Company

Desentum’s team

Allergy is a worldwide problem that causes significant social and economic burden. Approximately one billion people are affected by different allergic diseases. There is no known cure for allergies, and the current treatment options are not sufficient for all patients.

Desentum is a research-oriented, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specialized in developing novel types of allergen immunotherapy products that are based on switching the immune system’s response to allergens from hypersensitivity to tolerance. The goal is to provide long-term relief for patients suffering from allergic symptoms. Desentum’s product development targets both aeroallergens and food allergens.

Desentum was founded in 2011 as a spin-off from VTT technical Research Centre of Finland, following scientific discoveries made by research groups at the University of Eastern Finland and VTT about the mechanism triggering allergic reactions. These two research groups are still Desentum’s main R&D collaborators. Desentum has created several promising hypoallergen candidates for immunotherapeutic treatment of different allergies and developed a novel formulation for controlled release of the active substance after injection.

The lead asset, DM-101PX targeted against birch pollen allergy, is currently in early clinical development. Hypoallergens for other allergies, such as peanut, grass pollen and cat allergies are in preclinical development.

Desentum has received funding from Business Finland, European Innovation Council, and private investors.

Board Of Directors

Hans Söderlund

Chairman of the Board

Introduction

Hans Söderlund is one of the founders of Desentum and a member of the board. He has a long experience in molecular biology and biotechnology.

After 10 years in academia Hans moved to a Finnish health care company Orion Pharma to set up a biotechnology unit for drug discovery and molecular diagnostics. In 1991 he joined the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), first to act as a professor in genetic engineering, and later the vice president, strategic research. Currently, he is the chairman of the board of the University of Oulu, and a board member in Paras Biopharmaceuticals, a Finnish biotech company specialized in production technologies for peptide hormones.

Hans holds a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Helsinki.

Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber

Member of the Board

Introduction

Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber is an Associated Professor at the Medical University of Vienna. She is leading a research group that studies the mechanisms and risk factors of allergy and models of allergic disease. She has published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and is a frequent speaker at scientific congresses and events arranged by national and international scientific societies, like EAACI (European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology) and the Austrian Society of Allergy and Immunology. She is also a practising medical doctor, specialising in clinical immunology, treating patients with allergies and other immune-mediated diseases. Moreover, she holds a Ph.D. degree in natural sciences from the University of Salzburg. Eva has a vast experience in immunology, pathophysiology, and allergy research. Her core scientific expertise is in food allergies and models for studying the mechanisms of allergies as well as allergy treatment and prevention strategies. Eva joined Desentum’s board of directors in 2022.

Adriaan Hart de Ruijter

Member of the board; Managing Director, Cascara Ventures

Introduction

Adriaan founded Cascara Ventures to create value in life science, combining his experience in clinical development with venture capital finance. Cascara emphasizes early-stage investing and active management of portfolio companies.

Adriaan co-founded MSOURCE, the CRO for the medical device, biotech and pharmaceutical industry in 1994. In his role as managing director he worked together with many teams to provide accurate and efficient development programs for drugs, devices and vaccines. MSOURCE was sold to TUV-SUD in 2008. Adriaan presently serves on the board of many life science companies.

Adriaan holds an M.D. degree from the University of Leiden and an MBA of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Juha Rouvinen

Member of the Board

Introduction

Juha Rouvinen is one of the founders of Desentum. He holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Joensuu. He started his career at the University of Uppsala, determining the first three-dimensional crystal structure of cellulase. Since 1990 he has held positions at the University of Joensuu and the Academy of Finland until 2001 when he was appointed professor in organic chemistry, especially structural studies of biomolecules, at the University of Joensuu. He has published approximately 100 papers in refereed scientific journals.

Juha’s research area is structural biology, especially protein crystallography. His group has solved a number of protein crystal structures important for different biotechnological applications as well as for biomedicine. In 2008 his group published the structure of allergen-IgE/(Fab) immunocomplex, being the first group in the world to show a complete IgE epitope for an allergen.

In 2007-2009 Juha was a dean of the Faculty of the Science, University of Joensuu. Now he is a vice head of the department of Chemistry at University of Eastern Finland and a member of board, Finnish Union of University Professors.

Our team

Pekka Mattila

CEO, Desentum

Introduction

Pekka co-founded Desentum in 2011 and has acted as the chief executive officer since then. Pekka has an extensive experience of managing biotech companies. Prior to founding Desentum, he was the co-founder of a Finnish biotech company Finnzymes Ltd and acted as its CEO for 25 years until 2010, when the company was acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Pekka is currently a board member in several biotech and pharmaceutical companies including TILT Biotherapeutics Oy, Aiforia Oy and Oy Medix Biochemica Ab. He has also been in the boards of Herantis Pharma Oyj and Mobidiag Oy.

Pekka holds a M.Sc. degree from Helsinki University of Technology in biochemistry, biotechnology and microbiology.

Dirk-Jan Opstelten

CSO, Desentum

Introduction

Dirk-Jan Opstelten has 25 years of experience in preclinical and clinical development of therapeutic proteins and vaccines. For more than a decade, he worked for HAL Allergy, a Dutch company focusing on the development and commercial manufacturing of allergen immunotherapy. Dirk-Jan has held several leadership positions at HAL Allergy, involving oversight and strategic vision of R&D, medical and regulatory functions. He has extensive experience in manufacturing, clinical development, and regulatory aspects of allergen immunotherapy products. In 2019, he established his own consulting company, Opstelten Life Science Consultancy, through which he supports life science companies in managing their R&D projects and product pipelines, stakeholder relations and regulatory interactions. Dirk-Jan joined Desentum’s team in 2020 as a consultant and later as a member of the board.

Dirk-Jan Holds a Ph.D. degree in virology from the Utrecht University.

Kristiina Takkinen

Senior Principal Scientist, VTT Technical Research Center of Finland

Introduction

Kristiina is one of the founders of Desentum. She holds a PhD in biochemistry and a title of adjunct professor (docent) at the University of Helsinki. Her main research area has been the discovery and engineering of recombinant antibodies for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. During the recent years her research focus has been the interaction between IgE antibodies and allergens, and its significance in the allergic reactions.

Kristiina started her career in the recombinant DNA laboratory at the University of Helsinki. Since 1988 she has been working at VTT as a principal scientist and team leader for the immunotechnology group. In 2005–2013 she held the position of research professor in bioanalytics at VTT and the University of Oulu. Currently, Kristiina is a senior principal scientist at VTT, developing new methods in bioanalytics and allergy therapy.

Kristiina has published over 40 papers in refereed scientific journals. She has 6 patents and 9 patent applications.

Juha Rouvinen

Professor, University of Eastern Finland, Department of Chemistry

Introduction

Juha is one of the founders of Desentum. He holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Joensuu. He started his career at the University of Uppsala, determining the first three-dimensional crystal structure of cellulase. Since 1990 he has held positions at the University of Joensuu and the Academy of Finland until 2001 when he was appointed professor in organic chemistry, especially structural studies of biomolecules, at the University of Joensuu. He has published approximately 100 papers in refereed scientific journals.

Janne Jänis

Professor, University of Eastern Finland, Department of Chemistry

Introduction

Janne is one of the founders of Desentum. He obtained his PhD degree in organic chemistry in 2005 from the University of Joensuu. After graduation, he started his independent academic career as a postdoctoral researcher (funded by the Academy of Finland) at the Department of Chemistry, University of Joensuu, mainly working on high-resolution mass spectrometry of proteins. He was appointed assistant professor in 2008, an acting professor in 2009, and finally professor of organic chemistry in 2011. He is also an adjunct professor (docent) of mass spectrometry at the University of Helsinki. He has published more than 70 papers in refereed scientific journals.

Janne’s main research area is mass spectrometry of biomolecules, especially proteins and peptides. He was among the first ones in Finland to employ high-resolution mass spectrometry for structural characterization of proteins, and pioneered the use of native mass spectrometry technique for protein interaction studies. His main research interests include intact protein characterization by top-down mass spectrometry, analysis of protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions as well as structure and redox-chemistry of metalloproteins. His group also utilizes high-resolution mass spectrometry for complex mixture analysis, especially chemical fingerprinting of biomass based bio-oils.

Janne is currently a head of mass spectrometry and bioanalytical chemistry research group at UEF Chemistry. Apart from research, he teaches organic chemistry and mass spectrometry at the undergraduate and graduate student levels. He has been a frequent invited speaker in scientific conferences and training schools in Finland and abroad. He has been active and held several administrative duties in scientific societies, including Chemist Association of Eastern Finland (board member 2000-2002; chairman 2003) and Finnish Mass Spectrometry Society (board member 2003-2004; chairman 2005-2008). He is also a vice representative for Biocenter Kuopio in Biocenter Finland structural biology network.

Kati Sallinen

Director, Strategy & Communications, Desentum

Introduction

Kati has an MSc degree in biotechnology from the University of Kuopio (later the University of Eastern Finland). She started her career as a research scientist at the University of Helsinki. In 1999 she joined Finnzymes Oy, a Finnish biotechnology company, where she initially worked as a product manager and later as a marketing communications manager. When Finnzymes was acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2010, Kati continued in an international marketing team as a product marketing manager, focusing in online marketing and web content management of molecular biology products. In 2014 Kati worked for City-Lab Oy, a customer service company in Biomedicum Helsinki. She joined Desentum in April 2015. In her current role, she supports the CEO and the management team in planning and implementation of Desentum’s strategy and communications.

Anna Nilson

Head of Clinical Operations, Desentum

Introduction

Anna has 25 years of experience in clinical operations. She has worked for both small and large companies as well as a contract research organization (CRO). In the beginning of her career, she coordinated international clinical studies at pharmaceutical companies such as Leiras and Zeneca, and managed clinical trial activities for a CRO company Medfiles. She has also managed and coordinated clinical development projects for novel drugs and medical devices at Hormos Medical and Novagenesis. Later on, Anna has worked for large pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb in the role of Scientific Advisor, maintaining relationships to key opinion leaders and organizing activities requiring scientific input. Before joining Desentum in 2018, Anna led a global clinical team at PerkinElmer for six years, being responsible for clinical study strategies of in vitro medical device products to support market access. At Desentum, Anna is responsible for clinical operations and relations with external clinical partners.

Anna holds an MSc degree in biology in the University of Turku.

Ulla Sairanen

Senior Clinical Trial Manager, Desentum

Introduction

Ulla has almost 25 years of experience from pharmaceutical industry, most of which in a Finland-based global pharmaceutical company Orion. As a CRA, she acted as a Study Monitor in clinical studies, mainly in respiratory field. As a Senior Clinical Study Manager, Ulla has managed international clinical trials for more than 15 years from planning to reporting. Before transferring to Desentum, she worked as a Medical Affairs Manager, conducting internal and external scientific communication. At Desentum, she is part of the clinical team responsible for planning, overseeing and reporting outsourced clinical studies of our investigational medicinal products.

Ulla holds an MSc degree in nutrition from the University of Helsinki. She is also a registered dietitian.

Silja Halme

Head of Quality & Regulatory Affairs, Desentum

Introduction

Silja holds a M.Sc. degree in biochemistry from the University of Oulu. In her early career, she has worked several years at the National Public Health Institute in research group studying cell-mediated immunity. After that, she has gained several years of experience in R&D and nearly 20 years of experience in quality management, especially in IVD area, in several companies such as Ani Labsystems, DHR Finland and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Before joining Desentum in 2020, Silja was leading the quality assurance and regulatory affairs department at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Finland. In her current role, she is responsible for Desentum’s quality system and regulatory compliance.

Jaana Haka

Head of CMC Development, Desentum

Introduction

Jaana holds an MSc in technology from the Aalto University and is currently carrying out her PhD studies in biotechnology at the Aalto University doctoral programme. She has over seven years of experience in allergy research, including production, purification and characterization of recombinant allergens and development of novel antibodies and their use in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Before joining Desentum in April 2015, Jaana worked as a research scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Laura Suoranta

Project Manager CMC, Desentum

Introduction

Laura holds an MSc (Tech.) from the Helsinki University of Technology in applied microbiology and bioprocess engineering. She has a lot of experience in the development of biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes, including analytical methods, GMP manufacturing and audits, stability studies, regulatory CMC dossiers, interactions with regulatory agencies in both EU and US, and collaboration with contract development and manufacturing organisations. Laura has worked in biopharmaceutical companies for more than a decade, with responsibilities in development, management and leading the drug substance manufacturing processes. She joined Desentum’s team in 2024.

Heidi Heiniluoto

Senior R&D Technician, Desentum

Introduction

Heidi has a Bachelor’s degree in laboratory services from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. She started working for Desentum in April 2013 as Bachelor’s thesis worker and continued as a laboratory technician from September 2013 on.

Collaborations

VTT Technical Research Center of Finland Ltd

Desentum is a spin-off company of VTT Technical Research Center of Finland, which is one of the leading research organisations in Europe. Research groups at VTT and the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) are behind the original discoveries that are the basis of Desentum’s allergen immunotherapeutic products. The genetic modification, formulation development and research-scale production, purification, and characterisation of Desentum’s new product candidates is performed in VTT.

vttresearch.com

University of Eastern Finland

The Department of Chemistry at UEF has world-class expertise in advanced mass spectrometry. The department is a home to a state-of-the-art high-resolution FT-ICR mass spectrometer that is one of the few of its kind in Europe. This technology is very valuable in determining the correct folding and structure of Desentum’s product candidates as well as providing information on allergen-IgE complexes.

uef.fi

RefLab ApS, Denmark

RefLab is a private laboratory specialized in allergy diagnostics. It has developed a histamine release assay (HRA) that is the first line in evaluating Desentum’s candidate molecules’ potential as immunotherapeutic products.

reflab.dk

Medical University of Vienna, Austria

The Medical University of Vienna is one of the most traditional medical training and research facilities in Europe. The immunogenicity, safety and efficacy of Desentum’s hypoallergen formulations is studied in a mouse model in the Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy.

meduniwien.ac.at

Biovian Oy, Finland

Biovian is a one-stop-shop in GMP contract manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals covering services from early development to finished vial. The GMP manufacturing of Desentum’s recombinant hypoallergens is optimized and carried out at Biovian.

biovian.com

Careers

We are not actively recruiting at the moment. Open applications can be submitted at info@desentum.fi.