About

We are on a mission to bring treatments to millions at risk of cancer with no options.

About Astrivax Therapeutics
astrivax logo

Astrivax Therapeutics (Astrivax) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company on a mission to end virus-driven cancer, the second leading preventable cause of cancer after smoking. Its clinically validated Launch-iT platform generates durable, antigen-specific T-cell responses that clear virus-infected cells, supported by a scalable, tech-transfer–ready manufacturing process.

Astrivax’ lead program targets human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16), a leading cause of virus-driven cancers, including cervical cancer and head and neck cancer. The company is advancing its platform toward clinical proof-of-concept for persistent HPV infections and plans to expand across additional HPV-driven cancers. Beyond oncology, Astrivax is exploring applications in autoimmune diseases where viral infections are increasingly recognized as drivers of disease, and is open to partner on global health pathogens.

Our core values

Authentic

brand shape primary

We are genuine, We embrace honesty, accountability, transparency and openness. We work towards a common goal.

Entrepreneurial

brand shape primary

We innovate with passion for science. We are curious and take ownership to explore solutions. We are courageous and dare ‘to do’.

Disciplined

brand shape primary

We plan and execute on our goals with determination. We strive for excellence and challenge ourselves and our work. We value timely, informed decision-making.

Caring

brand shape primary

We care for each other and believe in the power of collaboration. We bring fun to the workplace. We care for the patients by relentlessly searching transformative cures.

Experienced team delivering results

Leadership

Team

hanne callewaert
Hanne Callewaert, PhD
CEO / Co-founder
wilfried dalemans
Wilfried Dalemans, PhD
Chief Technical Officer (ad interim)
greg fanning
Gregory Fanning, PhD
Scientific and Business Strategic Advisor
thomas vercruysse
Thomas Vercruysse, PhD
Head of R&D
isabelle decoster
Isabelle Decoster
HR Lead
an huysmans
An Huysmans
Finance Lead
frederik pauwels
Frederik Pauwels, PhD
Vaccine Development Lead
sophie olivier
Sophie Olivier, MD
Chief Medical Officer (ad interim)

Scientific Advisory Board

Team

emmanuel hanon
Emmanuel Hanon, PhD
Chair of Scientific Advisory Board
peter piot
Peter Piot, MD, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board member
patrick soentjens
Patrick Soentjens, MD, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board member
christian brander
Christian Brander, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board member
mala maini
Mala Maini, MD, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board member
johan neyts
Johan Neyts, PhD
Co-founder and Scientific Advisory Board member
kai dallmeier
Kai Dallmeier, PhD
Co-founder and Scientific Advisory Board member
john paul bogers
John-Paul Bogers, MD, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board member

Board of Directors

Team

hanne callewaert
Hanne Callewaert, PhD
CEO / Co-founder
dieter weinand
Dieter Weinand
Chairman and Independent Board Director
jeanne bolger
Jeanne Bolger, MB BCh BAO
Independent Board Director
shelley margetson
Shelley Margetson
Board Director
halina novak
Halina Novak, PhD
Board Director
bart geers
Bart Geers, PhD
Board Director
evan castiglia
Evan Castiglia
Board Director
eva van overmeire
Eva Van Overmeire, PhD
Board Director
bart de taeye
Bart De Taeye, PhD
Board Director
jeroen vangindertael
Jeroen Vangindertael, PhD
Board Observer
eline byl
Eline Byl, PhD
Board Observer

Investors

Astrivax has secured a seed round of €30 million with a strong and diverse investor syndicate to continue building our virus-targeted immunotherapy platform and bring the first treatments into clinical development. Astrivax also secured grants from VLAIO and the Gates Foundation.

This website is developed with the support of:

fit logo
avxteam afbeelding

Want to join our team?

Vacancies

Hanne Callewaert

Hanne Callewaert has over 20 years of life science industry expertise. Previously, she was Chief Operating Officer at the publicly listed biotech company Oxurion, leading multidisciplinary teams and has gained extensive vaccine development expertise in several roles at GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines. Hanne initiated her career at Gevers Patents as Patent Attorney Trainee. She has obtained a master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and a master’s degree in intellectual property law and a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Leuven.

Wilfried Dalemans

Wilfried Dalemans has 35 years of experience in Biotech. He was CTO of TiGenix where he was responsible for the global technical operations, encompassing product development and life-cycle in R&D, Industrialization, and clinical and commercial manufacturing. His regulatory expertise was key for the approval of ChondroCelect and Alofisel. He held also senior management positions at GSK Biologicals, both in global regulatory affairs and in vaccines R&D. At Transgène he was responsible for the cystic fibrosis research program. Wilfried holds a Masters degree in Zoology from the University of Antwerpen and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Universities of Hasselt and Leuven.

Gregory Fanning

Prior to joining AstriVax, Dr Fanning spent over 20 years working for Janssen Pharmaceuticals in increasing roles of responsibility in the areas of gene therapy and small molecule drug discovery, in Australia, Belgium and Shanghai. In the years since he has served as an advisor for a number of Biotech companies, including SCG Cell Therapy (TCR T platform), CommBio Therapeutics (Live Bacterial Products), RNAssist (formulation) and Exevir (Nanobodies). Dr Fanning earned a DPhil from Oxford University.

Thomas Vercruysse

Thomas Vercruysse holds a Master in Bio-Engineering Sciences and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences both from the KU Leuven. He worked for more than ten years as post-doc at the KU Leuven Rega Institute in the field of virology and anti-cancer therapies. Before joining Astrivax he was heavily involved in the development of the KU Leuven YF17D based COVID-19 vaccine candidate and preparation of the spin-out of Astrivax.

Isabelle Decoster

Isabelle Decoster is a HR lead with 20+ years of experience in HR generalist roles in various industries. She works in biotech since 2013. First at Oxurion (former ThromboGenics), where she held different HR positions of increasing responsibility and as HR Director for Cellaïon (former Promethera BioSciences).

An Huysmans

With more than 20 years of experience in finance, An Huysmans brings extensive expertise across accounting, reporting, and financial management. Before joining AstriVax, she held different finance roles with increasing responsibility at Oxurion and began her career at a Big Four firm. She holds a Master’s degree in Commercial Sciences.

Frederik Pauwels

Before joining AstriVax Therapeutics, Frederik Pauwels built an 18-year career at Janssen Pharmaceutica (J&J Innovative Medicine), advancing from postdoctoral scientist to senior leadership roles in infectious diseases. Throughout his career, he was deeply involved in drug discovery at the crossroads of virology and immunology, leading and supporting multidisciplinary teams working on the discovery and development of novel therapeutic modalities, and contributing across the full R&D spectrum.
Frederik earned his PhD in Biochemistry from Ghent University and brings a strong understanding of drug discovery, immunology and strategic portfolio management.

Sophie Olivier

Dr. Sophie Olivier brings extensive experience in clinical development across both large pharma and biotech organizations. She previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Genticel, Lysogene and Atamyo Therapeutics. At Genticel, Dr. Olivier oversaw the clinical development of a therapeutic vaccine candidate against high-risk HPV, including IND/CTA application and full execution of a Phase 2 clinical study in Europe. Earlier in her career, Dr. Olivier was a Scientific Officer in the Pediatric Team at the European Medicines Agency and led clinical development programs in women’s health diseases at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in US. Dr. Olivier holds an M.D. in Obstetrics and Gynecology from the University of Marseille and an M.Sc. in Biology of Reproduction from the University of Paris.

Emmanuel Hanon

Emmanuel Hanon, PhD, has a background in veterinary medicine and brings over twenty years of experience in vaccine research and development. At GSK, he ran global vaccines R&D for seven years, driving discovery, development, and life-cycle management of one of the largest vaccine portfolios in the industry. He oversaw the discovery and development of vaccines against quadrivalent influenza (Fluarix and Flulaval Quadrivalent), shingles (Shingrix), malaria (Mosquirix), and RSV in older adults.
He also served as CEO of Vicebio (successfully exited in 2025 to Sanofi) and he is a former Scientific Advisor to CEPI. He has advised Astrivax on therapeutic vaccines since the company’s inception and serves as Chair of the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Peter Piot

Microbiologist Peter Piot, MD, PhD, is the former Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. After co-discovering the Ebola virus in 1976, he led pioneering research in HIV, women’s health, and infectious diseases. He was the founding Executive Director of UNAIDS, under the Secretary-General of the UN. Professor Peter Piot has held positions at leading universities around the world. He is Special Advisor on COVID-19 to the President of the European Commission. He serves on numerous committees, funds, and boards dedicated to global health. His long list of accolades includes the Robert Koch Medal, the Gairdner Award in Global Health, the 2014 Time Person of the Year, and the Belgian title of Baron. He has published over 600 scientific articles and 16 books.

Patrick Soentjens

Patrick Soentjens, MD, PhD, is an infectious disease specialist with clinical expertise in travel medicine, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, tropical diseases, and severe multi-resistant infections. He is the Chief Physician at the Polyclinic of the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) and chair of the Belgian Study Group of Travel Medicine. He also consults for the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group and serves on several advisory boards. His team’s work on alternative vaccination schedules for rabies led to a revision of existing WHO recommendations. Professor Patrick Soentjens’ current research focuses on improving vaccination regimens for travellers and military staff who need protection against yellow fever, tick-borne encephalitis, rabies, and other travel-related diseases. Under his leadership, the ITM launched a new clinical trial centre for vaccines in 2021.

Christian Brander

Christian Brander is a Senior Research Professor at the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA). He brings ample experience in studying T cell responses to viral infections, including cancer-driving viruses and hepatitis and herpes viruses in the context of HIV co-infection and in transplant recipients. He played a key role in providing some of the largest data sets on T cell activity to HIV and their association with relative HIV control. Dr. Brander has also established several HIV-infected and uninfected cohorts in Peru, the US, and Europe to study potentially protective host immunity. He is a curator of the Los Alamos National Laboratories HIV immunology database and co-founded Aelix Therapeutics, a Barcelona-based biotech company dedicated to developing HIV cure vaccine strategies.

Mala Maini

Mala Maini is a Professor of Viral Immunology and Consultant Physician at UCL’s Institute of Immunity and Transplantation in London. Her lab focuses on adaptive immunity to hepatitis B, liver cancer, and SARS-CoV-2, aiming to develop immunotherapies and vaccines. Leveraging patient cohorts, human tissues, and models, they explore T and B cell responses. The Maini lab has identified novel roles for T cells in aborting viral infection and their regulation in tissues by cross-talk with neighbouring NK cells and myeloid cells. Mala has received Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Awards (2013, 2019) and was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2016. Her lab is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK, ERC Horizon 2020, UKRI/MRC, British Infection Association

Johan Neyts

Johan Neyts is full professor at the KULeuven. His laboratory has a long-standing expertise in the development of antiviral strategies and drugs against emerging and neglected viral infections. The other focus is on the development of novel vaccines for which the yellow fever vaccine virus is used as a vector. Their PLLAV (Plasmid Launched Live Attenuated Virus) technology allows to make these yellow fever vectored vaccines highly thermostable. Johan is past-president of the International Society for Antiviral Research and was co-founder of KU Leuven spin-off Okapi Sciences. Four classes of antivirals discovered in his laboratory have been licensed to major pharmaceutical companies. He published >600 papers, has given ~300 invited lectures and has given a large number of interviews to lay-press.

Kai Dallmeier

Kai Dallmeier is Associate Professor of Virology at the KU Leuven Rega Institute and leading the Molecular Vaccinology & Vaccine Discovery group, pioneering the use of live-attenuated YF17D to develop vaccines against emerging infections (such as Zika, Ebola and COVID-19) and therapeutic vaccines (for instance for chronic hepatitis B). His work laid the conceptional basis for PLLAV. This translational work is complemented by the study of viral pathogenesis in a range of cell culture and animal models. Dr. Dallmeier studied Microbiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Bremen, Germany and obtained a PhD in Molecular Virology from the University of Freiburg, Germany. He has authored > 70 peer-reviewed scientific articles, resulting in > 2000 citations and a H-index of 24.

John-Paul Bogers

John-Paul Bogers is a Professor of Histology and Cell Biology at the University of Antwerp and the CEO of ElmediX NV. In 2004 he started an independent research group with a specific emphasis on diseases related to infections with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and cancer. He served as a Director for the National Reference Center for HPV in Belgium and is also guest-professor for HPV related diseases at the University of Ghent. Prof. Bogers was principal investigator of three large clinical trials on molecular biomarkers, successfully submitted applications for 20 national, industry funded and international projects (including 3 EU funded programs). He was supervisor of several graduated PhD students and published over 150 scientific articles, mostly about HPV in Belgium and in low-income countries. Dr. Bogers serves as a board member of an angel VC fund and on the board of several professional organizations in histopathology and cytopathology.

Hanne Callewaert

Hanne Callewaert has over 20 years of life science industry expertise. Previously, she was Chief Operating Officer at the publicly listed biotech company Oxurion, leading multidisciplinary teams and has gained extensive vaccine development expertise in several roles at GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines. Hanne initiated her career at Gevers Patents as Patent Attorney Trainee. She has obtained a master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and a master’s degree in intellectual property law and a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Leuven.

Dieter Weinand

During his career, Dieter Weinand has held a number of senior roles leading business operations around the world for companies including Bayer, Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb and Sanofi. He has led the development, launch and marketing of products in therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular disease, oncology, immunology, respiratory and inflammatory diseases. Mr. Weinand is currently a member of the Board of Coya Therapeutics and Replimune, Chairman of the Board of Confo Therapeutics, and Executive Chairman of the Board of Mnemo Therapeutics. He earned an M.S. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Long Island University, New York, and a B.A. in Biology from Concordia College, New York.

Jeanne Bolger

Dr. Bolger has over 35 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in management roles across R&D, Commercial and Business Development (BD) and Venture Investments at Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC and at GlaxoSmithKline. She has been leading investments across Europe in start-up and early stage life science companies and represented JJDC on the Board of Directors of over a dozen companies. She is also a Venture Partner at Seroba Life Sciences Venture Capital and serves on several government taskforces and advisory boards. She is a visiting lecturer on the MSc Pharmaceutical Medicine at Trinity College Dublin. Dr. Bolger received her medical degree from University College Dublin. She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Ireland (RAMI).

Shelley Margetson

Shelley Margetson has over 20 years’ experience in executive roles in European biotechnology companies. As CFO of Merus (MRUS) she managed the Initial Public Offering on the Nasdaq in May 2016 and as CEO of Gadeta she closed a ‘build to buy’ deal with Kite/Gilead. She has managed funding rounds, business exits and negotiated multiple international business transactions and joined V-Bio Ventures in December 2020 as Managing Partner. Shelley has a finance/business background, holds a BA in business economics and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Halina Novak

Halina Novak, PhD, is a Junior Partner at Fund+. Halina brings extensive experience in technology innovation, investment and alliance management and is currently serving on multiple Biotech boards across Europe. Formerly, Halina held several leadership positions at VIB, the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology and worked at the intersection between industry, pharma and academia, leading large multi-stakeholder collaborations. Notably, she headed the Tech Watch Program and established the Technology Innovation Lab, where unique strategies were developed to identify, invest in, and evaluate breakthrough life science technologies in collaboration with start-ups and pharma. Many of these early stage investments in disruptive tools have since revolutionised the Life Sciences. Halina started her career at Unilever on a fellowship that developed novel applications of industrial enzymes after having graduated from the University of Exeter with a PhD and BSc in Biological Sciences and Biological and Medicinal Chemistry, respectively.

Bart Geers

Bart Geers obtained a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from Ghent University in 2013 and began his career in the pharmaceutical industry and afterwards took various roles in research management and spin-out creation at Ghent University. Currently, Bart works as an investment manager for KULeuven Research & Development (LRD) where he coaches start-up projects in health- and biotechnology. Within that role he manages the spin-out; investment process and operational execution of high-tech spin-offs and represents the Gemma Frisius Fund (KU Leuven’s seed fund) as well. Next, he supports business development within KU Leuven R&D, the largest TTO in Europe. Bart holds board positions in various KU Leuven spin-offs.https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartgeers/

Evan Castiglia

Evan joined Thuja Capital in 2023 as Partner, following positions as Partner and Head of European Investments at Philips Ventures. He holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and a bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University.

Eva Van Overmeire

Eva joined the Life Science team of Korys in 2022. Prior to joining Korys, she was a Director at UCB within the Corporate Development & Finance department. She spent the first 4 years of her career in management consulting at McKinsey and Company, with a focus on Pharma, Medtech and Biotech. Eva holds a Master and PhD in Medical Bioengineering (VUB).

Bart De Taeye

Bart De Taeye, PharmD, PhD, has more than 20 years of research experience including 15 years with drug discovery, and more than 7 years experience with business development and company creation. Bart graduated from the KU Leuven where he also obtained a Postgraduate degree in Business Economics. After a postdoc and assistant professorship at Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University, Bart joined reMYND in 2011 as a Project Leader Drug Discovery, to build a diabetes drug discovery platform. In 2014, he became a Search and Evaluation Lead at Cistim, to scout for innovative technologies, while also managing contractual relationships. In 2018, Bart joined VIB as Business Development Manager before joining PMV in 2022 as Investment Manager Life Sciences & Care.

Jeroen Vangindertael

Jeroen Vangindertael joined Ackermans & van Haaren as an Investment Associate in 2020. He holds both a Master and PhD in Biochemistry & Biotechnology (KU Leuven). Previously he worked at BNP Paribas Fortis Corporate Banking as a Senior Life Science Associate, financing biotech companies indirectly through investments in biotech VC funds or directly through equity investments or through credit.

Eline Byl

Eline joined BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity in 2024. She is trained as a Pharmacist and holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology. Before entering Private Equity, Eline gained experience in the biotech sector, specializing in drug product formulation, CMC development, and clinical trials.