Hugo Van Heuverswyn

Hugo Van Heuverswyn (born 1948) is a Belgian molecular biologist, biotech pioneer, entrepreneur and businessman. He has been the chairman of the VIB, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, since its inception in 1995.

Education

Hugo Van Heuverswyn obtained a chemistry degree at the University of Ghent in 1971 and a PhD in molecular biology in 1978 in the group of Prof. Walter Fiers, a first-tier pioneer in the field of modern biotechnology,[1] in whose laboratory Van Heuverswyn and his colleagues realized the first ever decoding of a complete viral DNA genome (SV40). In the subsequent period 1979 – 1981 he was appointed visiting professor at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, where he established, together with Dr. Carlos Morel, the first DNA sequencing laboratory in Latin America.

Career

Scientist and Entrepreneur: After his return to Belgium in 1981, he was invited to set up Biogent, a Belgian subsidiary of Biogen (one of the first biotech companies worldwide), to pursue the molecular cloning of TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) and other cytokines, a new class of biomolecules which at that time had just started to be discovered, but today are revolutionizing the field of immunology and anti-cancer therapy. In 1985, Hugo Van Heuverswyn initiated together with Rudi Mariën, the creation of Innogenetics,[2][3] at a time that venture capital was still non-existing in Belgium.[4] Van Heuverswyn served as chairman of Innogenetics when it developed in 1994 a new test to detect the presence of a strain of the AIDS virus.[5] He continued to serve as CEO and board member till 2000,[6]

See also

• Rudy Dekeyser

Sources

• J. Comijn, P. Raeymaekers, A. Van Gysel, M. Veugelers, Today = Tomorrow : a tribute to life sciences research and innovation : 10 years of VIB, Snoeck, 2006, ISBN 978-90-5349-630-5
• Hugo Van Heuverswyn
• VIB Board
• Biomaric