Dr. Josep Bassaganya-Riera | Executive Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO

Josep Bassaganya-Riera, PhD, has served as our Executive Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer since our founding. Dr. Bassaganya-Riera has served as the Director of the NIMML Institute since July 2002 and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Biotherapeutics Inc. since October 2008. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer at Landos Biopharma and Professor of Inflammation & Immunology Virginia Tech. He is a captain of industry, innovator, thought leader, and serial entrepreneur, with more than 20 years in the industry. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and books on the acceleration of biopharmaceutical development and computational immunology, and he has contributed 200 patents in immunology and autoimmune disease treatment. He has raised over $250 million in non-dilutive and equity financing rounds. Dr. Bassaganya-Riera has applied agile and lean management systems in combination with an efficient use of capital to catalyze value accrual and capture. Dr. Bassaganya-Riera holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Immunology from Iowa State University.

 

Dr. Raquel Hontecillas | Chief Scientific Officer

Raquel Hontecillas, Ph.D., has served as our Chief Scientific Officer since our founding. She brings over 20 years of translational immunology research experience in the biotech industry, with a focus on infectious, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases. She leads efforts aimed at identifying and validating the role of the Lanthionine Synthetase C-Like 2 (LANCL2), and other immunometabolic pathways as key therapeutic targets for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other autoimmune diseases. Dr. Hontecillas is the Co-Director of the NIMML Institute, a position she has held since July 2002, and the Chief Scientific Officer of Biotherapeutics, Inc., a position she has held since October 2008. She previously served as the Chief Scientific Officer at Landos Biopharma, and a Research Professor of Immunology at Virginia Tech. She co-directed NIH and DOD-funded $68M translational research program in computational and mucosal immunology centered on studying the gastrointestinal immune system. Raquel has published over 250 peer-reviewed publications and has contributed to 200 patents. Dr. Hontecillas holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain and a Ph.D. in Immunology from Iowa State University.