About us
Company History
APIGENEX s.r.o., originally named RE&D VÚFB s.r.o., originated from VÚFB, a.s. – the Research Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry. This institute was the biggest research center for the pharmaceutical industry of former Czechoslovakia. During its existence a great number of original drugs (along with hundreds of generic drugs) were developed, with some (e.g. Dosulepin or Metipranolol) having been marketed internationally.
The political and economic changes in Czechoslovakia after 1989 also affected VÚFB, Consequently, the institute split into several companies, with RE&D VÚFB, s.r.o. as one of these successors. It took over a part of the original division of biological, biochemical and pharmacological research and a part of the former division of organic synthesis and clinical department.
Since the year 2000, the company´s main offices have been located in the industrial park Tesla Hloubětín. At present, the company takes up more than 1,000 square meters and will soon be moving into a larger, newly renovated facility. Our laboratories and store rooms meet or exceed all requirements stipulated by both Czech and international laws.
Management
Ladislav Drož, Ph.D.
CEO
Dr. Drož graduated in 1998 from Charles University in Prague. He subsequently stayed on at the university until 2005 as a lecturer and researcher. After resuming his education he obtained his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the same university in 2007, where he obtained experience in the field of physical organic chemistry. During this time he also helped found the company Azacycles, s.r.o. where he acted as a research manager. His research there was focused on the development of radiopharmaceutical compounds and bioconjugates for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. He joined RE&D VÚFB (now APIGENEX) in 2007 as a research scientist and went on to become the manager of development. In July, 2009 he became CEO of the company. He remains active in developing new venues of research.
Miroslav Havránek, Ph.D.
Head of the Chemistry Department
Dr. Havránek graduated from Charles University in Prague and obtained his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the Institute of Chemical Technology in 1998, under the direction of Prof. Dalimil Dvořák, where he obtained experience in the field of organometallic chemistry. He completed his post-doctoral studies in 2002 under the guidance of Prof. Dalibor Sames at Columbia University. Dr. Havránek obtained training in combinatorial chemistry under the supervision of Dr. Michal Lebl at Trega Biosciences. He joined RE&D VÚFB (now APIGENEX) in 2002, starting our combinatorial chemistry program. He is also an expert in compound design and multistep organic synthesis. He holds several patents and publications, stemming from our ongoing collaboration with Novo Nordisk. He leads a team of skilled Ph.D. chemists with overseas postdoctoral experience.
Vladimíra Panajotova, Ph.D.
Head of the Department of Experimental Pharmacology
Dr. Panajotova graduated from the Faculty of Science at Charles University, and obtained her Ph.D. at the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences in the field of immunopharmacology. She started her research career at the Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry in Prague. She focused on the research of immunomodulatory compounds, and was promoted to the Head of Department of Anti-inflammatory and Anti-arthritic Drugs in 1992. Dr. Panajotova has been working with the company since its foundation. She coordinated the research collaboration with Novo Nordisk in the areas of anti-diabetic and hypolipidemic compounds.
Radomír Souček, PharmD., Ph.D.
Head of the Clinical Pharmacology Department
Dr. Souček graduated from Charles University, College of Pharmacy. He obtained his Ph.D. at the same institute in the field of pharmacology where he also obtained a 1st degree specialization in clinical pharmacy. He started his research career at the Institute of Pharmacy and Biochemistry in Prague where he specialized in the clinical development of original and generic compounds. In 1992 he was promoted to Head of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Souček has been working with the company since its foundation. His expertise lies in performing a range of clinical trials in various therapeutic areas, in the preparation and judgment of both the preclinical and clinical parts of registration documentation and in pharmacovigilance (Eudravigilance).
Zdeněk Jurka, Ph.D.
Head of the GMP Services Department
In 1982, Dr. Jurka graduated from Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Brno. He then moved to the Czechoslovak (now, Czech) Academy of Sciences where he obtained experience in the fields of isotopically-labeled organic radiopharmaceuticals and peptide synthesis. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1992 for his work on radiolabeled short peptide sequences at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. In 1994, Dr. Jurka joined Polypeptide Laboratories, s.r.o. and subsequently held the positions of Head of Purification and Lyophilization, Head of Production, and Head of Quality Control and Quality Assurance. He joined APIGENEX in 2010.
Marek Kořínek, Ing.
Head of Combinatorial Chemistry
Marek Kořínek graduated from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague and proceeded with two years of doctoral studies in Organic Chemistry. In 2002 he joined a research group at Re&D VUFB (now APIGENEX) where he was involved in the development of diverse libraries of small molecules through robotic solid phase synthesis (2002-2004) and afterwards in the medicinal chemistry project focusing on back-up compounds – selective PPARd agonists – for Novo Nordisk (2004-2006). Then he became a supervisor of an LCMS analytical section focusing on method development and evaluation of analytes in biological matrixes (pharmacokinetics, biomarkers, 2007-2010). Ing. Kořínek was one of the project managers in the development of small focused libraries for in vitro screening tests (signalling cascades in stem cells; cooperation with Institute of Molecular Genetics of the ASCR, 2010-2014). Currently he coordinates part of the collaboration with Novo Nordisk in the area of organic synthesis. Since 2012 he has also been responsible for business presentation of the company.
