Stephen Lutsch

Director of Clinical Trials

LEO Pharma

Biography

I have been working to bring the best disruptive innovation into normal clinical operations at LEO Pharma to help improve and accelerate our clinical trials. Furthermore, I am trying to solve some of the toughest challenges related to scaling digitalisation, data, and automation to generate competitive

advantages across business units. One aspect is driving the necessary foundational components around a scalable GxP data platform, machine learning opportunities as well as automating digital processes with robotics process automation.

Specifically, the team I led received approval for the first fully decentralised and hybrid interventional clinical trial for LEO Pharma with the goal of accelerating the ambition to design hybrid DCTs as default. Besides driving the necessary change internally, we focused on a design-thinking approach where we put the patient and site at the center. I have an ambition towards “delighting” patients, investigators, and sponsors by solving the real-world challenges they face by leveraging both qualitative interviews and observation, as well as quantitative methods to reveal actionable insights.

Personally, I live in Denmark north of Copenhagen with my lovely wife and three young children. Besides raising the little ones, I love learning new skills and solving problems in my spare time as I am quite curious by nature. Currently, home automation and renovations are catching my limited extra time, though I’m always up for competitive sports or games of pretty much all kinds when possible from poker to basketball or padel tennis.