Nico Stam - Chair Expert Council

Nico Stam has over 35 years of experience in the life sciences industry, spanning drug discovery, business development, licensing, and executive leadership across both large pharmaceutical companies and biotech ventures.

Nico currently serves as Managing Director & VP Research Europe at Acerta Pharma B.V., a member of the AstraZeneca Group, a position he has held since January 2018. In this role he also sits on the Executive Board. Prior to this, he served as interim CEO at Cell2Tissue B.V., where he led the development of technology in the fields of stem cell culture and tissue engineering, and as Deputy Director & Chief Business Officer at Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus BV.

Nico spent over five years at Merck, where as Executive Director of Business Development & Licensing and Asset Management he led global out-licensing projects of valued R&D assets ranging from preclinical stage through Phase III. Before that, he held senior business development roles at Schering-Plough Research Institute and Organon Biosciences, with a strong focus on M&A, divestments, and integration activities following major corporate transactions.

Earlier in his career at N.V. Organon, Nico led a worldwide strategic R&D and commercialization alliance with Sanofi-Aventis in antithrombotics, reporting directly to the CEO, and headed the Target Discovery Department at Organon Laboratories in the United Kingdom, overseeing discovery programs in Cardiovasculars and Neuroscience. He began his career in Organon's R&D laboratories, focusing on target discovery for Neuroscience and drug screening assay development.