Dr Laurens Sierkstra, CEO
Laurens has held the role of CEO at BAC since the spin-off from Unilever in 2005. He obtained his PhD in Biotechnology at the University of Utrecht, after studying Biology at Leiden University. Between 1994 and 2005, Laurens initially held the role of Project Manager within Unilever’s Laundry Program, and then in 1997 became Operational Director for BAC, where he successfully transformed BAC from a Unilever R&D department to a Biotech company focused on discovery and manufacturing of camelid single domain antibodies for purification of pharmaceuticals, as well as leading the spin-off from Unilever. Laurens is member of the Board of the Dutch Center for Translational Molecular Medicine (CTMM).
Dr Ingeborg van Gemeren, VP Business Development
Ingeborg joined BAC as VP Business Development in 1998 and has successfully developed BAC’s CMO business before transforming BAC into a business focused on affinity purification products. Ingeborg obtained her PhD in Biotechnology at the University of Utrecht, after a study in Biochemistry at Leiden University. Before joining BAC, Ingeborg was a manager in Unilever R&D’s biotechnology group. Ingeborg is member of the Board of Biofarmind, the Association for the Biopharmaceutical Industry in the Netherlands.
Bruce Dawson, MBA, VP Global Sales & Marketing
Bruce joined BAC in early 2003 and is based in the US. Bruce has over 20 years experience in the separations and scientific tools industries. Prior to joining BAC, he was VP of Business Development at Dyax Corp., where he led the activities in peptide and protein affinity ligand collaborations. Before this, Bruce held senior sales, marketing and operations positions at Millipore Corporation. Bruce has an MBA from Boston College and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University (Boston).
Arjan van Brakel, Director of Finance
Arjan has over 10 years experience in Finance & Accounting. Before he joined the company in 2005 he worked with various midsized to large companies, in various industries on a consultancy basis. Arjan holds a Bachelor degree in the field of Business Economics and he is currently pursuing a Master degree in this field.
Pim Hermans, Director of Ligand Discovery
Pim Hermans joined BAC in 2002. As Director of the Ligand Discovery Department, Pim is responsible for the development of affinity ligands for applications in process and analytical affinity chromatography. Prior to joining BAC Pim held roles in the Bio-Immunochemistry group at Unilever where he was involved in the early development and exploration of camelid-derived single domain antibodies. Pim previously held positions in the R&D department at Holland Biotechnology (Hbt).
Dr. Frank Detmers, Director Ligand Application
Frank Detmers received his PhD at the University of Groningen. He worked as a post doctoral researcher at the Department of Cell Physiology at the Nijmegen Center of Molecular Life Sciences before joining BAC in 2004. Frank is responsible for directing programs focused on the immobilization of affinity ligands on solid supports and generation of application data, including the development of BAC bench scale products.
Joost Zondervan, Director Manufacturing
Joost Zondervan joined BAC as Director of Manufacturing in 2008, where his responsibilities include process development and upstream/downstream production. Previously, he held positions in vaccine manufacturing at Solvay Biologicals and in fermentation research at DSM Gist. Joost received his MSc in bioprocess technology from Wageningen Agricultural University.
Johan Hamminga, Director Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs
Johan has worked at BAC since 2004 in the Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs department. He is responsible for the release of products, Training, Auditing, Document Management, Quality Control, compliance with the legislation regarding Safety, Health and Environment and ISO9001. Before joining BAC, Johan worked for bio-pharmaceutical companies, including DSM Biologics and Centocor in several functions in QA, R&D, Manufacturing, Logistics and Project Management.
