Shalini Andersson

Oligonucleotide therapies are an exciting approach to developing medicines that uses small DNA-like molecules to treat diseases. As Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Lead I work across AstraZeneca and with collaborators to explore and develop the potential of this exciting area. I also sit on the Discovery Sciences management team and drug project Review Boards across BioPharmaceuticals, where I help to identify the most promising drug candidates to progress into clinical trials.

Following over 25 years in pharmaceutical research, I’m proud to have led groundbreaking work both in more traditional small molecules therapeutics and, more recently, in ribonucleic acid (RNA)-based therapeutics.

I grew up in Zanzibar in a family passionate about education and self-development. I moved to Sweden to undertake a PhD at the University of Linköping in organic and analytical chemistry, and subsequently held research and teaching positions at the University prior to moving into industry. I have authored over 70 peer reviewed articles, am named as an inventor on six patents. I am also on the board of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society and part of the scientific advisory group for the UK Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Accelerator.

Since oligonucleotide therapies are a novel area of drug development, my role involves understanding the skills and capabilities that we need to operate effectively in this field. Being open-minded, flexible and willing to adapt are key skills and I have spent a lot of time identifying and building the resources that allow us to lead in oligonucleotide therapeutics.

Collaboration is key to our success and I am proud to work with various biotech companies and academic groups. I head the Targeted Drug Delivery platform and support work with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Silence Therapeutics, Karolinska Institute and GateHouse Bio. These collaborations are helping us to explore many possibilities in nucleotide therapies.

One major collaboration is OligoNova Hub, where I help to lead and drive support as a Board member. The Hub is a Swedish-led partnership funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, SciLifeLab, and the University of Gothenburg that aims to accelerate discovery and development of oligonucleotide therapies.