Our Leadership

At DelSiTech, our leadership team is dedicated to inspiring our colleagues and driving innovation to deliver meaningful healthcare solutions.

Dr. Laura Chirica
Dr. Laura ChiricaChief Executive Officer
Laura Chirica, PhD, serves as Chief Executive Officer of Delsitech. She has more than 25 years of experience in executive roles in the life sciences industry, with a strong focus on company growth and commercialization in biotechnology, diagnostics, and bioprocessing.

Laura has a proven track record of leading companies from early R&D stage to successful commercialization of products, platforms and services in Europe, USA and Asia based on organic growth, M&A and financing. Prior to joining Delsitech, she served as CEO of Cellevate AB, where she built and advanced the company into the commercial stage and the global launch of its first nanofiber-based products for pharma manufacturing of vaccines, cell, and gene therapy.

Previously, Laura held senior commercial and business development leadership roles at global life science companies, including GE Healthcare (now part of Cytiva), Agilent Technologies (Dako), Sartorius, and Svar Life Science. She also served as Chief Commercial Officer at Immunovia AB, where she played a key role in building the company and the organization and bringing the company’s first product to the US market.

Education: Laura holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Umeå University, MSc in Food biotechnology and BSc in Biotechnology.

Dr. Sari Häkkinen
Dr. Sari HäkkinenChief Development Officer
Dr. Sari Häkkinen serves as Chief Development Officer at DelSiTech. Sari has over 20 years of experience in drug development, specializing in bioanalysis, drug and formulation analytics. Prior to joining DelSiTech, Sari led the Translational Bioanalytics and Biomarkers unit at Orion Corporation. She holds a PhD in Clinical Nutrition (Analytical Chemistry) from the University of Eastern Finland. Sari has extensive expertise in bioanalytical operations in non-clinical and clinical studies, as well as in the pharmaceutical development of new chemical and biological entities and generic drug products. Sari joined DelSiTech in 2023.

Education: Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio; Master of Food Sciences, University of Helsinki.

Mr. Kristian Rantala
Mr. Kristian RantalaChief Financial Officer
Mr. Kristian Rantala serves as Chief Financial Officer at DelSiTech. Kristian has over 20 years of experience in financial management, with expertise in financial reporting, company financing, M&A, and tax planning. Before joining DelSiTech, Kristian played a key role in the Nasdaq IPO of Biotie Therapies Corp in the USA and held CFO positions across multiple industries. Kristian joined DelSiTech in 2022.

Education: Master of Science in Economics, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki.

Dr. Frederic Dargelas
Dr. Frederic DargelasChief Commercial Officer
Dr. Frederic Dargelas serves as Chief Commercial Officer at DelSiTech. Frederic brings over 25 years of experience in business development and R&D within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Before joining DelSiTech, Frederic held leadership roles at UCB, GSK and Orion Pharma, focusing on strategic alliances and corporate partnerships. Frederic’s expertise includes leading business development initiatives, expanding industry collaborations and specializing in drug delivery. Frederic joined DelSiTech in 2019.

Education: Master of Business Administration, School of Law and Management, Bradford University, UK; Doctor of Philosophy in Physical Chemistry of Polymers, Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble, France.

Dr. Outi Heikkilä
Dr. Outi HeikkiläChief Operations Officer
Dr. Outi Heikkilä serves as Chief Operations Officer at DelSiTech. Outi has a strong scientific background in cell biology and virology, with a specialization in viral gene therapy vectors. She has over 20 years of experience in the fields of biochemistry and virology. Before joining DelSiTech, Outi worked for five years at the Finnish biopharmaceutical CDMO Biovian, most recently as Production Manager in cell bank and viral vector manufacturing. Outi’s core expertise includes cleanroom operations, GMP manufacturing, and the quality requirements of investigational medicinal products. Outi joined DelSiTech in 2022.

Education: Doctor of Philosophy in Virology, University of Turku; Master of Science in Biochemistry, University of Turku.

Dr. Mika Jokinen
Dr. Mika JokinenChief Scientific Officer
Dr. Mika Jokinen serves as Chief Scientific Officer at DelSiTech. Mika has over 30 years of experience in R&D, specializing in silica-based biomaterials. Before joining DelSiTech, Mika held a post-doc academic position as Special Scientist in a multidisciplinary research group at Turku Biomaterials Centre. He has also served parallelly with the position at DelSiTech as Principal Lecturer in chemical and biochemical engineering and Research Leader in New Materials & Processes Research Group at Turku University of Applied Sciences 2008-2022. Mika’s expertise lies in advancing biomaterial-based drug delivery solutions, and their processing. Mika joined DelSiTech in 2006.

Education: Doctor of Science in Technology, Åbo Akademi University; Adjunct Professor, Åbo Akademi University.