The Team
behind Tubulis
Dr. Dominik Schumacher
CEO
CV of Dr. Dominik Schumacher
- Dominik Schumacher, PhD, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Tubulis.
- From the early founding phase on, Dominik successfully secured several prestigious start-up awards for Tubulis. In 2019, he was awarded as one of MIT’s Innovators Under 35. Dominik is also a Life Science Investor and has been actively investing in young, European biotech companies. Prior to co-founding Tubulis in 2018, Dominik worked as a group leader at the Ludwig Maximillian University (LMU) in Munich.
- Dominik obtained his PhD from the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany and studied Chemistry and Economics at the Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf
Dr. Jonas Helma-Smets
CSO
CV of Dr. Jonas-Smets
- Jonas Helma-Smets, PhD, serves as Chief Scientific Officer at Tubulis.
- Jonas brings more than 10 years experience in biotechnology and antibody engineering to Tubulis and secured several prestigious start-up awards for the company. Prior to co-founding Tubulis, Jonas was a Group Leader at the Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) in Munich. He also co-founded ChromoTek GmbH, a company focused on developing nanobody derivatives for proteome analysis and cell-based diagnostics.
- Jonas studied biology and obtained his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology at the LMU in Munich.
Dr. Ingo Lehrke
CBO
CV of Dr. Ingo Lehrke
- Ingo Lehrke, PhD, serves as Chief Business Officer at Tubulis.
- Ingo brings over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry to Tubulis and a passion for strategic business development. He also serves as Chief Executive Officer at Algiax Pharmaceuticals, a company developing treatments for neuropathic pain. Prior, he held the position of Managing Director at the drug delivery company tesa Labtec GmbH.
- Ingo studied pharmaceutics at the University of Münster and obtained his PhD at the University of Heidelberg. He also studied business administration, specialising in marketing and finance.
Dr. Günter Fingerle-Rowson, MD
CMO
CV of Dr. Günter Fingerle-Rowson
- Günter Fingerle-Rowson, PhD, MD, serves as Chief Medical Officer at Tubulis.
- Günter brings more than 12 years of academic, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry experience to Tubulis. He worked in Global Clinical Development at MorphoSys and F. Hoffmann-La Roche as well as in Medical Affairs at Janssen-Cilag. Günter has gained a lot of experience throughout of all phases of clinical development and successfully brought three novel drugs to cancer patients.
- Günter obtained his MD from the Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) in Munich and a MD PhD in Molecular Medicine from New York University and is board-certified in hematology / medical oncology and in internal medicine.
Dr. Armin Weidmann
Vice President Quality
CV of Dr. Armin Weidmann
- Armin Weidmann, PhD, serves as Vice President Quality at Tubulis.
- Armin brings 20 years of expertise in the biotech industry to Tubulis with extensive leadership experience in the areas of GxP quality management, compliance management and corporate internal audit functions. Previously, he worked in several positions at MorphoSys AG, with increasing responsibilities including VP Head of Global QA & Internal Audit and VP Head of Global Compliance & QA, where he led development and commercial quality management and compliance programs in Germany and the US.
- Armin studied biochemistry at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and obtained his PhD in Virology & Immunology at the Julius-Maximilians University of Würzburg, Germany. After two years of post-doctoral studies in Germany and USA he joined the biotech industry.
Dr. Olivier Marcq
Vice President CMC
CV of Dr. Olivier Marcq
- Olivier Marcq, PhD, serves as Vice President CMC at Tubulis.
- Olivier is an expert in bioconjugation therapeutics with more than 15 years of leadership expertise in the pharmaceutical industry encompassing CMC operation and strategy, GMP manufacturing as well as R&D, early and late phase development of biologics, particularly ADCs and conjugate vaccines. Previously, he was working in several positions at Vaxcyte including Senior Director, where he led programs and well as process development and manufacturing activities for multivalent bioconjugate vaccines. Olivier is also the founder and Principal of Omnium Bioconsulting, that provides bioconjugates process development and CMC strategy counseling. His prior experiences also comprise positions at Astellas Pharma, Pfizer and Wyeth, where he led team and projects for the development and manufacturing of ADCs and other bioconjugate therapeutics.
- Olivier obtained his PhD in Chemistry at the Université de Bourgogne, France.
Paul Machui
Research Associate Chemistry
Isabelle Mai
Research Associate Biology
Dr. Philipp Ochtrop
Senior Scientist Bioconjugation and Chemistry
Swetlana Wunder
Technical Assistant Chemistry
Elke Hammerbacher
Assistant to the Management
Danila Hauswald
Technical Assistant Bioconjugation
Dr. Philipp Cyprys
Scientist Bioconjugation
Ralf Weidner
System Administrator
Magdalena Zikmundova
Associate Medical Director
Julia Stiegeler
Assistant of the Management Team
Sarah Herterich
Research Associate Biology
Supervisory Board
Dr. med. Christian Grøndahl
Chairman of the Supervisory Board
CV of Dr. med. Christian Grøndahl
- Christian Grøndahl, Dr. Med, DVM, PhD, MBA, serves as the Chairman of the Board.
- Christian founded or co-founded multiple biotechnology companies exploring novel technology platforms including SNIPR Biome, Freeline Therapeutics, Gyroscope Therapeutics, Quadrucept Bio and Folium Food Science. Since 2015, he has held the position of Co-founder and CEO of SNIPR Biome. Prior, he served as the CEO of Kymab as well as the CSO and Head of R&D at Zealand Pharma. He also worked in R&D and held various corporate development roles at Novo Nordisk.
- Christian studied Veterinary Medicine and obtained his PhD and MD degrees at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2007 he received his MBA from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Dr. Sofia Ioannidou
Member of the Supervisory Board
CV of Dr. Sofia Ioannidou
- Sofia Ioannidou, PhD, is a Board Member at Tubulis.
- Sofia is a Partner in the Life Sciences Team of Andera Partners (formerly Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners), which she joined in 2009. She also holds Board seats at several biotech companies, including Tricares, Avalyn and Exciva. Prior to Andera, she worked as a consultant at the Life Sciences team of L.E.K. Consulting London and as a research scientist at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals in Boston.
- Sofia studied Biochemistry at the University of Oxford and holds a PhD in Cell Biology from University College London.
Dr. Valentin Piëch
Member of the Supervisory Board
CV of Dr. Valentin Piëch
- Valentin Piëch, PhD, is a Board Member at Tubulis.
- Valentin is a Partner at BioMedPartners with a strong background in venture capital, science and technology. He also serves as Managing Director at VP Venture Partners, a life sciences-focused VC firm he founded in 2020. Valentin also founded impact2partners, a private VC company with a focus on companies in the rare disease space. Previously, he was an Investment Analyst and then Principal at Nextech Invest, a VC firm focusing on oncology. In addition, he is a private investor in several start-up and growth companies.
- Valentin holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the Rockefeller University, a Master’s degree in Cognitive and Neural Systems from Boston University and a Master’s degree in Mechanical and Process Engineering from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH).
Dr. Thomas Hanke
Member of the Supervisory Board
CV of Dr. Thomas Hanke
- Thomas Hanke, PhD is a Board Member at Tubulis.
- Thomas is an industry expert with more than 30 years of experience in research and drug discovery. He serves as Executive Vice President and Head of Academic Partnerships at Evotec, where he is responsible for growing and guiding a portfolio of strategic academic partnerships, pre-seed incubators and investments into spin-out companies. Prior, he oversaw Evotec’s drug discovery portfolio in inflammation and immuno-oncology, generating and building on high-value, performance-based alliances with academia and pharma. Thomas currently serves on the Board of OXVax, Dark Blue Therapeutics and Autobahn Labs. Before Evotec, Thomas was Sourcing Director at the Biopharmaceuticals Research Unit of Novo Nordisk. He was also a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of TeGenero, heading the company’s R&D efforts to develop first-in-class immunomodulatory monoclonal antibodies.
- Thomas holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Würzburg, where he also served as a group leader and Assistant Professor for Immunobiology.
Jan Van den Bossche
Member of the Supervisory Board
CV of Jan Van den Bossche
- Jan Van den Bossche is a Board member at Tubulis.
- Jan is a Partner at Fund+ and holds Board seats at several life science companies, including Cardior Pharmaceuticals, Aelin Therapeutics, Immunic Therapeutics and OCTIMED Oncology. Before joining Fund+, Jan was part of the investor relations team at the Dutch life sciences and materials sciences company DSM. Prior, he worked for more than 12 years at Petercam as a biotech analyst, where he was involved in several public and private transactions of Belgian and Dutch biotech companies.
- Jan holds a Master’s degree in Business Economics from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium and completed the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) program at the CFA Institute.
Dr. Sebastian Pünzeler
Member of the Supervisory Board
CV of Dr. Sebastian Pünzeler
- Sebastian Pünzeler, PhD, is a Board Member at Tubulis.
- Sebastian works at Coparion as a Senior Investment Manager and is specialised in the area of Life Sciences. Prior to joining Coparion in 2016, Sebastian started his VC career at Gimv in Munich. He serves as Board Member and Board Observer in seven biotechnology companies, including HepaRegeniX, Fasciotens, Protembis, Thermosome, Tacalyx and CatalYm.
- Sebastian studied biology at the RWTH Aachen University and the Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) Munich and obtained his PhD in Molecular Biology from the LMU and IMPRS-LS in Munich.
Dr. Dominik Schumacher
Member of the Supervisory Board
CV of Dr. Dominik Schumacher
- Dominik Schumacher, PhD, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Tubulis.
- From the early founding phase on, Dominik successfully secured several prestigious start-up awards for Tubulis. In 2019, he was awarded as one of MIT’s Innovators Under 35. Dominik is also a Life Science Investor and has been actively investing in young, European biotech companies. Prior to co-founding Tubulis in 2018, Dominik worked as a group leader at the Ludwig Maximillian University (LMU) in Munich.
- Dominik obtained his PhD from the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany and studied Chemistry and Economics at the Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf
Scientific Advisory Board
Pamela Trail, PhD
Chairwomen of the Scientific Advisory Board
CV of Pamela Trail, PhD
- Pamela Trail is a leading expert in oncology research and has more than 30 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry developing ADCs, immunomodulatory antibodies, bispecific antibodies and small molecules.
- Between 2017 and 2019, she held the position Chief Scientific Officer at Molecular Partners. Prior, she served as Vice President Oncology Strategy and Program Direction at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. She also held the positions of Vice President of Oncology Research at MedImmune, Chief Scientific Officer at Seattle Genetics, Global Vice President of Oncology Research at Bayer Healthcare, and Director of Oncology Research at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Tail has authored over 45 publications and holds multiple issued patents. Dr. Trail has served as a Board Member of BerGen Bio, Nilogen Oncosystems, and Neoantigenics.
- She holds a PhD in Immunology from University of Connecticut.
Dr. Björn Hock
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
CV of Dr. Björn Hock
- Björn Hock is a seasoned expert in protein therapeutics and the ADC space. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Swissthera.
- From 2017 until 2021, he was the Vice President of Biologics, Technologies and Development at Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Prior, he worked in various positions at Merck for more than ten years, including his position as the Director and Global Head of Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, where he oversaw the development of protein therapeutics from concept to lead stage.
- Dr. Hock obtained his PhD in Biochemistry at the Chemotherapeutisches Forschungsinstitut Georg Speyer-Haus.
Clinical Advisors
Steven Horwitz, MD
Clinical Advisor
CV of Steven Horwitz
- Steven Horwitz, MD, serves as a Clinical Advisor at Tubulis.
- Steven is an Attending Physician and Member in the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and serves as a Professor at the New York Presbyterian Hospital / Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, as well as the International Society of Cutaneous Lymphoma and his research focuses on T-cell and NK lymphomas. In particular, his contributions have been instrumental for the clinical development of various new therapies for T-cell lymphomas. Steven has authored over 300 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals.
- Steven obtained his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio and conducted his fellowship in Medical Oncology at Stanford University, California.
We are supported by a strong scientific and entrepreneurial network
Together, the team has built a strong collaborative network bringing together expertise in chemistry, antibody technologies, bioconjugation, business, drug development and clinical oncology.
