Christian Karsten Hansen (born 18 August 1966) is a Danish biotechnology entrepreneur, investor and inventor, with work in new drugs, molecular biology and biochemistry.

Personal background

Originally from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

(Denmark), he spent his childhood in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium and

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, Venezuela before completing high school at Sorø Academy in 1984. Following graduation as MSc chemical engineering from the

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark (), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and it is today ran ...

in 1989, PhD work in molecular biology and biochemistry was conducted at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. Th ...

, France and the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

, Spain. He also completed an MBA from the

Edinburgh Business School Edinburgh Business School (EBS) is the Graduate School of Business of Heriot-Watt University (est. 1821), Edinburgh, Scotland. Heriot-Watt University awards degrees by royal charter. Heriot-Watt University was featured in the Academic Ranking ...

, Scotland.

Professional background

Hansen held positions as senior scientist and director of intellectual property management at

Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, with production facilities in nine countries and affiliates or offices in five. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder Novo Holdings A/S ...

1992–1999, and was a member of Enzyme Research Management. He co-founded one of the early Danish biotechnology companies, Profound Pharma, in 1999, with Jan Møller Mikkelsen, and remained co-CEO thereof until its acquisition by Maxygen in 2000. In 2001, he co-founded the investment firm Nordic Biotech Advisors, subsequently renamed NB Capital. Also in 2001, he founded C Hansen Invest. Since 2001, Hansen has co-founded and/or been a board member of numerous privately held and listed biotechnology companies including Osteologix, Nuevolution, Curalogic, Forward Pharma, Rose Pharma, Poalis, Aditech Pharma, Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, H Pharmaceuticals, Isar Pharma, and ParaTech.

Patents

Hansen has filed numerous patent applications in the fields of

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

of bacteria,

cellulase Cellulase (; systematic name 4-β-D-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase) is any of several enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze cellulolysis, the decomposition of cellulose and of some related polysaccharides: : Endo ...

s and other

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

osteoporosis Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to more porous bone, and consequent increase in Bone fracture, fracture risk. It is the most common reason f ...

, and

protein engineering Protein engineering is the process of developing useful or valuable proteins through the design and production of unnatural polypeptides, often by altering amino acid sequences found in nature. It is a young discipline, with much research taking pl ...

and uses of

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

s. He is named as inventor of issued European patents 510091, 1250154, 1425304, 1534305, 1622629, 1622630, 1732575, 1745791 2266584 and 2266585, and US patents 5,843,720, 5,916,796, 6,066,473, 6,555,660, 6,646,110, 6,831,158, 7,230,081, 7,232,562, 7,504,237, 7,550,565, 7,550,566, 7,595,342, 7,696,153 and 8,541,471. Various compounds from these companies and patents are in mid and late stages of clinical development.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Christian Karsten Living people 1966 births Biotechnologists Businesspeople from Copenhagen Danish company founders University of Salamanca alumni 20th-century Danish inventors 21st-century Danish inventors People educated at Sorø Academy