As Head of Bioscience for Cardiovascular in CVRM I am responsible for our heart failure and cardiovascular disease early project pipeline through to the candidate drug investment decision, where we decide which candidate drugs to take forward into further early clinical development. I support the preclinical bioscience aspects, e.g. mechanism of action and pharmacology/efficacy of drugs in development projects, from target identification to phase III. I encourage and support cross-disciplinary decision-making, as well as strategic external collaborations.

With over 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, I have extensive expertise in bioscience, covering target identification and preclinical development, all the way through to late-clinical and marketed products in both cardiovascular and renal medicine. I have experience across many modalities and drug development projects, from small molecules, peptides, antibodies and proteins, to antisense oligonucleotides and messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA).

I completed my PhD in Clinical Chemistry at Linköping University, Sweden, focused on the real-time analysis of processes related to blood clotting and fibrinolysis using novel optical and rheological sensing techniques to diagnose haemostatic disorders.

My interests and scientific experiences encompass diverse areas including cardiovascular disease, anaemia and kidney disease, wound healing and tissue regeneration, plus thrombosis and haemostasis. I have worked on biosensor technologies, including surface plasmon resonance, quartz crystal microbalance and free oscillation rheometry. I have also supported patents, including the use of FII and fibrinogen for treatment of haemostatic disorders, formulation and use of mRNA based therapeutics in heart failure and healing of diabetic foot ulcers.

Our aspiration in the cardiovascular space is to regenerate damaged tissues and eventually cure heart diseases, as well as finding ways to prevent these illnesses. The key areas in heart failure that I am focused on strengthening within AstraZeneca are dilated cardiomyopathies and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), as well as researching the phospholamban and SERCA proteins – that has been linked to cardiomyopathy and heart failure.

At AstraZeneca, we are focused on expanding our scientific understanding of disease drivers to deliver game changing treatments that will prevent illness and help the body heal from conditions that currently cause too many lives to be lost.

Kenny Hansson Executive Director and Head of Bioscience Cardiovascular, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM), AstraZeneca

2019 CEO Award

Worlds first mRNA therapeutic to demonstrate safety/tolerability and proof-of-mechanism in diabetic patients

PHB Award 2014

Most innovative collaboration for Validation of a coagulation biomarker and a Point of Care Diagnostic for early prediction of FII deficiency and poor prognosis in trauma patients with severe bleeding.
Kenny Hansson, Head of Bioscience Cardiovascular, CVRM

Key Achievements

Executive Director, Head of Department, Bioscience Cardiovascular, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM), AstraZeneca

2020 – present

Executive Director, Head of Department, Bioscience Cardiovascular, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM), AstraZeneca. Heading the disease area Heart failure and Cardiovascular disease with accountability for project pipeline up to candidate drug investment decision.

2019 – 2020

Acting Head of Department/Project leader, Bioscience, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM), AstraZeneca, led the Bioscience Cardiovascular Department and supported the preclinical bioscience aspects of development projects, from target identification to phase III.

2018 - 2019

Associate Director/Project Leader, Bioscience Heart Failure, AstraZeneca. Led projects in the area of heart failure and wound healing, using mRNA and antisense oligonucleotides.

Scientific publications

Blocking phospholamban with VHH intrabodies enhances contractility and relaxation in heart Failure

De Genst E, Foo K S, Xiao Y, Rohner E, de Vries E, Sohlmér J, Witman N, Hidalgo A, Kolstad T R S, Louch W E, Pehrsson S, Park A, Ikeda Y, Li X, Mayr L M, Wickson K, Jennbacken K, Hansson K, Fritsche-Danielson R, Hunt J and Chien K R. Nature Communications (2022) 13, 3018,

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Phospholamban antisense oligonucleotides improve cardiac function in murine cardiomyopathy

Beverborg N G, Später D, Knöll R, Hidalgo A, Yeh S T, Elbeck Z, Silljé H H W, Eijgenraam T R, Siga H, Zurek M, Palmér M, Pehrsson S, Albery T, Bomer N, Hoes M F, Cornelis J. Boogerd 6, Michael Frisk 7, Eva van Rooij 6, Sagar Damle4, Louch W E, Wang Q-D, Fritsche-Danielson R, Chien K R, Hansson K M, Mullick A E, de Boer R A, van der Meer P

Nature Communications (2021) 12, 5180

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Antisense Therapy Attenuates Phospholamban p.(Arg14del) Cardiomyopathy in Mice and Reverses Protein Aggregation

Eijgenraam T R, Stege N M, Teixeira V O N, de Brouwer R, Schouten E M, Beverborg N G, Sun L, Später D, Knöll R, Hansson K M, Amilon C, Janzén D, Yeh S T, Mullick A E, van der Meer P, de Boer R A and Silljé H W H

J. Mol. Sci. (2022) 23, 2427

Modified VEGF-A mRNA induces sustained multifaceted microvascular response and accelerates diabetic wound healing.

Sun N, Ning B, Hansson K M, Bruce A, et al. Scientific Reports 2018, 8:17509 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-35570-6

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Mathematical Model Predicts that Acceleration of Diabetic Wound Healing is Dependent on Spatial Distribution of VEGF-A mRNA (AZD8601)

Rikard S M, Myers P J, Almquist J, Gennemark P, Bruce A C Gberg M, Fritsche-Danielson R, Hansson K M, Lazzara M J and Peirce S M.

Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (2021) 14, 321-338

Model-Based Analysis Reveals a Sustained and Dose-Dependent Acceleration of Wound Healing by VEGF-A mRNA (AZD8601)

Joachim Almquist, Michaela Rikard, Maria Wågberg, Anthony C. Bruce, Peter Gennemark, Regina Fritsche-Danielson, Kenneth R. Chien, Shayn M. Peirce, Kenny Hansson* and Anna Lundahl*.

*Shared senior authorship

CPT Pharmacometrics Syst. Pharmacol. (2020) 9, 384–394

Recombinant human prothrombin (MEDI8111) combined with fibrinogen dose-dependently improved survival time and reduced blood loss in a porcine model of dilutional coagulopathy with uncontrolled bleeding

Hansson K M, Pehrsson S, Johansson K J, Lindblom A, Nelander K, Lövgren A. Blood Coagulation and Fibrinolysis 2019, 30:140–148

Veeva ID: Z4-53355
Date of preparation: April 2023