Team

Stefan Degenhardt, Ph.D.,

Managing Director

Stefan brings to AspiAir more than 20 years of experience in senior finance and management positions in the life science industry. He is acting as Managing Director for AspiAir since 2020. In his former position as CFO of pulmonary drug delivery specialist Activaero GmbH, he led the financing and carve-out of the anti-viral business into Ventaleon. Later, Stefan was responsible for financial due diligence during the acquisition of Activaero by Vectura plc. During his professional career, Stefan held different management positions with increasing responsibilities in CRO’s, medical device and pharma companies. Stefan is also Co-Founder of Activoris Medizintechnik GmbH, a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization for Pharma, Diagnostics and Medtech. Stefan holds a PhD in economics by the University of Kassel.

Sebastian Canisius, M.D., Ph.D., 

Chief Medical Officer

Sebastian is a physician by training and has gained substantial experience in the areas of pulmonary and sleep medicine during the early years of his career. He has a background, over 15 years, in clinical development. His expertise specifically focuses on the areas of clinical trial design, conduct of interventional and non-interventional clinical studies through Phase I to IV, analysis and presentation of trial results as well as creation of marketing authorization applications for the European and U.S. markets. Currently he is responsible for the clinical strategy at AspiAir. In addition to his clinical development experience, Sebastian has built up profound skills and knowledge in drug safety and was responsible, as the qualified person for pharmacovigilance (QPPV), for the design and implementation of the pharmacovigilance system master file (PSMF) for two mid-size pharmaceutical companies.

Karlheinz Nocker, Ph.D., 
Project Manager Clinical Studies

Karlheinz studied at the Justus – Liebig University in Giessen and obtained a PhD in chemistry, he has worked over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry in different roles, especially as Project Coordinator and Manager for clinical studies and funded projects. He joined Activaero GmbH in 2009 and was responsible for the clinical project management and study execution, along with all related logistic activities and the set up of internal and external structures involved in clinical studies including drug development in cooperation with external partner. After the Ventaleon foundation in June 2012 Karlheinz was responsible for the conduct and set up of the Influenza Program and the first proof of concept study in this indication which was successfully finalized in 2015. In January 2020, the assets of Ventaleon were bought by AspiAir for the further development of inhaled LASAG in several indications, for which Karlheinz is responsible as project manager.

Rolf Naumann, Innovation & Funded Projects

Rolf studied at the Technical College in Kassel qualifying in the area economy and administration and has many years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He joined Inamed GmbH in 2001 and Activaero GmbH in 2005 and was responsible for Governance of National and EU funding projects and coordination of scientific R&D projects. He coordinated together with professors the influenza project transfer from the Universities to Activaero on behalf of Ventaleon. In addition, Rolf obtained certified training by the Federal Association of Medical Technology as a Medical Product Advisor and by RKW as Data Protection Representative.

Lorraine Callaway, Clinical Team Assistant

Lorraine is an experienced Legal Secretary with more than 15 years experience in business and administration and is a native English speaker. She joined Activaero GmbH in 2014 as Clinical Team Assistant responsible for the maintenance of the Trial Master File for two successful asthma studies and for the spin-off company Ventaleon GmbH for the influenza program and first proof of concept study which was successfully finalized in 2015.  During this time she gained experience in regulatory inspections and qualified in GCP Guidelines and ISO: 14155. In January 2020, the assets of Ventaleon were bought by AspiAir for the further development of inhaled LASAG in several indications, for which Lorraine is responsible as Clinical Team Assistant.

Karin Caspar, Office Management

Karin is a qualified Industrial Business Management Assistant, she has acquired more than 25 years experience in business and administration. She joined Activaero GmbH in 2011 as Assistant to the Management Board and after the acquisition by Vectura Group plc in March 2014 as Executive Assistant and joined Ventaleon GmbH in 2016. In January 2020, the assets of Ventaleon were bought by AspiAir for the further development of inhaled LASAG in several indications, for which Karin is responsible as Personal Assistant to Executive Management. Also, Karin obtained a certified training as Management Assistant and Medical Product Advisor.