Embedded in your program.
Not orbiting it.
Groundbreaking science does not reach patients automatically. It has to be guided there — through regulatory complexity, strategic crossroads, and decisions that carry real consequences for the programs and the people waiting for them.
Apex Life Sciences was built for that work. Not as a team that delivers a strategy and steps back, but as a partner that takes ownership of the outcome alongside you — from early decisions through final milestones.
Built for the space others cannot occupy.
The life sciences advisory landscape has not kept pace with what high-stakes drug development actually demands. CROs offer scale without strategic depth. Strategy firms advise without executing. Generalists lack the scientific credibility that rare disease requires.
Apex was built deliberately at this intersection. Scientific rigor. Strategic clarity. Genuine execution capability. Combined in a team that is embedded in your program, not engaged episodically from a distance. The measure of our work is not the quality of our deliverables - it is whether promising science reaches the patients who need it.
Our values
Action-Oriented Leadership
We do not wait for permission to solve problems. We lead through execution, moving from analysis to action with speed and intent. We value "done" over "perfectly discussed."
Intellectual Rigor
We apply exhaustive, critical thinking to every problem, guided by humility to follow the data. We defend the logic, not our egos — staying "students of the problem" and stress-testing our convictions before they reach the client.
Stewardship
We treat our clients' capital, (pre-) clinical assets, IP (Intellectual property), and reputations as if they were our own. We are not just service providers; we are the guardians of the project’s ultimate success.
Truth over comfort
We prioritize objective reality over social harmony. We deliver the hard truths that others are too afraid to say, ensuring that decisions are based on facts, not ego or wishful thinking.
Swiss Precision
We deliver work that is structurally sound, punctual, and ready for immediate use. Precision for us means "Zero-Friction": clients never need to check our math, fix our formatting, or chase a deadline.
Zug, Switzerland. Where precision is the baseline.
Apex is based in Zug, Switzerland - not as a geographic fact, but as a statement of standard. Precision is not a differentiator here. It is the expectation. That mindset runs through everything we do: how programs are structured, how decisions are documented, how execution is managed, and how we hold ourselves accountable to the outcomes we commit to.
Our Team
Olivier Van de Steen
Olivier is a physician-executive with over two decades of experience leading global clinical development strategy and programs for biopharmaceutical companies, from pre-clinical development through late-stage clinical trials and regulatory approval. He advised early-stage biotech companies as an independent consultant on clinical programs, indication selection, trial design, regulatory positioning, and Series A/B financing. Olivier's dual training as a Medical Doctor and eMBA allows him to bridge clinical science with commercial and business strategy. He is passionate about translating scientific innovation into well-designed, regulatory-sound clinical programs that create lasting value for patients and companies. As Co-Founder and CEO of Apex, he will strategically guide clients through complex drug development programs whilst building the company aligned with its core values.
CEO & Co-Founder
Kevin Clement
Kevin turns development strategy into programs that execute. An engineer by training, he thinks in systems: how the moving parts of a program depend on each other, and where they break. After eight years in Tier-1 management consulting and eight as an independent consultant and entrepreneur, he has worked with leading global pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including leading sponsor-side CRO oversight.
At Apex, Kevin leads program management and clinical execution: building the integrated development plan, running CRO selection as the sponsor's proxy, and holding vendors to delivery. For teams without a full leadership bench, he steps in as interim COO.
As Co-Founder and COO, he is building the team and culture that will develop the next generation of biotech leaders.
COO & Co-Founder
Chief Strategy OfficerVanessa De Vuyst
Vanessa believes a brand only convinces once it knows what it wants to say, to whom, and why. Over 25 years across brands as different as fashion, mobility, and healthcare, that conviction has held: clarity outperforms volume. At Apex, she shapes the company's strategic direction and ensures that principle carries through everything it communicates.
Before moving into HR, Carolien worked as a personal trainer and people coach, helping individuals build strength through consistency and the right pace. That perspective now shapes how she leads people at Apex: not administration, but the deliberate work of helping a team grow stronger together.
HR DirectorCarolien Van de Steen
Hannah Vanstaen
Hannah joined Apex through her academic background in biomedical sciences, driven by a particular interest in how research ultimately translates into patient impact. That interest took shape during her time on a clinical research team, where she developed an appreciation for precision and process. At Apex, she is building on that foundation as she starts her career in life sciences whilst completing her masters degree.
TraineeThe right expertise for every program.
Beyond the founding team, Apex works with a carefully selected network of independent medical, scientific and regulatory experts, CMC experts, clinical operations - specialists with deep experience and expertise in rare diseases, study design, and regulatory pathways across geographies.
We do not maintain a large bench for the sake of scale. We engage the right people for the right program, at the moment their expertise creates genuine value. The standard we apply to our own work, we apply equally to the network we build around it.
The network spans the full arc of drug development — from asset strategy and indication selection through regulatory pathway design, clinical execution, program management, and company building. Every domain is covered. Every stage is represented.
What sets this network apart is not breadth alone - it is the continuity of standard from strategy to execution. Whether the engagement calls for a regulatory strategist, a rare disease KOL, a CMC expert, or a clinical operations specialist, the Apex network operates at the level the program demands: scientifically rigorous, execution-ready, and fully aligned with the strategic logic of the work.