Management Team

CEO - Hugo van Heuverswyn, PhD

Dr. H. Van Heuverswyn is co-founder and CEO of BioMARIC N.V. Dr. Van Heuverswyn is one of the pioneers in industrializing modern biotechnology in Europe. During his Ph.D. studies, Dr. Van Heuverswyn, together with his colleagues at the Molecular Biology department headed by Prof Walter Fiers at the Ghent University, succeeded as the first ever, to unravel the structure of the full DNA genome of a mammalian virus. Thereafter he spent three years at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro to create the first DNA sequencing laboratory in Brazil in the laboratory of Dr. Carlos Morel, in order to study the molecular biology of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Back in Belgium, Dr. Van Heuverswyn founded Innogenetics NV in 1985, the first Belgian independent biotechnology company and the first biotech company to go public on EASDAQ (NASDAQ-Europe) in 1996. Dr. Van Heuverswyn has also been the chairman of VIB, the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology, since its inception in 1995. In 2003 he co-founded FlandersBio, the association of biotechnology companies in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium.

COO – Matthew Sanders, PhD, MBA

Dr. Matthew Sanders is Director Operations of BioMARIC N.V. since 2007 and is responsible for all operational activities including production and R&D. After obtaining his Engineering degree in Biological Sciences in 1998 at Ghent University, Dr. Sanders started his Ph.D. studies at Plant Genetic Systems N.V. under promotorship of Prof. Marc Van Montagu whose discovery (together with Prof. J. Schell) pioneered genetic plant engineering technology. Dr Sanders’ work on the molecular mechanism of RNA interference in plants resulted in the publication of several papers in high-impact journals and contributed to a better understanding of this biological system which has later been shown to play a dominant role in gene expression not solely in plants but across species. Upon finishing his Ph.D. in 2003, Dr. Sanders joined the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) aiming to identify and validate potential drug targets in the NF-κB pathway for treatment of chronic immune diseases. Following his postdoctoral research, Dr Sanders took up a management position as Head of R&D with R.E.D. Laboratories N.V., a biotech company developing clinical diagnostic tests and therapies for chronic immune diseases. In 2009, Dr. Sanders obtained his MBA degree at Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School.

Business Development Manager – Willem Beeckman, PhD, MBA

After obtaining his Ph.D. Degree in Biology, Dr. Beeckman started his professional career as development manager at EUROGENETICS, a Belgian clinical diagnostics company founded in 1985, where he was involved in the development of dipstick hormone assays in collaboration with the Microelectronic department MICAS at the Catholic University Leuven. From 1990 till 2000, Dr. Beeckman worked in various positions in the development and the sales & marketing departments at the Belgian biotechnology company INNOGENETICS. Dr. Beeckman obtained his executive MBA degree at Flanders Business School in 1996. He is now responsible for Business development at BioMARIC.