Stijn Heessen leads the Business Development team for Xintela. He brings a unique combination of extensive scientific training and sharp business acumen. He also is the Chief Operations Officer of Alder Therapeutics.

Prior to Xintela, Stijn spent more than 12 years in senior global business development and licensing positions in the pharmaceutical sector, working for Perrigo, Sanofi, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Stijn has also held Regulatory Affairs Manager roles at both GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim, supporting the launch of new products.

Stijn has an MSc in biomedical sciences from Utrecht University, a Ph.D. in cell and tumour biology from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and held post-doctoral positions at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the Netherlands Cancer Institute.