# Örn Almarsson

> Örn Almarsson is the co-founder and CEO of Axelyf, an Icelandic-American biotech building next-generation lipid nanoparticles to deliver RNA medicines beyond the liver. Before Axelyf he ran the delivery sciences team at Moderna from 2013 to 2020, helping engineer the components behind the Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine, after earlier stints at Merck and Alkermes. A bioorganic chemist by training, he is the co-author of more than 70 publications and over 60 patents, and is now pairing a proprietary lipid library with a machine-learning model called ANNA to crack the hardest problem in RNA medicine: delivery.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Axelyf
- **Organizations:** Axelyf, Moderna, Merck, Alkermes
- **From:** Iceland
- **Nationality:** Icelandic-American
- **Education:** PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara
- **Known for:** Led delivery sciences at Moderna (2013-2020), contributing to the Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine, Co-author on more than 70 scientific publications, Inventor on over 60 patents

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Begins career in pharmaceutical R&D; works at Merck in an interface role between drug discovery and development
- **2000s** — Works at Alkermes on drug delivery and formulation
- **2013** — Joins Moderna to lead delivery sciences
- **2013-2020** — Leads Moderna's delivery sciences team; establishes process chemistry for the custom lipids behind its mRNA vaccines, including Spikevax
- **2024** — Co-founds Axelyf to develop next-generation RNA-LNP delivery and anti-inflammatory lipids
- **2025** — Axelyf closes $2.6M seed round (extendable to $4.1M) led by Brunnur Ventures with Omega ehf and Silfurberg ehf
- **2025** — Axelyf appoints Daniel Frímannsson as Head of Nucleic Acid Technologies & Biology and Leslie Williams to the board
- **2026** — Publishes 'Mapping the LNP Frontier' and continues surface-modification research with an Irish university team to target tissues beyond the liver

## Achievements

- Led delivery sciences at Moderna (2013-2020), contributing to the Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine
- Co-author on more than 70 scientific publications
- Inventor on over 60 patents
- Author of 3 book chapters
- Co-founded Axelyf and raised a $2.6M seed round
- Developed proprietary AXL lipid platform and the ANNA machine-learning model for nanoparticle design

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Published 'Mapping the LNP Frontier: The Quest for Better LNPs' with Advancing RNA
- **2025-08** — Axelyf appoints Daniel Frímannsson as Head of Nucleic Acid Technologies & Biology and adds Leslie Williams to the board
- **2025-05** — Axelyf closes seed financing to advance next-generation RNA-LNP therapeutics

## Links

- Website: https://axelyf.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orn-almarsson-9511b86/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/orn-almarsson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-21