Melanie Ivarsson OBE brings over 25 years of leadership in life sciences and clinical development to Protas.
Melanie Ivarsson has been appointed to the Board of Directors at Protas, bringing vast experience in clinical development and innovation to the company.
Melanie’s career has been at the forefront of driving organisational excellence and strategic operational initiatives in the life sciences industry.
Most recently, she served as Chief Development Officer at Moderna, where she oversaw the delivery of all clinical development programmes and led the clinical trials that produced one of the world’s first COVID-19 vaccines.
During nearly five years at Moderna, Melanie built the development arm from 30 colleagues to more than 1,000 and established an operating model that delivered over 40 programmes.
She played a key role in founding the Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre in Harwell, UK, and expanding the company’s research and development footprint globally.
Prior to Moderna, Melanie has held senior roles at Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Shire and Takeda, working across all phases of clinical drug development.
She holds a PhD in Neurophysiology from the University of Bristol, completed postdoctoral research at Lund University, Sweden, and New York University in the United States, and she earned her Executive MBA from the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Alongside her new role with Protas, Melanie serves as Non-Executive Director at UK biotech company LoQus23 and sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of PhaseV Trials, a Boston-based start-up applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve clinical trial design and execution.
In 2022, she was awarded an OBE for services to public health.
Professor Sir Rory Collins, Chair of the Board at Protas, said: “Melanie is a welcome addition to the Protas board, bringing with her decades of important work in life sciences and clinical development.
“She joins the team as Protas continues to expand its footprint, working with partners in the UK, Europe and US to address the worldwide disease burden through streamlined, cost-efficient and patient-centred clinical trials.
“We look forward to working together as we scale and accelerate this work.”
Melanie said: “I am thrilled to join Protas’ board and contribute my experience in clinical development and innovation to help shape the future of clinical trials and patient-focused research.”
Discover more about our leadership team here.