Management Team
Aplagon is led by an international team with broad experience across pharmaceutical research and development, patient care in vascular diseases, finance and developing companies in the life science sector.
Aki Prihti
Chief Executive Officer; M.Sc. (Econ. and BA)
Aki joined Aplagon as CEO in February 2015.
He is one of the founders of Inveni Capital, a life science focused venture capital fund, and serves as a board member in Herantis Pharma Oyj, Medtentia International Ltd Oy and Rokote Laboratories Finland Oy. Aki has been involved in setting up and developing several life science companies. Aki has more than twenty years of experience in life science growth companies, both in operational and board roles.
Riitta Lassila
Chief Scientific Officer, Co-founder; MD, PhD, Professor
Riitta is co-founder and CSO of Aplagon.
She is also Head of the Coagulation Disorders Unit at Helsinki University Hospital and Professor in Coagulation Medicine at Helsinki University.
Riitta trained in internal medicine and has many years of experience across thrombosis and haemostasis research; she was previously a group leader at the Wihuri Research Institute in Helsinki. She is the author of over 300 peer-reviewed publications, review articles and book chapters and an author on Aplagon’s APAC product patents. She has served as a steering committee member of EUHASS and EAHAD, a European hemophilia and allied disorders program. She sits on the advisory boards of several pharmaceutical companies. She is advisor to WHO and Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). She is an elected member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.
Sakari Lassila
Chairman of the Board, Co-founder; M.Sc. (Econ. and BA)
Sakari has over 30 years of experience in international commercial and investment banking, corporate finance and investment company management, where he has held senior positions at Union Bank of Finland (now part of Nordea), Citibank, Alfred Berg and Carnegie.
Sakari is now active as a Board member in private and listed companies and a non-profit foundation.
Harry Holthöfer
Non-Executive Director, MD, PhD, Professor
Harry brings a wealth of international experience in translational research in diabetes, cardiovascular and kidney diseases.
He served as Professor of Bioanalytical Sciences and Director and Chair of the Centre for BioAnalytical Sciences at Dublin City University from 2006-2016 and is currently Research Director at University of Helsinki, Finland, Adjunct Professor at University of Shenzhen, China and Visiting Professor at University of Hamburg, Germany. Harry is also co-founder and CEO of three start-up biotech companies.
Kai Lindevall
Non-Executive Director, Co-founder; MD, PhD
Kai is former President and CEO of Encorium Group. He brings over twenty years of senior management and entrepreneurship experience in the life sciences sector gained at pharmaceutical, biotech and CRO companies. He was one of the founders of Remedium (a predecessor to Encorium) and Ipsat Therapies, and has served as Medical Advisor to Farmos, Medical Director to Rhône-Poulenc Rorer and as Associate Director of Research at Wihuri Research Institute in Helsinki, where he led his own research group involved in thrombosis research. Kai is the Chairman of the newly established company Siltana Ltd, developing new mobile solutions to improve drug safety and real world data access.
Steven Myint
Non-Executive Director, MD, PhD, Professor
Steve is an advisor to the chairman of Singapore’s Agency for Science and Technology, amongst other governmental organizations. Previous roles include Executive Chairman of Green Signal Bio, one of India’s largest independent vaccine manufacturers, Global Medical Director of GlaxoSmithKline and Senior Vice-President for R&D/Chief Medical Officer at BTG International. He is actively involved in innovative biotech companies and co-founded Finland’s largest accelerator fund.
He is a Fellow or Member of several UK societies, including the Institute of Knowledge Transfer, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal Society of Medicine.