From Molecules to Miles: Join Ardena’s Charity Step Challenge at CPHI Milan 2026

Jeremie joined Ardena as Chief Executive Officer in 2024. He brings an extensive knowledge of the life sciences and CDMO industry, and a proven track record of success in the biopharma sector, with 20 years of experience building and growing businesses globally, expending into new markets, and leading large-scale transformations in both publicly traded and privately held companies. Jeremie was previously part of the team that helped transform Catalent from a private equity spinoff into a publicly traded global CDMO, and during his tenure there, led the successful acquisition and integration of multiple companies.

Henny Zijlstra joined Ardena as Chief Commercial Officer in May 2026. She is an accomplished commercial leader in the pharmaceutical and CDMO industry, with a career built on driving growth through strategic business development, brand positioning, and customer engagement.

Ben Ash joined Ardena in 2026 as Chief Financial Officer. He brings more than 20 years of finance leadership experience, predominantly within the pharmaceutical sector.

Marion Andrist is Business Development Director at Ardena. She brings more than 10 years of experience across the pharmaceutical, biotech, and CDMO/CRO industries in Europe, combining a scientific background with expertise in marketing and strategic business development. Throughout her career, Marion has supported biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the development and manufacturing of drug substances, drug products, and innovative therapeutic solutions. Her experience includes strategic partnerships, international account management, contract negotiations, and cross-functional project coordination from early development through industrial scale-up. Before joining Ardena, she held business development and commercial roles at SEQENS, NUVISAN Pharma Services, and Axyntis Group, where she developed expertise in APIs, CDMO services, pharmaceutical development, and international collaborations. Marion combines scientific understanding with commercial and operational expertise, supporting strategic partnerships across complex pharmaceutical development and manufacturing programs.

Thomas Scullion, PhD, is Vice President of Business Development, Bioanalytical Sciences at Ardena. He specializes in regulatory bioanalysis, translational biomarkers, and strategic CRO partnerships, supporting biotech and pharmaceutical clients across Europe, North America, and APAC. With more than a decade of experience in the life sciences industry, Thomas has held senior commercial leadership roles at Synexa Life Sciences, Crown Bioscience, Charles River Laboratories, and Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services. His expertise includes GLP/GCLP bioanalysis, immunogenicity, translational biomarkers, biologics, and cell and gene therapy support. Throughout his career, he has combined scientific expertise with an entrepreneurial and client-focused commercial approach. Thomas obtained his PhD in Neuropharmacology from Glasgow Caledonian University, where his research focused on inflammation, pain signalling, and ion channel biology.

Dr. Raja Yekkala is Business Development Director at Ardena. He brings more than 20 years of experience across pharmaceutical sciences, CMC development, analytical sciences, drug product development, clinical supply, and manufacturing support. At Ardena, Raja focuses on strategic business development for integrated pharmaceutical development and manufacturing programs in both human and veterinary applications. He supports clients throughout the full development journey, from early-stage activities through clinical phases, working closely with multidisciplinary teams across formulation development, analytical development, GMP manufacturing, regulatory affairs, project management, and clinical supply. His expertise includes comparator sourcing strategies, clinical trial supply planning, and the coordination of complex clinical supply programs supporting global development activities. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to bringing several dozen compounds into clinical development. Prior to transitioning into business development leadership roles, Raja held scientific and project management positions at Ardena and Pharmavize, where he managed complex CMC programs, clinical supply manufacturing activities, and cross-functional development projects. Earlier in his career, he worked as a research scientist at KU Leuven, contributing to pharmaceutical analysis, method development, and pharmacopoeial monographs adopted by the WHO. Raja is a pharmacist by training and obtained his PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Drug Analysis from KU Leuven, Belgium. He is author and co-author of multiple peer-reviewed scientific publications, contributor to internationally recognized pharmacopoeial monographs, and co-inventor of a patent related to pharmaceutical formulation technologies.

Juan Jose Serrano is Business Development Manager at Ardena. He brings experience in international business development, market analysis, and strategic account growth across the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors. Before joining Ardena, Juan Jose held international commercial and trade advisory roles across Europe and Australia, building expertise in global business development and commercial strategy. Over the past four years at Ardena, he has supported global business development activities across multiple regions and service areas, helping identify collaboration opportunities between biotech and pharmaceutical companies and Ardena’s integrated CDMO and CRO platform. Juan Jose obtained his MBA and brings a strong international and client-focused perspective to strategic partnership development within the pharmaceutical industry.

Javier Gurrea specializes in spray drying and drug product development at Ardena Pamplona. He brings around nine years of experience across pharmaceutical development and commercial manufacturing within GMP-regulated environments. Throughout his career at Ardena, Javier has held different roles supporting pharmaceutical development and manufacturing activities. He has developed strong technical expertise in spray drying, supporting the development, scale-up, and manufacturing of complex drug products across different stages of development. Javier is a pharmacist by training and obtained his PhD through research conducted at Ardena.

Laure Descamps is Senior Formulation Scientist at Ardena, specializing in solid dosage development and process understanding. She supports formulation design, process optimisation, and early-phase drug product development for complex pharmaceutical programs. At Ardena, Laure applies her expertise to developing robust formulation strategies that support the efficient advancement of complex molecules toward clinical evaluation. Her work focuses on formulation development and process understanding across early-stage drug product development activities. Laure obtained her Master’s degree in Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy and earned her PhD from Ghent University’s Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Process Analytical Technology. Her doctoral research focused on tabletting behaviour, material characterisation, and compression challenges in collaboration with industry partners.