Dirk Groenewegen, PhD Cells4Therapy

Dirk Groenewegen has a masters’ degree in Chemical Engineering from the Technological University in Delft (the Netherlands) and a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Hamburg (Germany).

After an international career in R&D and Business Development with Schülke & Mayr in Hamburg and Unilever Industrial Detergents in the Netherlands, Dirk joined Berenschot Organizational Consultants in Utrecht. After that, Dirk was also the founder of IPD-Consulting BV (“license mediation”) and Intellectual Property Development BV (“IP-valuation and exploitation”) and as such has been instrumental to a large number of groundbreaking and profitable license deals for both academic institutions and industrial clients.

In 2007, Dirk founded Glycostem Therapeutics BV for developing cellular immunotherapies for leukemia and solid cancers, which he served as CEO for 7 years. As CEO, Dirk managed the initial financing rounds for Glycostem Therapeutics and also achieved substantial national and European subsidies that enabled the company to perform clinical trials with its lead NK-cell product. After transforming the company from seed phase into venture phase, Dirk stepped down as CEO in 2014 and joined the Board of Supervisory Directors of the company.

With his newly established company Cells4Therapy, Dirk currently also acts as independent consultant for bringing initiatives in the fields of regenerative medicine and cellular immunotherapy into start-up businesses. Dirk is an active participant in many international networks like the Benelux Licensing Executives Society, the Parental Drug Association, and a large number of international organizations involved in regenerative medicine and cell therapy. Dirk has been selected chair of this conference two years in a row and is a long standing PDA Europe scientific programs committee member.