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 ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

(Denmark), he spent his childhood in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium and

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as 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 ...

, Venezuela before completing high school at

Sorø Academy Sorø Academy (Danish, ''Sorø Akademi'') is a boarding school and gymnasium located in the small town of Sorø, Denmark. It traces its history back to the 12th century when Bishop Absalon founded a monastery at the site, which was confiscated by ...

in 1984. Following graduation as MSc chemical engineering from the

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet), 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 fi ...

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

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) 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 f ...

, France and the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is th ...

, 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 ranked as the 3rd best British u ...

, 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, Denmark, with production facilities in nine countries, and affiliates or offices in five countries. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder ...

1992–1999, and was a member of Enzyme Research Management. He co-founded one of the early Danish biotechnology companies,

Profound Pharma Profound Pharma A/S was a Danish company that develops 2nd generation biopharmaceuticals. History Created in Denmark in 1999 by Christian Karsten Hansen and Jan Møller Mikkelsen, formerly of Novo Nordisk, the company was funded by venture capit ...

, in 1999, with Jan Møller Mikkelsen, and remained co-CEO thereof until its acquisition by

Maxygen Maxygen Inc. was a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved versions of protein drugs using DNA shuffling and other protein modification technologies. The company was headquartered in Redwood City, CA. It dissolved in 2013. The M ...

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 Augustinian friar wor ...

of bacteria,

cellulase Cellulase (EC 3.2.1.4; 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 polysaccharide ...

s and other

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

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

, and

protein engineering Protein engineering is the process of developing useful or valuable proteins. It is a young discipline, with much research taking place into the understanding of protein folding and recognition for protein design principles. It has been used to imp ...

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