Christian Karsten Hansen, PhD (born 18 August 1966) is a Danish biotechnology entrepreneur and inventor, with work in new drugs, molecular biology and biochemistry.

Personal background

Originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, he spent his childhood in Antwerpen, Belgium and Caracas, Venezuela before completing high school at Sorø Academy

Sorø Academy

Sorø Academy is a boarding school and public 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 the Crown after the Reformation, and ever since, on and off, it has served...

 in 1984. Following graduation as M.Sc. chemical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark

Technical University of Denmark

The Technical University of Denmark , often simply referred to as DTU, is a university just north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and is today ranked among Europe's leading engineering institutions, and the...

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

Pasteur Institute

The Pasteur Institute 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 made some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern medicine at the time, including pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax...

, France and the University of Salamanca

University of Salamanca

The University of Salamanca is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the town of Salamanca, west of Madrid. It was founded in 1134 and given the Royal charter of foundation by King Alfonso IX in 1218. It is the oldest founded university in Spain and the third oldest European...

, Spain. He also completed an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School

Edinburgh Business School

Edinburgh Business School is the Graduate School of Business of Heriot-Watt University , Edinburgh, Scotland. Heriot-Watt University is the eighth oldest higher educational institution in the UK, and awards degrees by Royal Charter...

, Scotland.

Professional background

Hansen held positions as senior scientist and director of intellectual property management at Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and services. Created in 1989 through a merger of two Danish companies dating back to the 1920s, it has become one of the world's leading companies in diabetes care, where Novo Nordisk pursues research into pulmonary delivery systems;...

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

Profound Pharma

Profound Pharma A/S was a Danish company that discovered and developed 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 capital and a loan from Vækstfonden...

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

Maxygen

Maxygen Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved versions of protein drugs using DNA shuffling and other protein modification technologies...

 in 2000.
In 2001, he co-founded the investment firm Nordic Biotech Advisors, subsequently renamed NB Capital, with Florian Schönharting.

Since 2001, Hansen has co-founded or been a board member of numerous privately held and listed biotechnology companies including Osteologix, Nuevolution, Curalogic, Forward Pharma, RosePharma

RosePharma

RosePharma is a private company that was founded in 2003 as Gastrotech Pharma. Its headquarters are located in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the Medicon Valley region. Hans T. Schambye, Chairman, Enda Kenny, CEO, Michael Forer, Prof. Dr...

, Poalis, Aditech Pharma, LifeCycle Pharma, H Pharmaceuticals, and Isar Pharma.

Patents

Hansen has filed numerous patent applications in the fields of genetics

Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....

 of bacteria, cellulase

Cellulase

400px|thumb|right|alt = Colored dice with checkered background|Ribbon representation of the Streptomyces lividans beta-1,4-endoglucanase catalytic domain - an example from the family 12 glycoside hydrolases...

s and other enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

s, osteoporosis

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is deteriorating, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered...

, and protein engineering

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....

 and uses of biopharmaceutical

Biopharmaceutical

Biopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced using biotechnology. They include proteins , nucleic acids and living microorganisms like virus and bacteria where the virulence of viruses and bacteria is reduced by the process of attenuation, they can be used for therapeutic or in vivo diagnostic...

s. He is named as inventor of issued European patents 1250154, 1425304, 1534305 and 1732575, 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, and 7,696,153.

Various compounds from these patents are in mid and late stages of clinical development, including strontium malonate for osteoporosis.