21st century challenge: neurodegeneration

Dr. Andrea Pfeifer (Chief Executive Officer, AC Immune, Switzerland) discusses Alzheimer’s disease and where we stand in applied research and medicine. She argues that solutions for Alzheimer’s disease lie in innovative prevention and combination therapies, and calls for collaboration between industry, universities, regulatory bodies and other stakeholders to accelerate breakthrough therapies.

About speaker:
Dr. Andrea Pfeifer co-founded AC Immune, a company developing innovative therapies for Alzheimer's disease and other conformational diseases, in 2003. She serves as chairwoman of the Biotechmedinvest AG Investment Fund, Basel, and on the Supervisory Board of Symrise AG, Holzminden. Dr. Pfeifer is a member of the CEOi Initiative on Alzheimer's disease. She was recognized as a Technology Pioneer by the WEF and Swiss Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. Additional recognitions include the BioAlps prize in 2013, her election as one of the top 10 women in biotech from Fierce Biotech in 2012, and being named as one of the 300 most influential personalities in Switzerland.

As the former head of Nestlé's Global Research in Lausanne, Switzerland, where Dr. Pfeifer managed a group of more than 600 people, she brings more than 25 years of senior management experience including broad R&D, business and international exposure. While at Nestlé, she led the development of the first Functional Food, LC1, and one of the first cosmoceutical products in a joint venture with L'Oreal, Innéov Fermeté. She also co-founded the Nestlé Venture Capital Fund, a € 100Mio. Life Sciences corporate venture fund.