Innovation in Gene and Protein Introduction

Management Team

The management team consists of two executive members:

Dr. Willem J. van Oort (CEO), who has a PhD in chemistry/pharmacology and has worked for many years as group leader in this field of research (anticancer drug development). Later he became CEO of Licentec, one of the first Dutch licensing companies, and he currently works as an independent business expert and CEO of a few university start-ups. He has more than 23 years of experience in spin-offs and business development in life sciences. He founded 8 university spin-offs and 2 seed capital companies.

Dr. Remko Offringa (CSO), who has a PhD in plant biotechnology. During his PhD research he worked at the plant biotech company MOGEN (later Zeneca Mogen and Syngenta Mogen) in Leiden where he developed the Agrobacterium system for gene targeting in plants. After his PhD he worked at Leiden University in the field of signal transduction in plant development and he has 13 years of experience as group leader, supervising a team of PhD students, technicians and post-docs. In the last 4.5 years he was outsourced by Leiden University for part of his time to establish and build up Add2X, initially financed through a Biopartner first stage grant. During this time he participated in the Biopartner masterclass on Biobusiness.

Two senior scientists complete the management team, specifically:

Dr. Paulo de Boer (Senior Scientist), who obtained his PhD in molecular microbiology at Utrecht University. There, he worked on the mechanisms of genetic variation of pathogenic bacteria. Before coming over to Add2X, he studied ribosome biogenesis in yeast at the Free University of Amsterdam. His core activities with Add2X concern the development of efficient systems for targeted DNA integration in filamentous fungi, currently focusing on Penicillium chrysogenum in a strategic alliance with DSM.

Dr. Monique Compier (Senior Scientist), who did her PhD research at the Laboratory of Plant Breeding of Wageningen University and graduated in plant molecular biology and biochemistry. During her PhD research she worked on the modification of polysaccharide networks in plant cell walls in order to improve the industrial processing of plant fibers. After a short period in the area of industrial research grants she joined the Add2X team where her research activities concern the establishment of efficient targeted DNA integration in plants and the induction of somatic embryogenesis by protein delivery into plant cells.

Advisory Board
Prof. Rob Schilperoort is advisor of the Management Team. Prof. Schilperoort is the inventor of the worldwide used technology to introduce foreign genes into the genome of plants, specifically the BVS-system. He has extended experience in all aspects of molecular biology of and with plants, and the application thereof in food, pharmaceutical and industrial markets.

Prof. Paul Hooykaas is co-founder and scientific advisor of Add2X Biosciences BV. He is co-inventor of the BVS system, and is a leading scientist in the field of gene and protein introduction. Together with Dr. Remko Offringa, he developed the Agrobacterium vector system for targeted gene delivery in plants and other eukaryotic organisms. Recent findings in the Hooykaas group have uncovered a new bacterial delivery system for (poly)peptides that is one of the core platforms of Add2X Biosciences BV.

Prof. Dr. Kees van den Hondel is scientific advisor. He has an international reputation for innovation and high quality outputs in the area of developing filamentous fungi, mainly Aspergillus niger, as a cell factory for the secreted production of peptides and proteins. He spent many years at TNO where his methodical development of the necessary tools enabled him to become an international focal point in this area of research, and an important interface with the relevant industries in this area. He has experience with transformation of more than 70 different fungi.

info@add2x.com - Wassenaarseweg 64 - 2333AL - Leiden