Luca Santarelli

Luca is an entrepreneurial pharmaceutical executive with more than 20 years’ experience in academic and industrial R&D and business development.

He is the founder and CEO of VectivBio AG, a clinical-stage rare disease company that raised $146.6 million in a NASDAQ IPO in April this year. Prior to this, he was CEO and co-founder of Therachon AG, which was acquired by Pfizer, Inc. in 2019 for $810 million. Luca previously worked at Roche for 12 years, where he advanced over 20 molecules into the clinic, catalyzed the creation of Synosia and Clementia, two companies built from Roche asset spin-offs, and led multiple in-licensing deals. He is currently Chairman of the Dementia Discovery Fund’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and serves as a SAB member for CureSen Therapeutics.

Luca completed his M.D. and Psychiatry Residency at the University of Turin, Italy, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University.