About

The Founders

Prof. Dr. med. Frank Behrens

is a clinician and research associate in the department of rheumatology of the University Hospital, and Head of Clinical Research at the Fraunhofer IME, branch for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology. Dr. Behrens has experience from >100 clinical trials, has additional qualifications in the field of interdisciplinary drug development and is also a clinical trial investigator. He also works as a consultant in the field of drug development for a large number of pharmaceutical companies and, together with Prof. Burkhardt, was involved in the development of MOR-103 (anti-GM-CSF antibody, Morphosys AG).

Prof. Dr. med. Harald Burkhardt 

is head of the Department of Rheumatology, Immunologist, Translational Research at Fraunhofer ITMP, focus: genetic factors and dysregulated immunity in inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Prof. Dr. Rikard Holmdahl 

is professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and head of the Medical Inflammation Research (MIR) department. He is a long-standing cooperation partner of Prof. Burkhardt and an internationally renowned scientist, one of the world's leading experts in the field of experimental animal models of autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, Prof. Holmdahl has been a member of the Nobel Assembly since 2014. As part of the advisory board, he will support the project within the immunopharmacological work and the murine models.

The Management Board

Dr. med. Christian Schweiger - CEO

is a Biotech Entrepreneur serving as board member in several small biopharmaceutical companies. Dr Schweiger is the founder and board member of Shield Therapeutics plc where he was responsible for the development and marketing authorization of its main asset Feraccru. Dr. Schweiger is lecturing professor in pharmaceutical medicine and is very active in working with both patient and professional associations especially in rare disease.

Dr. Ralf Schnell - CFO/CBO 

is a senior marketing and finance professional within pharmaceutical industry and passionate about breakthrough medications that change patient lives. He has more than 28 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector. As an interim manager, Dr. Schnell has taken on the functions of marketing director, senior product manager, product manager and country brand lead for well-known pharmaceutical companies.

Prof. Dr. med. Frank Behrens - CMO

is a clinician and research associate in the department of rheumatology of the University Hospital, and Head of Clinical Research at the Fraunhofer IME, branch for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology. Dr. Behrens is leading the clinical development (CMO) in the aidCURE AG. He can perform the double function well with the complementary functions with CIRI GmbH. Dr. Behrens has experience from >100 clinical trials, has additional qualifications in the field of interdisciplinary drug development and is also a clinical trial investigator. He also works as a consultant in the field of drug development for a large number of pharmaceutical companies and, together with Prof. Burkhardt, was involved in the development of MOR-103 (anti-GM-CSF antibody, Morphosys AG).

The Supervisory Board

Prof. Dr. med. Harald Burkhardt 

is head of the Department of Rheumatology, Immunologist, Translational Research at Fraunhofer ITMP, focus: genetic factors and dysregulated immunity in inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

He is member of the supervisory board of aidCURE AG.

Prof. Dr. med. Klaus Dugi

is CEO of Vandria SA and Chief Medical Advisor & Venture Partner at +ND Capital in Lausanne. He also serves on the Boards of AOBiome Therapeutics and Ferring Ventures as well as the SABs of DiogenX and OMPharma.He spent 18 years in pharmaceutical industry with Boehringer Ingelheim and Ferring Pharmaceuticals, mostly in leadership positions including more than 8 years as Chief Medical Officer. At Boehringer, he oversaw the successful development, global approval and launch of several novel medicines. He gained commercial experience as General Manager for the UK & Ireland at Boehringer.He was a PostDoc for four years at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, US, conducting research in the fields of metabolic diseases and molecular biology. He received his clinical training in internal medicine and endocrinology at Heidelberg University Hospital where he teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Medicine.

Prof. Dr. Dr. Gerd Geißlinger,

clinical pharmacologist and pharmacist in training, is executuve director of the Fraunhofer Institute of Translational Medicine and Pharmacology and Medical Research Officer of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. He is member of the supervisory board of aidCURE AG.

Kai Hefti

is managing partner at Strategus in Hamburg with vast experience in corporate tax and finance. He is chairman of the supervisory board of aidCURE AG.

Alpesh Patel 

is a scientist also holding a MBA with 25 years of experience in global regulatory affairs with in-depth knowledge in the development and licensing of innovative medicinal products.  He led teams in both, small biotechs as well as large pharmaceutical organizations, which has enabled him to gain broad experience in global submissions (Drugs, Biologics and Devices) with the ability to lead and manage teams while developing and implementing business objectives, processes, and best practices aligned with strategic organizational goals.  He has worked in various therapeutic areas including oncology, hematology, metabolism, hormone replacement, respiratory and neuroscience in the gene therapy space as well as traditional small molecules in clinical development and the post-marketing setting. In addition to the regulatory experience, he had the privilege of being a pharmaceutical sales rep as well as an adjunct professor at Long Island University in the Master of Science Degree in Drug Regulatory Affairs program.
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