# Luigi Costa

> Luigi Costa was the co-founder and founding CEO of Noema Pharma, following an international business career at Eli Lilly, Amgen and Onyx Pharmaceuticals and a 2014-2018 tenure as CEO of Nordic Nanovector. An entrepreneur in residence at Sofinnova Partners from 2019, he also held board roles at Oncopeptides and PinCell. He left Noema’s CEO role in June 2023 and died in February 2024.

- **Role:** Business executive and company co-founder
- **Organizations:** Noema Pharma, Sofinnova Partners, Nordic Nanovector, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Eli Lilly, Oncopeptides, PinCell
- **Education:** BSc in Business Administration, University of Parma, MBA, Bocconi Business School
- **Known for:** Helped establish Noema’s strategy, business plan and investor syndicate., Led Nordic Nanovector through its 2015 Oslo listing., Served as Noema’s founding CEO through its CHF 54 million Series A and CHF 103 million Series B.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Started at Eli Lilly in Italy, followed by five years at its US headquarters.
- **Before 2014** — Held senior roles at Amgen in Italy, France and its international franchise, then led Onyx’s international organisation.
- **2014-09** — Became CEO of Nordic Nanovector.
- **2015-03** — Led Nordic Nanovector during its Oslo IPO; gross proceeds including the April over-allotment were NOK 575 million.
- **2016** — Joined the board of Oncopeptides.
- **2018-04** — Nordic Nanovector announced his departure by mutual agreement; he purchased 10,000 shares the next day.
- **2019** — Entrepreneur in residence at Sofinnova Partners; co-founded Noema Pharma with seed backing from the firm.
- **2020-05** — Appointed chairman of PinCell.
- **2020-12** — Noema announced a CHF 54 million Series A during his CEO tenure.
- **2023-03** — Noema raised a CHF 103 million Series B.
- **2023-06** — Succeeded as Noema CEO by Ilise Lombardo.
- **2024-02** — Died aged 58; remembered by Noema and colleagues.

## Achievements

- Helped establish Noema’s strategy, business plan and investor syndicate.
- Led Nordic Nanovector through its 2015 Oslo listing.
- Served as Noema’s founding CEO through its CHF 54 million Series A and CHF 103 million Series B.
- Built Onyx Pharmaceuticals’ international organisation.

## Latest updates

- **2024-02** — Noema announced his death and honoured its co-founder and former CEO.
- **2023-06** — Ilise Lombardo succeeded him as CEO of Noema Pharma.
- **2023-03** — Noema announced its CHF 103 million Series B while he was CEO.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luigi-costa-b947705/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/luigi-costa
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-11