Our Story

Empowering researchers and entrepreneurs

HOYA Consulting is driven by a singular mission: to assist academic researchers and entrepreneurs, or any other stakeholder, in bringing cell therapy aspirations from the laboratory to patients in need.

That's our sole focus.

Drawing on our extensive knowledge gained through pioneering research on pluripotent stem cells, hPSC-based cell therapy manufacturing, and supporting inventors in venture creation, HOYA confidently stands by your side to bring research from "the bench" to the bedside and beyond to successful commercialization.

Elevating together

The name HOYA is derived from La Jolla, a vibrant neighborhood in San Diego. During our founders' introduction, they discovered that each of them had lived in San Diego at different times without crossing paths. Combining this serendipitous connection with our Swedish heritage, where "höja" means to elevate, HOYA became the clear choice for our name. We are committed to elevating our clients to the next level.

Sunset over the ocean with waves crashing onto a rocky shoreline and residential houses with palm trees on a hillside in the background.
Black-and-white portrait of a man with glasses, a beard, and short hair, wearing a suit jacket and an open-collared shirt, standing indoors against a blurred background.
A grayscale portrait of a woman with long straight hair, wearing a striped shirt and a dark blazer, smiling at the camera.
A woman with long wavy hair smiling, wearing a ribbed crew neck shirt, in a blurred indoor setting.

  • Co-founder

    Professor Anna Falk runs a research team at the Lund Stem Cell Center. Anna is the Director of the ES/iPS cell core facility at Lund Stem Cell Center, coordinator of Indicell and Board Member (Global Alliance for IPSC Therapies (GAiT).

    Anna’s research centres on understanding the mechanisms that control human brain development and the regenerative potential of induced pluripotent stem cells in clinical applications. Anna’s lab has derived one of the few GMP iPS cell lines that is now stored in a master bank.

    Anna received a degree in Molecular Biology at Umeå University, a PhD, from Karolinska Institutet and worked as a postdoctoral scientist at Cambridge University. On returning to Sweden, Anna established an iPS core facility at Karolinska Institutet and took a sabbatical at the Salk Institute, La Jolla, California. Anna moved to Lund University in 2021.

  • Co-founder

    Doctor Heather Main has worked with pluripotent stem cells since 2003 when she received her degree in Molecular Biology from The University of Adelaide. During her PhD at Karolinska Institutet Heather had the opportunity to be a visiting scientist at A*Star/Singapore, CMRI/Sydney and NIH/Maryland. Heather completed a post-doctoral position at the University of Sydney, while at the same time working as the Manager of the NSW Stem Cell Network.

    Heather moved into commercial application of hPSC with the company Genea Biocells and subsequently moved from Sydney, Australia to San Diego, California. Upon returning to Sweden Heather performed intertwining functions translating a hPSC-RPE protocol to hands-on GMP manufacture and worked as a communicator developing Sweden’s National and International cell and gene therapy pharmaceutical network ‘ATMP Sweden’.

  • Co-founder & Managing Partner

    Ajdin Jakupovic received a Master of Science in Pharmacology from the University of Gothenburg, performing his Master’s thesis project at The University of California San Diego (UCSD). He holds a second Master of Science in Bioentrepreneurship from Karolinska Institutet, with great emphasis on finance for startups, marketing and sales.

    Previously, Ajdin served as an investment analyst at Industrifonden, where he played a role in identifying and evaluating investment opportunities in the life science sector. He has also served as a Board Member of Apotekarsocieteten, contributing valuable insights to the pharmaceutical community, and to this worked in sales and marketing within medical devices both B2B and D2C.