Former CSO and experienced obesity drug discovery executive to lead Tanai as the company advances its small-molecule pipeline
Ghent, Belgium, August 11th, 2026 – Tanai Therapeutics (“Tanai” or the “Company”), a VIB spin-off company developing small molecule therapies for obesity and cardiometabolic disease, today announced the appointment of Josua Jordi, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective July 1st, 2026.
Dr. Jordi succeeds Pieter Rottiers, Ph.D., Tanai’s founding CEO, who led the Company through its formation and transition into an independent biotechnology company. As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Jordi has played a central role in shaping Tanai’s scientific strategy and advancing its drug discovery activities through key milestones. His appointment reflects Tanai’s continued evolution as the Company advances its pipeline toward the next stages of development.
“I am proud to have served as Tanai’s founding CEO and to have helped build the Company to this important stage,” said Pieter Rottiers, Ph.D. “Tanai has established a strong scientific foundation, advanced its target validation work, and identified differentiated chemical matter, positioning the Company well for further development. This progress is a testament to the strength of the Tanai team and the confidence of our investors and partners. Under Josua’s leadership, Tanai will continue to build on this momentum.”
"On behalf of Tanai's Board of Directors, I want to thank Pieter for his leadership and dedication in building Tanai and establishing the strong foundation from which the Company can now advance," said Sara Vandenwijngaert, Chair of Tanai's Board of Directors. "Josua is the right leader to take Tanai forward. He brings deep scientific expertise, a proven track record in obesity drug discovery and development, and the company-building experience required to translate innovative science into a differentiated pipeline. The Board has strong confidence in Josua and the opportunity ahead for Tanai.”
“I am honored to take on the role of CEO at this important point in Tanai’s evolution”, said Josua Jordi, Ph.D. “We have a compelling opportunity to advance a differentiated small molecule portfolio in obesity and cardiometabolic disease. My focus will be on setting clear priorities, advancing our programs toward key development milestones, and positioning Tanai for meaningful value creation. I look forward to leading our talented team and working closely with our investors, scientific founders, and partners to realize the full potential of our portfolio.”
Dr. Jordi is an ETH Zurich-trained biochemist and holds a Ph.D. in human physiology from the University of Zurich. He co-founded EraCal Therapeutics based on technology developed during his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University. As CEO and board member, he led the obesity-focused biotechnology company from inception through multiple financing rounds, research collaborations, and a licensing agreement with Novo Nordisk. He later led drug discovery efforts in metabolism at Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) before joining Tanai as Chief Scientific Officer.
Tanai Therapeutics, based in Belgium, is developing a differentiated small molecule approach for obesity and cardiometabolic disease by targeting energy expenditure pathways. The Company’s strategy is guided by human genetics and translational biology, with the aim of developing therapies that may complement existing appetite-modulating treatments or provide orthogonal stand-alone approaches for patients with obesity and related metabolic diseases. Tanai was founded in 2023 as a spin-off from VIB and UGent with the support of V-Bio Ventures and Qbic. The Company raised more than EUR 6 million in seed financing from an investor syndicate, including V-Bio Ventures, Qbic, VIB, BioGeneration Ventures, and Novo Nordisk. Tanai brings together world-class metabolic disease experts, drug discovery scientists, and biotech entrepreneurs to advance next-generation therapeutics for cardiometabolic health.
