Experience
Dirk has gained deep commercial
experience for more than 25 years at 2 leading pharma companies Eli Lilly and
Janssen-Cilag (Johnson & Johnson). He was responsible for the launches and
international strategic marketing of different products including Prozac
(US/Belgium), Pariet (global) and Prepulsid (global). He was selected for
streamlining JNJ’s e-business and became VP for new business development in
Europe.
In 2006, Dirk co-founded Movetis NV,
a JNJ spin-off for GI assets. As CEO, he was instrumental in raising more than
EUR €200 million over four years. Movetis had Resolor (prokinetic) approved in
2009 for chronic constipation and launched in four countries with
reimbursement. The same year, the company went public on Euronext and in 2010
was acquired by Shire. Dirk worked two years for Shire as Managing director for
the GI business in Europe.
In 2012 he founded Progress Pharma,
an asset development company, with a team of experienced managers. With this
team he supported Lipid Therapeutics in a deal with Nestle and co-founded
eTheRNA, a spin-off from the University of Brussels with a breakthrough mRNA
based immunotherapy for cancer & infectious diseases. In 2018, he worked
with the founders as interim CEO of Spectricity, a spin-off from imec. He is
board member of Spectricity, chairman of Flanders.bio, the organization of >
300 Flemish biotech companies and Chairman of Across Health, a global health
CRM company.
Education
MBA commercial & business engineering
Kellogg’s Chicago
MSc Pharmacist
University of Antwerp
Interests
biking, tennis, old-timer rally’s, president of Rotary, president of Moved to Help, organizing music events