Our Philosophy
At AVIGI Therapeutics, we hold a fundamental belief: "While molecules form the basis of medicines, it's the ingenuity of people that drives breakthroughs." Today's advanced landscape of drug development applies AI in many facets of drug design and development using physics data and real world data and robotized labs conduct experiments to prove assumptions. Yet we acknowledge and hold deeply that our greatest strength lies not just in our tools, but in the collaborative efforts and innovative minds that propel our scientific programs forward.
The Team
Vincent Lit, PhD
Founder & CEO
Vincent has obtained his PhD from Leiden University and decided to translate his academic discoveries into a company that can make an impact in medicine development. LinkedIn
Rana Ramadan
Translational Scientist
Rana's PhD focused on identifying mechanisms that drive treatment resistance in oncology. She focused on translating these insights into therapeutic strategies to help patients. LinkedIn
Arian Khoshchin, MSc
Founder & CDO
Arian is a start-up operator, trained in Biopharmaceutical Sciences and Industrial Pharmacy with a decade of biopharma development experience. LinkedIn
Helena Ehren, PhD
Process & Analytical Scientist
Helena is a passionate organic chemist and during her PhD focused on the glycans and the glycan metabolising apparatus. She plays basketball, likes skiing, reading and playing the piano. LinkedIn
Advisory Team
World Class Expertise
Prof. Dr. Adam Cohen
Clinical Advisor
Adam is a world class clinical pharmacologist and physician. He has been involved in early drug development, including the initial human trials of lamotrigine, a key treatment for epilepsy and bipolar disorder. He founded CHDR in Leiden, a leading early-phase CRO, and has held roles such as chairman of the Netherlands Competent Authority for Clinical Trials and Editor in Chief of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
Prof. Dr. Johan van der Vlag
Scientific Advisor
Johan is Professor of Experimental Nephrology at Radboud. His pioneering research has been fundamental in establishing the enzyme heparanase as a key driver of renal damage and proteinuria. He is a world-renowned authority on the molecular mechanisms of immune-mediated and non-immune-mediated kidney diseases, with a specific focus on the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease (DKD)..
Prof. Dr. Hiddo Heerspink
Clinical Advisor
Hiddo is Professor of Clinical Trials and Personalized Medicine at the UMCG and a leading clinical trialist in renal and cardiovascular medicine. He has successfully led numerous landmark global clinical trials, including the DAPA-CKD, FIND-CKD, and ZENITH High Proteinuria studies. Beyond his academic roles in the Netherlands and Australia, he co-chairs the CAPTIVATE platform trial and serves on the editorial boards of several prestigious medical journals.
Founding Advisors
Pivotal to our technology and inception
Prof. Herman Overkleeft
Technology Advisor
Herman is an expert in glycosidase chemical biology at Professor of chemical Biology at Leiden Univeristy. His research led to the creation of Azafaros, a biotech company that successfully advanced glycoprocessing enzyme inhibitors to clinical trials.
Prof. Gideon Davies
Structural Biology Advisor
Gideon is a renowned scientist and academic. He is best known for his work on carbohydrate-active enzymes, notably analyzing the conformational and mechanistic basis for catalysis and applying this for societal benefit.
Dr. Liang Wu
Scientific Advisor
Liang studied Medicinal Chemistry at UCL, followed by a PhD at Cambridge studying the interactions between proteins and noncoding RNAs. He then moved to York for a postdoc, investigating the structures of sugar processing enzymes and their roles in biology, which is where his interest remains today.
Alessandro Noseda, MD
Scientific Advisor
Alessandro is a medical doctor and global drug development leader with over 30 years of experience in the pharma and biotech sector. He headed development of previous class of heparanase inhibitors to phase 2 trials.