About us

Reini Hurme, PhD, eMBA

CEO, Co-founder

Reini worked in pharmaceutical industry for 8 years, managing various clinical departments and functions for Leiras Oy and Schering Oy global organizations. He has worked in academia in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology with notable awards, grants, and publications, conducting research at Institut Pasteur, Karolinska Institute, and University of Helsinki. Reini has spent about twenty years abroad both in the US and several European countries. At Zora Reini has attracted funding and steered the business for growing the company from a start-up to a more mature company with marketed products and a strong diagnostic pipeline.

Reijo Laaksonen, Prof, MD, FESC

CMO, Co-founder

Reijo is a clinical pharmacologist specialized in cardiovascular pharmacology. Reijo spent more than six years at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal and at the Laboratory of Experimental Neurology, ULB, Brussels as a post-doctoral fellow and visiting scientist. Prior to joining Zora Reijo has worked as Chief Research Scientist at Viikki Drug Discovery Technology Center, Helsinki and served as a consultant for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Reijo is co-inventor of several patents and has published over 100 original scientific articles. Reijo is also research professor at Tampere University and medical director of the Finnish Clinical Biobank Tampere. Reijo’s interest in cardiovascular disease prevention and his experience in statin intolerance work are key assets for the development of the Zora porfolio.

Riikka Katainen, MSc (Econ, Biotech)

COO

Riikka holds an M.Sc. in Business and Economics as well as M.Sc. in Biotechnology. She worked at the University of Helsinki as a researcher. Prior to joining Zora, Riikka worked at Thermo Fisher Scientific. During her career she has gained invaluable experience in IPR, especially in patenting. Additionally, she has experience in project management, management accounting, financial management, and management of publicly funded projects. At Zora Riikka has been instrumental in creating project management practices, developing the patenting strategy, and managing our publicly funded projects and in building the company brand and marketing strategy.

Virve Väisänen, MSc

Head of Intellectual Property Rights

Virve Väisänen manages Zora’s diagnostic patent portfolio and other IPR. Virve holds an MSc in analytical chemistry from the University of Helsinki. She has experience in IPR and quality management in the chemical industry and also in analytical laboratories. At Zora Virve has handled scores of patent application in various geographies, with several of these coming to fruition thereby strengthening the Zora portfolio.

Aleksander Golob

Chairman of the Board, President of the Board of GOMAR d.d.

Aleksander Golob is the President of the Board, founder, and major shareholder of GOMAR d.d., a Slovenian private consulting enterprise. Aleksander is an engineer by training and also holds an MBA from the University of Maribor. His financial expertise was acquired during a banking career in a prominent investment bank in Slovenia. Aleksander is specialized in financial and tax consultation.

Simo Makkonen

Chairman of the Board of Circlion Capital Oy, Dr.Tech

Simo Makkonen is the Chairman of the Board and founder of Circlion Capital Oy, a Finnish private investment company. Simo was the CEO, founder, and key shareholder of Process Vision Oy, a mid-size IT company specialized in energy management systems. Simo has 20 years of experience in energy, IT and management. After Process Vision sell-off in 2011, Simo has been involved in senior advisory and consulting activities in addition to his role as an investor in several European companies. His academic career has focused on applied mathematics, operations research, international financing and artificial intelligence.

Timo Laitinen

M.Sc. (Industrial Engineering and Management)

Timo has over 30 years of experience in the C-level management, mostly in the field of financial services. He has been the CEO of two listed companies. He has also been the CEO of Helsinki Stock Exchange.
He has founded two banks and been the CEO of the other and the Chairman of the other.
For the last fifteen years, besides his own consulting company, he has been involved in the start-up scene in Finland. He has invested in over twenty start-ups and he has served as the Board Member or Chairman in over a dozen of those.

Risto Uronen

MSc (Engineering), MSc (Econ)

MSc (Eng) Helsinki University of Technology, Industrial Management
MSc (Econ) Helsinki School of Economics

Risto has over 20 years international experience from financial software development and financial markets.