ABOUT US
VAXIMM is a privately held, clinical stage, Swiss/German biotech company developing oral T-cell immunotherapies for patients suffering from cancer.
VAXIMM’s technology is based on first-in-class oral T-cell activators using modified attenuated bacteria that can be readily adapted to target a wide range of cancer-related antigens.
The Company’s lead product candidate, oral VXM01, activates killer T-cells targeting tumor vasculature and certain immune-suppressive cells, thereby increasing immune cell infiltration in solid tumors.
VXM01 is currently in clinical development for several tumor types, including pancreatic, colorectal and brain cancer.
The Company has several additional product candidates at various stages of preclinical development targeting a variety of tumor targets and neoantigens.
VAXIMM has a collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer Inc. to evaluate avelumab, a human anti-PD-L1 antibody, in combination with VXM01 in glioblastoma and colorectal cancer. The Company also has entered into a collaboration agreement with China Medical System Holdings (CMS), granting CMS full rights in China and other Asian countries (excluding Japan) to VAXIMM’s existing programs.
VAXIMM’s investors include BB Biotech Ventures, BioMed Partners, CMS, M Ventures and Sunstone Capital.
VAXIMM AG is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. Its wholly owned subsidiary, VAXIMM GmbH, located in Mannheim, Germany, is responsible for the Company’s development activities.
Management Team
VAXIMM has a strong management team of experienced leaders with outstanding scientific knowledge and medical development expertise.
Thomas Hecht, MD
Executive Chairman
Thomas Hecht, MD, Chairman, is a seasoned manager and has extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Dr. Hecht is founder and owner of Hecht Healthcare Consulting, which provides marketing, clinical development and mergers & acquisitions services to the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry. Previously, he was VP Marketing (Hematology, Oncology, New Products) at Amgen Europe. Before that, he held various positions of increasing responsibility in clinical development, medical affairs and marketing at Amgen Europe. He currently serves as Chairman of the Boards of Affimed N.V. and Aelix Therapeutics S.L. and as Board Member of Cell Medica Ltd. He was previously Chairman of the Boards of ESBATech AG (acquired by Alcon/Novartis in 2009), SuppreMol GmbH (acquired by Baxalta in 2015) and Cytos AG and Member of the Board of Humabs BioMed AG (acquired by Vir Biotechnology in 2017). Prior to joining the biopharmaceutical industry, Dr. Hecht was certified in internal medicine and served as Co-Head of the Program for Bone Marrow Transplantation, University of Freiburg, Germany.
Heinz Lubenau, PhD
Chief Operating Officer & Co-Founder
Heinz Lubenau co-founded VAXIMM in 2008. Prior to this, 2003-2008, he was Global Project Manager Biosimilar G-CSF and Head of Preclinical and Clinical Development at BioGeneriX AG, where he led the development work of the first biosimilar G-CSF Ratiograstim® from preclinical studies through European marketing approval and launch and of the second-generation G-CSF Lonquex from project implementation to clinical Phase II. In 1994, he joined Servier and rose to Clinical Research Manager and Project Director Internal Medicine in 2001. In this role he was responsible for Servier Phase I to Phase III clinical trials in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for various indications. Dr. Lubenau has a PhD in pharmacy from Johannes-Gutenberg-University, Mainz.
Marc Mansour, PhD, MBA
Chief Scientific Officer & Chief Business Officer
Marc Mansour joined VAXIMM in September 2016 with over 15 years of experience in biotech R&D and management. He was previously with Immunovaccine, Inc., a publicly traded Canadian company focused on developing cancer immunotherapies and infectious disease vaccines, for thirteen years. There, he served in positions of increasing responsibility, including Chief Scientific Officer, and, ultimately, Chief Executive Officer. He has strong expertise in vaccines and the early clinical development of immuno-oncology products. He has published a number of articles in peer-reviewed journals and holds several patents. Dr. Mansour has a PhD in biology from Dalhousie University and an MBA from the Sobey School of Business.
Supervisory Board
Thomas Hecht, MD
Chairman
Thomas Hecht, MD, Chairman, is a seasoned manager and has extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Dr. Hecht is founder and owner of Hecht Healthcare Consulting, which provides marketing, clinical development and mergers & acquisitions services to the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry. Previously, he was VP Marketing (Hematology, Oncology, New Products) at Amgen Europe. Before that, he held various positions of increasing responsibility in clinical development, medical affairs and marketing at Amgen Europe. He currently serves as Chairman of the Boards of Affimed N.V. and Aelix Therapeutics S.L. and as Board Member of Cell Medica Ltd. He was previously Chairman of the Boards of ESBATech AG (acquired by Alcon/Novartis in 2009), SuppreMol GmbH (acquired by Baxalta in 2015) and Cytos AG and Member of the Board of Humabs BioMed AG (acquired by Vir Biotechnology in 2017). Prior to joining the biopharmaceutical industry, Dr. Hecht was certified in internal medicine and served as Co-Head of the Program for Bone Marrow Transplantation, University of Freiburg, Germany.
Klaus Breiner, PhD
Vice-Chairman
Klaus Breiner, PhD, Vice-Chairman is a Managing Partner at BB BIOTECH VENTURES. He co-founded VAXIMM and served as its Executive Chairman until 2016. Over the last two decades, Dr. Breiner has invested in a broad range of life science companies. Before becoming a venture capitalist, he was a business consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton in Zurich, and a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and at the Center for Molecular Biology in Heidelberg (ZMBH). Dr. Breiner holds an MA in chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Heidelberg. Dr. Breiner’s past and present board assignments include Agendia BV, AM-Pharma BV, Alpex Pharma SA, Cadence Pharmaceuticals Inc. (now publicly listed), Glycart Biotechnology AG (acquired by Roche), Natural Dental Implants AG and Orthocon Inc.
Mathieu Simon, MD
Mathieu Simon, MD, is Venture Partner at B|B Pureos Bioventures Bellevue Venture Capital based in Zurich, Switzerland and Senior Strategic Advisor at Messier Maris & Associés, an international investment banking boutique. He previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Cellectis (NASDAQ: CLLS), one of the biopharmaceutical companies leading the development of next-generation CAR-T cell immunotherapies. He also was a member of Cellectis’ Board of Directors. Prior to joining Cellectis, he was Senior Vice President Head of Global Pharmaceutical Operations at Pierre Fabre SA. From 1994 to 2010, Dr. Simon served at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in both senior corporate and regional roles in the US and Europe (Head of International Marketing and Medical Affairs and Managing Director of several Wyeth affiliates). Dr. Simon is an advisor to the European Commission D.G. Research and Innovation. Dr. Simon was certified in internal medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, Paris VII.
Cheryl Zimberlin, PhD
Cheryl Zimberlin, PhD, is part of M Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA. M Ventures takes an active role in company creation and investment, with the mandate to invest in innovative technologies and products with the potential to significantly impact Merck‘s core businesses. Prior to joining the team, Dr. Zimberlin had a successful academic career at top-tier universities, publishing in major academic journals, including Nature. She holds a PhD in oncology and an MSc in biotechnology. Currently, she holds board positions in several M Ventures portfolio companies.
Patrick Burgermeister
Patrick Burgermeister joined BioMedPartners in 2006, coming from Novartis where he was Senior Portfolio Manager of project management. There, he was responsible for the evaluation and prioritization of development projects from preclinical to registration stage. Prior to Novartis, he was Senior Financial Analyst responsible for the European Biotech and Pharma sector at Zürcher Kantonalbank. In addition, he served as advisor to the healthcare fund Pharma Vision. Before that, he worked as strategic planning manager at Jomed AG (now Abbott Vascular). Mr. Burgermeister previously headed business development at Apeiron Biologics (Vienna, Austria), where he was instrumental in several licensing deals. He also served as chairman of a dermatology startup and is board member of the business angel club BioBAC. Mr. Burgermeister holds master’s degrees in molecular biology from the University of Basel (Biozentrum) and in business administration from the University of St. Gallen (HSG). He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Jean-Paul Prieels, PhD
Jean-Paul Prieels, PhD served as a Senior Vice President of Research and Development at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (now GSK Vaccines) until January 2011. He joined GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals in 1987 as an Associate Director R&D Projects Evaluation. His responsibilities gradually expanded to lead the global vaccine R&D development activities in Rixensart, Belgium. His career spans from basic research to process and product development. He was instrumental in developing several commercially available vaccines, such as rotavirus, human papilloma virus (HPV), pneumococcal conjugates and others. He serves as a member of the Independent Advisory Board for CureVac Inc. Since 2007, he has been a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Singapore Bioprocessing Technology Institute. He serves as Chairman of the Board at Immune Health and he was also a Board member of Henogen from 2000 to 2008 (today Novasep).
Sten Verland, PhD
Sten Verland, PhD is a partner in the Life Science group and one of the three co-founders of Sunstone. Dr. Verland focuses on therapeutics investments. During his career, he has been active as a serial entrepreneur and business angel and has co-founded ten start-ups, primarily in the biotech and CRO fields. While at Sunstone, Dr. Verland has played a key role in executing two exits (Action Pharma and Zymenex). Both deals made it to the global Top Ten list of published upfront cash deals in 2007-2012. He holds a master’s degree in biology and mathematics and a PhD in immunology – both from the University of Copenhagen. Dr. Verland serves as a board member of the Danish Venture Capital Association.
Huaizheng Peng, PhD
Huaizheng Peng, PhD, serves as General Manager of International Investment and Operations for China Medical System Holdings, a specialty pharmaceutical company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He is in charge of international operations for the company, including pharmaceutical asset acquisition/product licensing-in/out, international business development, outbound investment and asset management, among others. Dr. Peng previously was a partner of Northland Bancorp, a private equity firm. Before that, he worked as a head of life sciences and as a director of corporate finance at Seymour Pierce, a London-based investment bank and stockbroker. Earlier in his career, Dr. Peng was a senior portfolio manager, specialising in global life science and Asian technology investment at Reabourne Technology Investment Management Limited. Dr. Peng received a Bachelor´s degree in medicine from Hunan Medical College (now Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine) in Changsha, Hunan Province, China, and a Master´s degree in medicine from Hunan Medical College. Dr. Peng was awarded a PhD in molecular pathology from University College London (UCL) Medical School, London, UK and subsequently practiced as a clinical lecturer there.
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