People

Stefan Lohmer - Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Stefan Lohmer is a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Axxam, as well as Board Member of Rewind Therapeutics NV. Prior to founding Axxam, he was head of the assay development unit at the Bayer Research Centre in Milan and the Head of Genomics worldwide for Bayer AG. He was responsible for generating and managing Bayer’s external genomic alliances with Millennium and Lion Bioscience. Stefan Lohmer joined Bayer in 1992. He holds a degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Cologne and completed his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding in Cologne.

Alessandro Sidoli - Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Alessandro Sidoli is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Axxam, as well as Managing Director of IMAX Discovery GmbH. He has been Board Member of Xbrane Biopharma AB (2016-2019). He has been President of Assobiotec/Federchimica, the Italian association of the biotech industry (2010-2016), after having been Vice President since 2004. Since 2016 he is Chairman of Federchimica’s Research Development and Innovation Committee. In 2015 he co-founded a business angels association focused on biotechnology (Italian Angels for Biotech), being Vice President (2015-2019). He started his career as a Research Scientist at the Biotechnology Department of Farmitalia Carlo Erba in Milan, and later he was also a researcher at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at Oxford University (UK). Afterwards he served as Head of the Biotechnology Department at the Istituto Sieroterapico Milanese (Milan). He also founded Primm, one of the first Italian biotech companies, and was also Director of Technology Transfer at San Raffaele in Milan. Alessandro Sidoli received his degree in Biology from the University of Pavia where he conducted his studies as a member of the Ghislieri College.

Luigi Gavazzeni - Chief Financial Officer

Luigi Gavazzeni has been Chief Financial Officer of Axxam since 2005. Prior to Axxam, he held Finance Director positions at BioXell SpA and Novuspharma SpA. He has successfully managed several strategic and corporate development projects for a number of companies in the biopharmaceutical industry. He has extensive experience in project management and a broad knowledge of finance, accounting and tax principles, regulations and financial control. Luigi received his Degree in Engineering from the Polytechnic in Milan.

Silvia Bottinelli - Director Human Resources

Silvia joined Axxam in 2008 to lead the Human Resources Department. She has over 15 years experience in the HR field, having worked with a number of Italian and multinational pharmaceutical companies, as well as in other industries. After starting her career with a headhunting company, she had her first in-company experience in the HR department of Siemens S.p.A, where she worked until 2001 as Recruiting Manager. From 2001 to 2005 she worked for Janssen-Cilag S.p.A, a pharmaceutical subsidiary of the Johnson & Johnson Group, as Recruiting and Development Manager. Before joining Axxam, Silvia worked as Human Resources Manager at Siena Biotech (2005–2008). Silvia holds a degree in Philosophy and Psychology from the University of Milan.

Lia Scarabottolo - Director Discovery Services

Lia has been Director of Discovery Services since 2007. She is responsible for Assay Development, High Throughput Screening, Compound Profiling, Hit Follow-up, Liability Platforms, Library and Data Management. She coordinates numerous collaborations with international companies and she is Work Package Leader for different grants supported by the Italian government and the European Community.
Before taking this role, she was Head of the Cell Biology unit at Axxam from 2001, and previously she was Head of Cardiovascular Research Unit in the Pharmacology Department at Bayer-Italy. She holds a degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a Master in Experimental Pharmacology from the University of Milan.

Sabrina Corazza - Director Business Development

Member of the Axxam Team as of 2001, responsible for the BD activities of the Company since November 2009, Sabrina has been appointed Director, Business Development at Axxam in March 2015. Prior to that, she was head of the Enabling Technologies group at Axxam. Before joining Axxam in 2001, she was responsible for coordinating assay development in the CNS field at the Bayer Research Centre, based in Milano. Sabrina holds a degree in Biology from the University of Milano.