). Previously, she was co-founder and CEO at Cell2B, a life sciences company dedicated to treating immune and inflammatory diseases.

Daniela holds a M.Sc. degree with honors in Biomedical Engineering from Universidade do Minho and a PhD degree with the highest honors in Bioengineering from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) – Technical University of Lisbon and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT-Portugal Program).

Martin Munchbach at Citryll

Martin Münchbach, Ph.D.

Observer

Martin is a founding partner of Pureos Bioventures where he holds the position of Managing Partner. He has been a venture capital investor since 1999, investing in life science companies across all stages and types. Prior to Pureos, he was senior investment advisor private equity at Bellevue Asset Management.

Martin graduated from ETH Zürich and obtained his PhD in Protein Chemistry and his MAS in Management, Technology and Economics from ETH Zürich, Switzerland.

Helmuth Van Es at Citryll

Helmuth van Es, Ph.D.

Observer

Helmuth is founder and former CEO of Citryll and a distinguished biomedical entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in the biotech sector. He holds an MSc in Biology/Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Medicine from the University of Amsterdam, with postdoctoral research at prestigious institutions like Einstein College of Medicine and McGill University. His research focused on genetic disorders, drug resistance in malaria, and the human genome. Helmuth began his career in biotech as a senior scientist at IntroGene (later Crucell, now J&J), where he developed stem cell-based gene therapies for Gaucher disease. At IntroGene, he co-founded Galapagos alongside former Crucell CEO Ronald Brus, and played a pivotal role in its transformation into a leading drug discovery company. As Head of Science at Galapagos, he laid the groundwork for the development Jyseleca®, an approved drug for rheumatoid arthritis, and forged critical multimillion-dollar R&D alliances with major pharmaceutical companies. In 2006, Helmuth became CSO at Stem Cell Innovations, where he established a European R&D site and initiated CNS drug discovery partnerships. He later co-founded Audion Therapeutics, spun out from Harvard’s medical school’s MEEI with Eli Lilly and Inkef Capital as investors where he served as CSO and Board member, developing therapies for acquired hearing loss. Helmuth was instrumental in the development of the small molecule Notch inhibitor LY3056480 he co-invented, which advanced to phase 2 clinical trials with promising results. Helmuth also co-founded Antabio, a clinical-stage company developing next-generation antibacterials, and led it as CBO and board director including as chair of the board. He contributed to raising €75 million in funding, from VCs and government agencies. Additionally, he co-founded Effecta Pharma, focused on small molecule antivirals, and served on the board of Spinnovation Analytical, which was acquired by Eurofins. Helmuth was member of the Hifibio advisory board until 2019 and co-founded Citryll in 2015, where he served as CEO until March 2023. He successfully raised €30 million for Citryll’s groundbreaking antibody program targeting immune-mediated diseases. Under his leadership, Citryll reached clinical stage and raised a €85 million Series B round in 2024. He now serves as an observer on Citryll’s board. In addition to his work at Citryll, Helmuth is a senior advisor at UpyTher, a member of Curie Capital’s investment advisory committee, independent non-executive director at Cantoni Therapeutics and since February 2025 special advisor to the CEO of HiFiBio in Cambridge USA. His entrepreneurial journey spans significant contributions to drug discovery, clinical development, and innovative therapies across multiple diseases.

Professor John Hamilton

Scientific Advisor

John Hamilton is a Professor in the Department of Medicine (RMH) at the University of Melbourne (UoM). He was awarded the Australian Rheumatology Association Distinguished Service Medal (2010), the American College of Rheumatology Distinguished Basic Investigator Award (2010) and the International Association of Inflammation Societies Lifetime Achievement Award (2019), and was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (2019).

He made the transition from a PhD in chemistry at UoM to postdoctoral training in biochemistry, microbiology and immunology followed by ten years total at Basel Institute for Immunology, Ontario Cancer Institute, Rockefeller University and Sloan‐Kettering Institute for Cancer Research. He returned to UoM as a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Research Fellow in 1981. Between 1993‐2015 he was a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow and given the title Professor by UoM in 1993.

He is an author of 380 refereed publications. His major contributions have been towards the understanding of cytokine‐mediated functions of macrophage lineage cells in inflammation/autoimmunity, particularly in arthritis disease and pain. More specifically, he was the first to suggest and demonstrate that GM-CSF can be a pro-inflammatory cytokine and has analyzed the molecular pathways involved in the actions of GM-CSF and CSF-1 on monocytes/macrophages. He has consulted for and collaborated with several pharmaceutical/biotech companies and has held a number of patents. Successful trials have arisen from his work with others ongoing. His research has implications for many aspects of inflammation and pathology.

Professor Paul Kubes

Scientific Advisor

Professor Paul Kubes is an internationally recognised leader in the fields of leukocyte recruitment, inflammation, and immune cell function, with significant contributions to understanding inflammatory disease and tissue repair. He is currently a Professor at Queen’s University, where he holds a Canada Excellence Research Chair, and previously served as a Professor at the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine and the Founding Director of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases for 15 years. He also holds a Canada Research Chair in Leukocyte Recruitment in Inflammatory Disease. Professor Kubes’ research has been widely published in top-tier journals including Cell, Science, Nature, Lancet, and JCI, and his recent discoveries include a novel role for peritoneal macrophages in visceral organ healing. His work has been recognised with numerous awards, such as the CIHR Investigator of the Year, the Alberta Science and Technology Award, and the Henry Friesen Award.

Beyond his scientific contributions, Professor Kubes has held several national leadership roles in health research. He has served on numerous CIHR review panels, including those for Immunology and Cardiovascular research, the CIHR Scholar and Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship panels, and was a member of the CIHR Governing Council. He currently serves as Chair of the CIHR College of Review Chairs and co-chairs the Gairdner Research Committee. He holds a B.Sc. (Honours) in Biological Sciences, and an M.S., and Ph.D. in Physiology from Queen’s University.

Tim Hammond at citryll

Professor Tim Hammond

Scientific Advisor

Professor Tim Hammond has more than 35 years of experience in pharmaceutical drug Discovery and Development and was a former Vice President of Safety Assessment in the UK for AstraZeneca. He has wide experience in toxicology required to take candidate drugs through selection and each phase of clinical development up to and including marketing authorisation. Since 2012 he has been an independent consultant. Tim has experience in supporting a wide range of therapeutic areas including respiratory, inflammation, oncology, neuroscience, infection and cardiovascular.

Tim is a past President of the British Toxicology Society, is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, is a member of the American Society of Toxicology and was a founding member of the International Safety Pharmacology Society who awarded him the Distinguished Scientist Award in 2007.

Dr. James Krueger

Clinical Advisor

Dr James G. Krueger is Head of the Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology at The Rockefeller University in New York, NY, USA. He also serves as Physician and Co-director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at the Rockefeller University Hospital, and as Chief Executive Officer of the Rockefeller University Hospital.

Dr Krueger earned his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University (Princeton, NJ, USA) and a PhD degree in virology and cell biology from The Rockefeller University. He received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College (New York City), where he also completed an internship in internal medicine and a residency in dermatology. Dr Krueger is certified by the American Board of Dermatology.

His research group at The Rockefeller University was the first to conduct clinical trials with specific, targeted immune antagonists in psoriasis and this work established that elimination of pathogenic Tcells from skin lesions could reverse the full pathological phenotype of psoriasis. Since then, his group has used immune-based therapeutics to dissect inflammatory pathways in psoriasis, Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), and Atopic dermatitis (AD) as well as other inflammatory skin conditions, and to conduct parallel pharmacogenomic studies that define mechanisms of targeted therapeutics in human populations. Dr Krueger has been an advocate of bidirectional translational research (bench to bedside and back) in humans to dissect pathogenic pathways that cannot be studied in animal models, particularly for skin diseases.

Professor John Frew

Clinical Advisor

Professor Frew, MBBS, MMed, MS, PhD, FACD, is a clinical dermatologist and Director of Research at The Skin Hospital in Sydney, Australia. He is a conjoint Associate Professor of dermatology at the University of New South Wales and is the current editor in chief of the Australasian Journal of Dermatology. He currently holds a clinical appointment at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney, Australia and is Head of the Laboratory of Translational Cutaneous Medicine at the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research. A/Prof Frew has authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles and has a special interest in the pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms of inflammatory dermatoses including Hidradenitis Suppurativa.

Dr. Patrick Verschueren

Clinical Advisor

Patrick Verschueren is a Rheumatologist and Head of Clinics at the Division of Rheumatology, University Hospital Leuven. He is also full Professor of Rheumatology at the Skeletal Biology and Engineering Research Centre, Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Belgium.

His main interest as a clinician and clinical scientist is in the management of early rheumatoid arthritis. He is coordinating investigator of the academic multicenter CareRA studies in early RA.

Since more than two decades Professor Verschueren is involved as principal investigator and advisor in clinical trials for patients with rheumatoid arthritis organized by pharmaceutical companies.