ELRIG Appoints Drs Hitesh Sanganee and Marcus Schindler to Scientific Advisory Board

Leadership expansion reinforces ELRIG’s commitment to delivering impactful drug discovery initiatives and driving community-wide collaboration

Cambridge, UK, 21 July 2026:

ELRIG, a not-for-profit, volunteer-led organisation dedicated to the global drug discovery community, has appointed Drs Hitesh Sanganee and Marcus Schindler to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Their appointments strengthen ELRIG’s scientific leadership and reinforce the organisation’s commitment to delivering relevant, forward-thinking scientific programmes that reflect the evolving needs of the drug discovery community. With their support, the organisation will continue to provide delegates, exhibitors and sponsors with valuable opportunities to help drive collaboration and knowledge exchange between academia, and biotech and pharma industry thoughtleaders.

ELRIG’s SAB plays a key strategic role in helping ELRIG identify new opportunities to better serve the life science community. Drs Sanganee and Schindler join SAB Chair, Del Trezise, and fellow members: Mel Leveridge, Saleha Patel, Chas Bountra, Alan Fletcher, Cathy Tralau-Stewart and Steve Rees.Together, they will support with horizon scanning to select the most impactful scientific themes, attract renowned speakers and recommend future event locations, while ensuring conferences and forums remain free to attend and community driven.

Dr Hitesh Sanganee is a strategic drug discovery executive and a Venture Partner at Octopus Ventures as well as an independent consultant, supporting biotech and healthtech founders. With over two decades of R&D experience, he has delivered multiple drug candidates and new therapeutic modalities into clinical development. Previously, Dr Sanganee served as Executive Director and Global Head of Emerging Innovations at AstraZeneca, where he led open innovation, drug repositioning and external collaboration. Named among Asia Tech’s Top 100 Innovators, he is a recognised leader in science, technology and venture investing. He holds a DPhil and BA in Chemistry from the University of Oxford and an MBA from the University of Cambridge.

Dr Marcus Schindler was previously Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President for Research and Early Development at Novo Nordisk, where he led a global team of over 2,600 scientists, overseeing a portfolio of more than 100 drug discovery projects and 60+ strategic partnerships. Over the last 30 years he held increasingly senior roles in drug discovery across pharma and biotech, including AstraZeneca, (OSI) Prosidion, Boehringer Ingelheim and GSK, after obtaining a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Cambridge. He currently serves as a scientific and strategic advisor to AI and biotech companies, including Causaly and Cradle.bio.