INTEGRITY: Our approach is scientific. We are dedicated to our task and never cut corners. Those who need us the most rely on our precision. We always deliver the highest quality. Because we know that trust is earned, and without it we are nothing.
COLLEGIAL: We work together as a team to enhance each other’s strengths, and we keep our partners close. Everyone has equal input. We share information to keep our stakeholders updated on our progress so that we can tackle challenges together and share our victories.
BRAVERY: Exploring new technologies, without certain knowledge of whether it will succeed, takes courage. So does doing things differently. Believing in change. Pushing boundaries and daring to be innovative. For us, it is all or nothing. We have set out to change respiratory medicine. That is our passion.
Key Team Members
Trude Tingvoll
CEO
Trude holds a Global Executive MBA and a Master of Business and Economics degree, both from BI, Norwegian Business School, Norway. Trude has a proven track record of accomplishments with more than 20 years of expertise in the Pharmaceutical and Biotech industry at Global, European and National level within alliance management, business development, building corporate and brand strategies, new product launches, and sales development for companies such as Pfizer, UCB, and AstraZeneca. Prior to joining Respinor, Trude served as Global Director of Business Development and Alliance Management for Photocure, in Norway. She has been Chief Business Officer of Respinor since April 2018 and the CEO since May 2019.
David Gerez
CTO
David holds a MS in Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, MS in Management and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. David has more than 20 years of experience delivering technology through the entire product lifecycle: from requirements definition and early technology studies, to detailed engineering, to manufacturing and sustaining. Architecting and integrating complex systems across a range of technical disciplines. Leading high-performing teams in engineering and manufacturing, both formally and as a mentor for companies as Schlumberger and Experis. Prior to joining Respinor, David served as System Engineer & Project Manager at Shearwater Geoservices in Norway.
Geir Torheim
Director RA & QA
Geir holds a Ph.D. in Medical Image Analysis, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, and an MSc in Software Engineering, from NTH, Trondheim, Norway. Geir has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Geir spent 15 years at Nycomed Amersham/GE Healthcare as Director Technology collaboration/Technology leader, working with MRI, CT, optical imaging, and ultrasound technology. Geir has experience in medical device development, including clinical, regulatory, and QA experience. Prior to joining Respinor, Geir served as Technology Leader at Mentis Cura in Norway.
Marit Mellemseter
Clinical Affairs Manager
Marit holds an MSc in Human Movement Science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. She had an internship in France working on a pilot project testing an already CE marked medical device. During her studies, she worked as a research assistant at the Faculty of Medicine and Health at NTNU. She has been Clinical Research Officer of RESPINOR since June 2019 and Clinical Affairs Manager since January 2020.
Hans Petter Tjeldflaat
CFO
Hans Petter holds a MSc in Finance from the University of Wisconsin, and a Master of General Business from BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo.
He has been serving as CFO-for-hire on a part time basis. Since 2003 worked as an independent consultant to life science companies.
Board of Directors
Aage Bryn
Chairman of Board
Lic.oec HSG (MBA) from Hochschule St. Gallen, CH, Director.
Aage is today a real-estate and life science investor and the largest shareholder in Respinor. He worked for 10 years as a management consultant and as “Management for Hire” with Asbjørn Habberstad AS in the Nordic countries. He was later Owner and CEO of the largest privately owned importer of agricultural machinery in Norway.
Jan Fikkan
Deputy Chairman of Board
Jan has more than 20 years of experience in various executive roles in the international pharmaceutical industry. He was running the Japan region for GE Healthcare for 10 years – a role including building infrastructure on the ground while optimise the business through Strategic Alliance and JV structures. He had full P&L responsibility for a $130m business. Jan has also been running the global pharma R&D operations in GE Healthcare including a $50m development portfolio and project/portfolio teams in UK, USA and Norway. Jan left GE in Oct 2014 as the President for the 800 employee Norwegian organisation. Beside being board member in Respinor, Jan is also Chairman of the board of Mentis Cura AS and Phoenix Solutions AS and board member of Oxy Solutions AS and Spinchip Diagnostics AS.
Marco Renoldi
Board member
Marco is Chief Business Officer in Nordic Nanovector since November 2014. Prior to joining Nordic Nanovector, Marco served as SVP & Chief Commercial Officer at Shionogi Ltd., from July 2012 to October 2014. From January 2009 to June 2012 he served as Executive Director & International Franchise Head, Oncology-Hematology at Amgen, where he had previously led the Italian affiliate as Managing Director. Prior to joining Amgen, Marco held national, regional and global R&D and business roles at Novartis, Searle-Monsanto and Pharmacia. In his 28-year industry experience Marco has developed product lines and businesses, including start-ups. Marco holds a medical degree from the University of Milan and an MBA from Fondazione IDI/Assolombarda. Marco is an Italian citizen and he resides in Switzerland.
Dr. Carl Christian Gilhuus-Moe, PhD
Board member
Dr. Gilhuus-Moe is Chairman of the Board of Norway Health Tech, Norways largest health cluster consisting of 225 companies, hospitals, finance, knowledge and research institutions focusing on health innovation that facilitate development of health care products and services. He is a Senior Advisor of NeoMed Management, a Europe-based venture capital fund focused on international healthcare and medical technology.
Dr. Gilhuus-Moe is chairman of the board of Sonitor Technologies AS and an active investor in several other health startups and companies in Norway. He was chairman of the board for both SINTEF-Unimed (the Norwegian Institute of Technology) and the European Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standardization (ECCLS). He was the founding President and CEO of Dynal Biotech AS, now part of Thermo Fisher Inc. Prior to that he was a member of the executive group, Vice President and head of Hafslund-Nycomed ASA’s diagnostic division (now part of Abbot Inc). Dr. Gilhuus-Moe is an Honorable Fellow of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (US). These executive and strategic positions and service on the board of directors of these and other companies have allowed him to develop expertise in the deployment of strategic growth initiatives within the industry and bring valuable, external insight to our board and organization. Dr. Gilhuus-Moe is trained at the Swedish Institute of Management, the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and earned a Ph.D in clinical biochemistry from the University of Oslo.
Partners
Ullevål Hospital (OUS), Pulmonary section Leading center for investigation and treatments of patients with diseases and failure in lung function.
Buskerud and Vestfold University College (HBV), part of the Centre for Innovative Ultrasound Solutions (CIUS).
BDK Industrial Products Ltd. UK, a top class developer and manufacturer of medical tapes.
Norway Health Tech is a health technology cluster, dedicated to accelerating and supporting the development of new medtech, eHealth products, services and innovative solutions for the Norwegian and global health care market.
Grants & recognitions
Respinor was ranked number 1st of 237 applications in the Horizon 2020 phase II SME instrument call. The company will use the EU funding to develop a market ready product and to conduct a randomised clinical trial to obtain clinical evidence of its use in the weaning process.
Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.
Respinor was awarded funding for 2017 from FORNY 2020 to perform activities bringing the company to clinical and technical verification.
FORNY2020 aims at creating value and benefits for society from research results. This is done by funding the Norwegian technology transfer offices (TTOs) and projects in need of proof-of-concept.
Respinor was awarded seed funding from Inven2. Through this investment, Inven2 became the third largest shareholder in Respinor.
Inven2 is owned by the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital and aims to support the commercialization of Norwegian innovations.
Respinor was awarded funding from Innovation Norway for exploring market opportunities and the commercial potential of our product idea. The support was of great help to the company in the early phase of development.
Innovation Norway is the Norwegian Government’s most important instrument for innovation and development of Norwegian enterprises and industry. We support companies in developing their competitive advantage and to enhance innovation.
Respinor (in collaboration with K8 Industrial Design) was awarded funding from Design and Architecture Norway (DOGA) as part of their Design-driven Innovation Program (DIP).
Under this programme, DOGA aims to facilitate the involvement of designers during the idea phase of innovation projects so that final products have a greater chance of meeting the needs of the user.
Respinor ranked 3rd of 323 applicants for Eurostars funding. This funding was used to support the development of the prototype device.
Eurostars is a joint programme between EUREKA and the European Commission for SMEs to foster international collaboration to support the rapid development of innovative projects.
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