Steffen-Sebastian Bolz
Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer Aphaia Pharma
Steffen-Sebastian Bolz, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist, entrepreneur, and leader in vascular biology and metabolic therapeutics. He currently serves as Co-Founder and CSO of Aphaia Pharma, focusing on precision medicine for metabolic disorders, and as Chief Scientific and Medical Officer & Founder of Qanatpharma AG, where he drives innovation in microvascular-targeted therapies.
A Full Professor at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Steffen-Sebastian also directs the Centre for Microvascular Medicine, bridging foundational research and clinical translation. His work has elucidated critical mechanisms linking microvascular dysfunction to metabolic diseases, yielding novel therapeutic strategies.
Trained in medicine and physiology, he brings decades of expertise in drug development, from target discovery to clinical validation. His leadership spans academia, biotech, and pharma, with a track record of advancing molecules from bench to bedside.
Seminars
- Balancing rapid weight loss with microvascular and metabolic health preservation to mitigate rebound effects and enhance reimbursement potential
- Understand regulatory and patient advocacy perspectives to improve trial retention
- Exploring ethical trial design for the next gen-generation of obesity therapies to provide robust evidence for regulatory and commercial success
- Exploring beyond traditional targets to understand how peripheral pathways and novel mechanisms address unmet needs in obesity care
- Integrating multi organ approached from gut-brain signalling with systemic metabolic health for synergistic efficacy to address payer demands, and drive adherence and market access
- Translating preclinical insights into clinically viable non-incretin therapies to diversify obesity drugs and move from placebo to active comparator trials
- Targeting sugar stimulation to reactivate nutrient-sensing cells to restore natural hormonal signalling and neural communication in the brain
- Focusing on rejuvenation to avoid aggressive weight loss and rebound effects for improved long-term adherence
- Promoting microvascular and multi-organ benefits by restoring systemic balance for better alignment with payer demands for cardio-metabolic endpoints
