Management
Stephane Ducroux
Chief Executive Officer
Stephane Ducroux brings 22 years of international experience in the Natural Specialty Ingredients industry. He is a proven senior executive that has built and led teams towards growth ambitions in a multicultural-international B2B environment. Stephane is a versatile, energetic, hands on and results oriented leader with expertise in acquisitions, integrations, cross functional management & International business development.
In former roles, Stephane was COO at Naturex Americas/Asia-Pacific (18years) & Board Director as well as PureCircle CCO & Deputy CEO.
Wouter Claerhout LLM MA
Chief Marketing Officer
Wouter brings 25+ years of B2B experience in sales, marketing, commercial management, strategic supply contracts, innovation management and communication. Before joining Phynova, Wouter was head of global marketing – Human Nutrition and Health (HNH) at Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. The role included ownership of the HNH innovation pipeline. From 2010 until 2014, Wouter was based in Singapore as DSM’s Marketing Director HNH APAC. Partnering with customers to make their brands succeed was Wouter’s pride and joy. From 1995 to 2010, Wouter held roles in commercial management, project management and sales in Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland. Wouter has academic qualifications in Law, Marketing and Business Administration.
Keith Thomson
Chief Financial Officer
Keith qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG. He was COO and CFO at Phytopharm plc where he successfully re-structured the business and enabled the company to close a £25 million fundraising. He has helped guide a number of international healthcare businesses including: On Medica an international E-detailing business, Verigen, a German based multinational tissue engineering business, and Vision RT, a business utilising 3D surface imaging technology to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy treatment.
Hongwen Yu MSc
Executive Vice President
Hongwen was a lecturer in the Department of Pharmacy, Shanghai University. She has gained extensive experience with plant-based medicines from “field to final dosage form”. She has prepared initial Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC) documents for submission to ethics committees and regulatory bodies for clinical trial approval and has successfully managed several development programmes from concept to products in clinical phase. As a pharmacognosist, she is experienced in the authentication and quality assessment of natural products.
Xiaofei Gao MSc
Regulatory Affairs Manager
Xiaofei, or Fei for short, manages in-house regulatory affairs for Phynova, specialising in the registration of traditional Chinese medicines as OTC drugs in Europe. She comes from a background of University based systematic reviews, where she worked for the University of Leeds and University of Warwick as a systematic reviewer for evidence synthesis projects. Prior to this she worked as a pharmaceutical sales rep, where she was awarded ‘top salesperson’ of Tanabe China. Fei holds an MSc in Health Technology Assessment from the University of Birmingham and a BSc Pharmacy from Jinan University in China.
Andrew Gallagher MSc MBA
Global Head of Science
Andrew has been developing healthcare products (Rx, OTC and consumer healthcare) from plants for over 14 years and has a deep understanding of the science behind Phynova’s products. He previously held business development, operations and R&D roles within Phynova, as well as business development role for the clinical research organisation Kendle (acquired by INC Research) and as biochemistry lecturer at the University of Natal (South Africa). Andrew holds an MSc (Biology) from the University of Natal, an MBA (Finance) awarded with Distinction from the University of Leicester, and is completing a PhD in Health Economics at Monash University. Andrew is based in Melbourne, Australia.
Michael Lane, Mchem MBA
Group Scientific Coordinator
Michael manages the execution of Phynova’s scientific roadmap including R&D, clinical trials and regional approvals as well as contributing to client engagement. His background includes a mix of science and professional services. He earned a Masters of Chemistry from the University of Oxford and has 5 years’ experience in leadership advisory. Previously, Michael recieved an MBA from the University of Warwick where he specialized in corporate strategy for life science companies. Michael is based in London, UK.
Stefan Wypyszyk MBA BS
Managing Director, North America
Stefan has over 20 years of experience in B2B ingredient sales to the dietary supplement, pet food, and food and beverage industries. He is an innovative problem solver with broad-based expertise in strategic business development, product development, brand ideation, marketing, and sales. Before joining Phynova, Stefan was President of Sales and Marketing at Azile where he developed deep market presence for supply partners based on value and solutions selling over multiple channels, with a focus on branded, clinically-backed ingredients. He has held management positions with the Martin Bauer Group, Zuellig Group NA, and Theo Chocolate. Stefan earned his BS from Purdue University and an MBA from the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. In addition, he has served as a Board of Trustee member with the American Herbal Products Association. Stefan is based in Seattle, USA.
Loïck Fenaux MSc MBA
Vice President of Business Development
Loick has 15 years of experience in the natural food ingredient industry spanning across fibers, proteins, botanical extracts, flavors, and many other specialty ingredients. His roles have always been focused towards developing customers, either for new regions, new products, or new divisions, and eventually building the teams to support the sustained growth of revenue. He had Business Development roles for Cosucra, Naturex, Dohler and Brightseed focusing mainly on Dietary Supplement and Food brands.
Yazan El Safadi, PhD, MBA
EMEA Business Development
Yazan has over 18 years’ experience in life sciences, ranging from API development to natural ingredient sourcing and supply, and NPD in the field of food supplements. Before joining Phynova, Yazan worked as a scientific director for a food supplement brand, where he was responsible for the development, marketing, and quality and regulatory compliance of new products.He has initiated research programs combining natural ingredients, since he firmly believes that natural products will be at the centre of tomorrow’s health strategies and policies. He is passionate about the science, as well as the creation of efficient, innovative, and truly useful food supplements.
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