Orn Almarsson
About Orn Almarsson
Orn Almarsson serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Lyndra Therapeutics, bringing extensive experience in pharmaceutical sciences and drug development. He has held senior positions at various companies, including Moderna Therapeutics and Alkermes, and has a strong academic background in chemistry and physical sciences.
Work at Lyndra Therapeutics
Orn Almarsson serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Lyndra Therapeutics, a position he has held since 2020. In this role, he oversees the technological advancements and strategic direction of the company, which focuses on developing innovative drug delivery systems. Almarsson's extensive background in pharmaceutical sciences and drug formulation supports Lyndra's mission to improve patient adherence through long-acting oral medications.
Education and Expertise
Orn Almarsson has a strong educational background in the sciences. He studied Physical Sciences at Flensborg, earning an Associate of Arts and Sciences (AAS) from 1982 to 1985. He then pursued a B.Sc. in Chemistry at Háskóli Íslands from 1985 to 1989. Almarsson further advanced his studies at UC Santa Barbara, where he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Bioorganic Chemistry from 1989 to 1994. He also completed postdoctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in non-aqueous enzymology and at Harvard Business School in Leadership and Strategy in Biotech and Pharma.
Background
Orn Almarsson has held various significant positions in the pharmaceutical industry. He worked at Merck as a Research Fellow and group leader in preformulation from 1995 to 2000. Following this, he served as Senior Director at J&J PRD from 2005 to 2008. Almarsson then transitioned to Alkermes, where he was Vice President from 2008 to 2013, leading the development of the LinkeRx® platform. Prior to his current role, he was Head of Delivery Sciences at Moderna Therapeutics from 2013 to 2020.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Orn Almarsson has made notable contributions to pharmaceutical development. At TransForm Pharmaceuticals, he played a key role in creating a high-throughput solid form diversity platform, which facilitated numerous crystallization trials for small molecules. While at Merck, he significantly contributed to the NDA submission for Invanz®. Additionally, at Alkermes, he led the integration of a team in Ireland focused on nano-crystals and oral controlled release formulations, enhancing the company's drug development capabilities.