Our team

Management Team

Ana Seco
Co-Founder & CFO
ana.seco @ aptusbiotech.com

Graduate in Economy, MBA IESE Business School, Co-Founder of AptusBiotech and AptaTargets. Expert in Biotech Management. She is the Sole Administrator and Financial Manager of the company.

Dr. Víctor M. González
COO
victor.m.gonzalez @ aptusbiotech.com

Senior researcher at the Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS), where he directs the Aptamer Research Group. PhD in Molecular Biology from the Autonomous University of Madrid.

He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the «Severo Ochoa» Molecular Biology Center (CSIC-UAM) in Madrid and later at the Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Michigan, where he collaborated on projects related to apoptosis. Back in Spain, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alcalá and CNB, in Madrid. In 2002 he joined the Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS) in Madrid and founded the Aptamers Research Group. He is the leader of more than 30 research projects financed with public and private funds, has over 60 peer-reviewed publications in international journals, and is the inventor of six patents. Between 2006 and 2009 he co-founded and was a scientific advisor to the Bioapter company. In 2010 he co-founded Aptus Biotech and became COO of the company.

Miguel Moreno
CSO
miguel.moreno @ aptusbiotech.com

In January 2020 he joined Aptus Biotech as Chief Scientific Officer, where he is responsible of the coordination and monitoring of the different projects of the company, provide scientific support in all R&D&I

Processes, give transversal support to the entire organization, propose ideas and alternatives in the development of new projects, evaluate from a scientific point of view the opportunities for new licenses or developments, as well as publish and disseminate the results of the different investigations.

PhD. in Molecular Biology in 2005 at the University of Alcala de Henares where he developed electrochemical DNA biosensors based on DNA-gold capped nanoparticles. As part of his Master degree, he selected aptamers against a protein of Leishmania infantum. Miguel has worked with Prof. Carlos Martinez A. (CNB-CSIC) and Prof. Laura Lechuga (IMM-CNM-CSIC) developing DNA arrays based on nanocantilevers, as well as with Prof. David Russell at the University of East Anglia (UK) where he was involved in the development of gold nanoparticles as drug carriers for in vivo PDT. In 2007 he co-founded Bioapter, a novel technological company based on the development of aptamers based biosensors and therapies. In October 2009 he joined the Astrobiology Centre in Madrid (CAB, CSIC-INTA) where he was exploring the in vitro selection and evolution of nucleic acids for the development of RNA and DNA aptamers, bionanotechnology-inspired biosensors. He is author of 30 articles in international peer reviewed journals, 5 chapters in specialized books, and more than 70 communications to international conferences.

Technical Team

Dr. Gerónimo Fernández, Technical Director & QA
g.fernandez @ aptusbiotech.com

Graduated in Chemistry, specialty Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (UAM 1997) and PhD. in CC. Chemistry, Biomedicine program (UAH 2002), I have developed my professional career focused on therapy and human diagnosis

in the Immunology Service of the Gregorio Marañón hospital (Madrid), studying the molecular biology of HIV. Some important patents were granted from this research activities. Later, he worked for Dendrico, a company focused in developing dendrimers for drug delivery of nucleic acids and other therapeutic candidates. He also worked for NLife Therapeutics, a company focused in modifying and applying nucleic acids (siRNA and aptamers) in novel therapies. In 2011, he joined to Aptus Biotech through the Torres Quevedo Program as an expert in aptamers and Immunology. From 2009, I combine this activity with university teaching in the degrees of Biotechnology, Pharmacy, Biology and Chemistry, in different universities. Since 2019, at the Complutense University of Madrid, as an associate professor. Combining these two activities allows me to update, not only the knowledge used in the company but also have a broader perspective to design projects, devise solutions in the day-to-day of the laboratory and transfer my business experience to the students.

Ana García-Sacristán
Project Manager and Head of Gender Policy
garciasaa @ aptusbiotech.com

Graduated in Chemistry at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1998. She obtained the PH.D degree in 2004 at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid working with genes involved in cell differentiation

in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB-CSIC). From 2005 to 2008 she did a postdoctoral research stage in the Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM) in Lisbon, to study the quality control mechanisms of RNA processing and RNA surveillance mechanism. Due to the experience gained in several fields related to nucleic acids research, she joined in 2008 to the Molecular Evolution Laboratory at the Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, CSIC-INTA) to study RNA virus genome, within the research framework of the sequence-structure-function relationships of nucleic acids. In November 2013, she joined to Aptus Biotech through the Torres Quevedo Program to develop a Hepatitis C Diagnostic kit based on aptamers. Afterward, she supervised a European project focus in diagnostic platforms for animal pathogens using ELONA, Miroarrays or lateral flow based on aptamers. Currently she is managing a project to develop a diagnostic tool of early stages of lung cancer based on aptamers together with a therapeutic project based on drug delivery using nanotechnology for lung cancer treatment. Her professional challenge is to apply her knowledge in R & D & i to the development of innovative therapeutic and diagnostic tools based on aptamer technology for the biotechnology in human and animal health.

Celia Pinto
Researcher
celia.pinto @ aptusbiotech.com

Degree in Biology (2009), Master of Health Analysis at the Complutense University (2013).and PhD. in Biology at UAH (2019). More than 10 years of experience in aptamers. She has been focused on the development of the aptamer apMNKQ2

for the treatment of breast cancer, having carried out all the in vitro and preliminary tests in animal models. Her experience on the subject of the project is key to its development. Since 2019 she is in charge of the AptaBreast Program by means of the Torres Quevedo Fellowship (2020).

Ana Salgado
Researcher
ana.salgado @ aptusbiotech.com

Graduated in Biology (UAM) and MsC in genetics and cell biology (UAM, UAH, UCM), she is currently undertaking the PhD in Biology at the UAM.She has more than 5 years of experience in aptamers. She owns a CAM Doctor Industrial fellowship

devoted to aptamer application in molecular biology, studying the use of aptamers against TLR4 in breast cancer.

Laura Herraiz Benítez
Researcher
laura.herraiz @ aptusbiotech.com

Bachelor in Pharmacy from UCM, MSc in Microbiology by Radboud University (The Netherlands). Experienced researcher in several labs in Germany and The Netherlands.

Mirian Barragán
Researcher
m.barragan @ aptusbiotech.com

Senior Technician in Pathological
Anatomy and Cytology and 7 years of
experience in different aptamer
selection projects.

Scientific Advisor

Javier Cortés

Director of the Baselga Oncologic Institute (IOB), Clinical Researcher of the Breast Cancer Research Program of the Vall d’Hebrón Oncology Institute of Barcelona. Actively involved in the development of 4 candidates drugs against metastatic breast cancer in Europe from which approved: pertuzumab, eribulina y everolimus. National Prize of Medicine 2021

Elena Martín

Leader of the Aptamer Group at IRYCIS. PhD. in Biochemistry at UAM. Postdoctoral researcher at UAH. Expert in aptamers, signalling and molecular biology of cancer as well as ischemic pathologies.