Our team

Innovation is Key

Nasasbiotech has a multidisciplinary team where each member presents a different profile and provides expert knowledge in each area necessary to develop novel products, from ideas to market launch.

Alexandre de la Fuente, CEO: Bachelor’s degree in Biology by University of A Coruña (UDC), (Spain) in a Specialist program in molecular biology in 2004. In 2008 he finish a Master’s degree in Biomedical Research, until in 2011 he was qualify as a PhD in Health Sciences in the Cellular Therapy Unit of Aging, Inflammation and Regenerative Medicine group of the the Institute of Biomedical Research of A Coruña (INIBIC). He developed several studies about useful of Stem Cells in cartilage repair and their implications in osteoarthritis disease. He was awarded as best PhD by health Science University (medicine department) in 2012. At this time he was a member of the Translational Medical Oncology Laboratory of IDIS since the origin of the CTC Trap project which give rise to Nasasbiotech.

Ana José Varela, Chair of the Board: Member of the Board at Banco Popular (fifth largest Spanish bank) and Chief Investment Officer at Barrié Foundation, she also chairs a software start-up, Torusware. She champions the Science Seed Fund at Barrié Foundation. The objective of the fund is to bridge the gap between universities and companies by creating public-private partnerships to generate economic value from scientific research. Since the begining of her professional career at The Boston Consulting Group, she has been a leading intrapreneur (entrepreneurship within a large corporate organization) with more than 20 years experience in banking, insurance, non profits, start-ups and investment management. A Law and Business Administration graduate, Ana José earned her MBA from Columbia Business School. She is a member of the European Foundation Financial and Investment Officers Group and one of the founders of the Spanish Council of Science Foundations. Fluent in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish, she was selected as the Spanish fellow for the 2015 Eisenhower Fellowship Women’s Leadership Program focusing on innovation, technology transfer and governance.

Miguel Abal, PhD: Dr. Abal is the head of the Translational Medical Oncology Laboratory at University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela (SERGAS) and a senior scientist (I3SNS program) at Health Research Institute of Santiago (IDIS) since 2009. This laboratory was set up in 2009 with the objective of generating research projects to address unmet needs in oncology, in particular in the process of metastasis. The laboratory generates in-vitro and in-vivo models to address these projects, which form the basis of patents and know-how for translation into clinical trials. Dr. Abal is an inventor of numerous patents in diagnostic oncology and metastatic disease treatment and is the author of over 50 publications, mainly in gynecological and colorectal diseases. He was a founding partner of TransBioMed, a biotech company dedicated to products and technology for diagnosis and therapy in oncology. Dr. Abal received a BSc in Pharmacy from University of Santiago de Compostela and a PhD in Pharmacy from CIB-CSIC in Madrid.

Rafael López, MD, PhD: Dr. Lopez is currently the head of the Medical Oncology Department of the University Clinical Hospital of Santiago de Compostela, which encompasses 13 oncologists supported by approximately 50 auxiliary personnel. In addition to leading the clinical trial program at the university, his research interests are focused on liquid biopsy and the study of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), as well as the implementation of state-of-the-art technologies in clinical diagnostics such as CellSearch (Veridex) and BEAMing (Sysmex). Dr. Lopez is an active participant in European consortiums and innovation initiatives such as the recently created public-private consortium with Roche (Unidad Mixta Roche-Oncología). Dr. Lopez received a BSc in Medicine and Surgery from the Autonoma University of Madrid and a PhD in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Valladolid.

Eladio Crego, Board member: Senior consultant, manager of the Science Seed Fund of Fundación Barrié, CFO of companies as Torus Software Solutions and Teimas Desenvolvemento.  He was investment manager at Uninvest SGECR and Unirisco Galicia SCR, managing investments in different biotechnology companies.

Throughout his career he has focused his expertise in the fields of entrepreneurship, financial planning, venture capital and technology transfer.

Eladio has a Business Degree for the University of Santiago de Compostela, a MBA for Abanca Business School and a PMD for ESADE Business School