Published: Oct 10, 2023

Leuven, Belgium, October 10, 2023   AstriVax is pleased to announce that Dr. Mathieu Peeters and Barbara Freitag have joined the company s leadership team as Chief Development Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively.

Hanne Callewaert, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of AstriVax, said:  I am grateful that Barbara and Mathieu have recently joined our company as we are progressing to the next stage of company building. With AstriVax soon entering into clinical stage, I am excited that Mathieu has joined us as CDO to steer our clinical vaccine development. As a clinician, he brings a long-standing track record in clinical development in both large pharmaceutical companies and smaller biotech companies. I am convinced he will make important contributions along with the rest of the R&D team to enable our company s plug-and-play vaccine platform to reach its full potential. Barbara s experience in corporate governance and financial strategy will be important capabilities as we scale the company, so I am thrilled to have her on board. I look forward to working with them both as we expand our leadership team. AstriVax is now ready for the next stage, with an established leadership team and the support of a strong and diverse Scientific Advisory Board - with Emmanuel Hanon as chair - and world-class investors. 

Mathieu Peeters, M.D., has substantial biotech experience and in-depth knowledge of various vaccine types, prophylactic and therapeutic, and their development paths. He has held senior positions at GSK Vaccines, ThromboGenics (now Oxurion) and Biopharma. In previous roles, he was involved in the clinical development of several candidate vaccines for respiratory diseases including RSV, COPD and influenza, among others, and most recently a therapeutic HSV vaccine.

Barbara Freitag, MBA, is a seasoned finance leader. She has held senior roles at prominent firms like Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Through years of experience providing fractional CFO services to start-ups and growth companies, she also knows the financial aspects of the biotech sector.

Media Contact

Hanne Callewaert, Ph.D., CEO of AstriVax, info@astrivax.com.

About AstriVax

Founded in 2022, AstriVax NV aims to address global challenges in vaccinology with its innovative plug-and-play vaccine platform. The company develops novel prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines that are easy to produce, have reduced cold chain requirements, and offer broad and long-lasting protection against various infectious diseases. AstriVax is supported by well-known investors V-Bio Ventures, Fund+, Flanders Future TechFund managed by PMV, Thuja Capital, Ackermans & van Haaren, OMX Europe Venture Fund (M rieux Equity Partners and Korys), BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity, and the KU Leuven Gemma Frisius Fund.

AstriVax is located in the BioHub in Leuven. For more information, please visit https://astrivax.com/

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AstriVax Strengthens Leadership Team by Welcoming Chief Development Officer (CDO) Dr. Mathieu Peeters and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Barbara Freitag 

AstriVax, a Belgian biotech company founded in 2022, has appointed Dr. Mathieu Peeters as Chief Development Officer and Barbara Freitag as Chief Financial Officer to enhance its leadership team as it transitions to clinical development stages.