Kleanthis Xanthopoulos

Biography

Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D. is a serial entrepreneur whose passion is building healthcare companies focused on innovation. Dr. Xanthopoulos has over two decades of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical research industries as an executive, company founder, chief executive officer, investor and board member. Dr. Xanthopoulos has founded three companies, has introduced two life science companies to NASDAQ and has financed and brokered numerous creative strategic alliance and partnership deals with large pharmaceutical partners. Dr. Xanthopoulos is currently the Executive Chairman of IRRAS AB, a commercial stage medical device and drug delivery company, and Managing Partner at the Vandel-Group focusing on investing and building innovative biotechnology companies. Dr. Xanthopoulos served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Regulus Therapeutics Inc. [NASDAQ: RGLS] from the time of its formation in 2007 until June of 2015. Prior to that, he was a managing director of Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. Dr. Xanthopoulos co-founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [NASDAQ: ANDS] from its inception in 2000 to 2006, and remained a Director until its acquisition by Roche in 2011. He was Vice President at Aurora Biosciences (acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) from 1997 to 2000. Dr. Xanthopoulos participated in The Human Genome Project as a Section Head of the National Human Genome Research Institute from 1995 to 1997. Prior to this, he was an Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden after completing a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at The Rockefeller University, New York. An Onassis Foundation scholar, he was named the E&Y Entrepreneur of the year in 2006 in San Diego and the San Diego Business Journal’s Most Admired mid-size company CEO in 2013. Dr. Xanthopoulos received his B.Sc. in Biology with honors from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and received both his M.Sc. in Microbiology and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Stockholm, Sweden. In addition to his role at IRRAS AB, Dr. Xanthopoulos is chairman of the board of directors of Apricus Biosciences (NASDAQ: APRI), a director of LDO S.p.a. (Milan, Italy), and is the co-founder and a member of the board of directors of privately held Sente Inc.

Research Interest

Biology, Microbiology