About
Forward
Therapeutics

Co-Founder & CEO

Toufike Kanouni

Toufike Kanouni co-founded Forward Therapeutics and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer. Toufike is a passionate drug hunter with over 20 years of experience in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. He was previously co-founder and Head of Chemistry at Kinnate Biopharma, a company addressing known oncogenic drivers. Prior to that, he contributed to the identification and development of small molecules clinical candidates at Quanticel Pharmaceuticals, a company pioneering single cell genomics platform for precision targeting of cancer stem cells. Toufike contributed to several other drug discovery efforts while at Takeda and SGX Pharmaceuticals. He is an inventor and co-author on over 50 patents and scientific publications. Toufike is leading with a culture for identifying and developing high-quality drug candidates for clinical success

“Perseverance, secret of all triumphs.”

-Victor Hugo

Co-Founder & CSO

Ewan Taylor

Ewan Taylor co-founded Forward Therapeutics and currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer. His training at the University of Glasgow, Scripps Research and Takeda Pharmaceuticals fed his passion to deliver impactful medicines. Ewan has successfully led discovery and development teams and co-authored scientific publications and patents. He draws from over 20 years of experience in immunology, gastroenterology, translational sciences, and drug discovery. Ewan empowers experienced teams to deliver decisional results, driving Forward Tx to achieve ambitious goals.

“Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens.”

-Jimi Hendrix

Chief Development Officer

Ajay Madan

Ajay has three decades of experience in drug discovery and development, and a successful track record in growing companies and their pipelines. Ajay has a doctorate in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Kansas. He was the Chief Scientific Officer of XenoTech, a CRO focused on enabling technologies for drug discovery and development. At Neurocrine Biosciences, he was responsible for nonclinical development and clinical pharmacology, and led the Ingrezza™ program from its inception in drug discovery to NDA approval.

Prior to joining Forward, Ajay was the Chief Development Officer at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, where he served an instrumental role in transitioning the company from drug discovery to a Phase 3 drug development organization. He believes successful decision-making in biotech is achieved by combining empirical data with foundational understanding of science and deep experience.

“There is no substitute for knowledge.”

-W. Edwards Deming

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Ulrich Thienel, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Ulrich Thienel brings over 20 years of experience, spanning autoimmune, hematology, respiratory, and rare disease areas, and in companies of various sizes and focuses, including Finch Therapeutics, ReAlta Life Sciences, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. He has overseen research, development and commercialization of multiple assets, including siRNA, small molecules, and antibody and device technologies. Dr. Thienel brings extensive experience in FDA regulatory processes, including INDs, NDAs, and BLAs. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, where he also completed training in Internal Medicine. Ulrich went on to complete specialty training in Rheumatology at Columbia University in New York City, as well as Executive Training in Sales and Marketing at Northwestern University in Chicago. 

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

—John Quincy Adams