ImmunoQure has brought together a group of talented individuals who collectively guide the development of the company within an effective and efficient structure. Guided by excellence in science, all of our people work towards a common goal – the creation of new therapeutic options for patients in need.
Chief Executive Officer
Ed is the CEO and co-founder of ImmunoQure. He started his industrial career as COO of DeveloGen AG (Göttingen, Germany) before co-founding and becoming the Managing Director and CBO of U3 Pharma AG (Munich, Germany). Subsequently, Ed became the CEO of Neurimmune Therapeutics AG (Zürich, Switzerland). He also acted as the founding CEO of CT Atlantic AG (Zürich, Switzerland) and is a co-founder of HS LifeSciences GmbH and QureInvest (Düsseldorf, Germany) .
He studied pharmacology in University College Dublin, Ireland, where he was awarded his Ph.D. and was a post-doctoral scientist at the Max Planck Institute in Gottingen. Ed was also a Lecturer in Medical Genetics in Imperial College London, UK. Ed also holds an MBA from The Business School of Imperial College London, UK.
Chief Scientific Advisor
Adrian Hayday is Kay Glendinning Professor of Immunobiology at King’s College London; co-lead of the Clinical Academic Grouping in Genetics Rheumatology, Immunology, Infection, and Dermatology at Kings’ affiliated hospitals; and a Senior Group Leader at the Crick Institute, London. He graduated in biochemistry from Cambridge; earned a PhD in virology from London University; and undertook post-doctoral training at M.I.T., before his appointment to the Yale University faculty, where he rose to Full-Professor and was awarded the DeVane Medal, Yale’s highest honor for scholarship and teaching. He returned to restructure immunology at King’s in 1998. He co-discovered the unanticipated “gamma-delta” T cell antigen receptor, provoking widespread interest in immune cell function within tissues, and tumor immune surveillance. His active research team has published almost 200 papers. He won the King’s College Award for Business in 2009; has served on numerous scientific advisory and investor advisory boards, and has chaired funding panels for the Welcome Trust and the American Cancer Society.
Director, Alliance Management
Sara leads Alliance Management in ImmunoQure. She is the lead coordinator of pharmaceutical alliances and liason with the Sardinian patient organization APECED Sardegna. Prior to joining ImmunoQure, Sara was a post-doctoral researcher in Kings College London and Cancer Research UK. Sara holds a PhD in molecular biology from Padua University, Italy.
Finance & Administration manager
Maximiliane is responsible for finance and administration at ImmunoQure. Ms Köster had previously worked Deloitte & Touche GmbH where she was an integral part of their audting team.
After completing a banking apprenticeship in Düsseldorf, Maxi studied Business Administration in Freiberg and Düsseldorf. She holds an MBA from the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany.
Chairman of the Board
Karsten started his industrial career in the 1980s when he was involved in the establishment of the molecular biology and recombinant DNA technology facilities of BASF AG in Ludwigshafen, Germany. He is co-founder or co-founding investor of fourteen biotech companies in Germany, USA, Canada and Austria, such as Qiagen NV, Evotec AG, NewLab AG, Coley Pharmaceuticals Inc, U3 Pharma AG, Neurimmune Therapeutics AG, HS LifeSciences and QureInvest. He acted as CEO, Chairman or Board member in several of these companies and others, too.
He studied biochemistry in the University of Hannover and at the University of Darmstadt where he was awarded his PhD. Karsten completed his post-doctoral training at Prof. Charles Weissmann’s lab in the University of Zürich, Switzerland.
Non-executive Director
Adrian Hayday is Kay Glendinning Professor of Immunobiology at King’s College London; co-lead of the Clinical Academic Grouping in Genetics Rheumatology, Immunology, Infection, and Dermatology at Kings’ affiliated hospitals; and a Senior Group Leader at the Crick Institute, London. He graduated in biochemistry from Cambridge; earned a PhD in virology from London University; and undertook post-doctoral training at M.I.T., before his appointment to the Yale University faculty, where he rose to Full-Professor and was awarded the DeVane Medal, Yale’s highest honor for scholarship and teaching. He returned to restructure immunology at King’s in 1998. He co-discovered the unanticipated “gamma-delta” T cell antigen receptor, provoking widespread interest in immune cell function within tissues, and tumor immune surveillance. His active research team has published almost 200 papers. He won the King’s College Award for Business in 2009; has served on numerous scientific advisory and investor advisory boards, and has chaired funding panels for the Welcome Trust and the American Cancer Society.
Non-executive Director
Pärt is Professor of Molecular Immunology at the University of Tartu, Estonia. He graduated in molecular biology from the University of Tartu and defended his PhD on molecular immunology in 1996 at the University of Tampere, Finland. He spent his postdoctoral period in the Institute of Medical Technology where his research interest focused on the Autoimmune Regulator (AIRE) gene, the key factor in central thymic tolerance. He also co-discovered DANNmethyltransferase 3-like (DNMT3L) gene, a regulator of DNAmethylation and epigenetic imprinting. He obtained the degree of Docent at the University of Tampere and in 2000 became a Fellow of the Finnish Academy. In 2003-2009 he was supported by The Wellcome Trust as International Senior Fellow and started a research group as Professor of Molecular Pathology at the University of Tartu, and later on in 2008, as Professor of Molecular Immunology. In 2009 he was elected as the Research Professor of the Academy of Estonia. Pärt is the recipient of the Estonian Science Prize (2008), and has more than 100 research publications on various aspects of immunology and molecular biology.
Kings College London, UK
Adrian Hayday is Kay Glendinning Professor of Immunobiology at King’s College London; co-lead of the Clinical Academic Grouping in Genetics Rheumatology, Immunology, Infection, and Dermatology at Kings’ affiliated hospitals; and a Senior Group Leader at the Crick Institute, London. He graduated in biochemistry from Cambridge; earned a PhD in virology from London University; and undertook post-doctoral training at M.I.T., before his appointment to the Yale University faculty, where he rose to Full-Professor and was awarded the DeVane Medal, Yale’s highest honor for scholarship and teaching. He returned to restructure immunology at King’s in 1998. He co-discovered the unanticipated “gamma-delta” T cell antigen receptor, provoking widespread interest in immune cell function within tissues, and tumor immune surveillance. His active research team has published almost 200 papers. He won the King’s College Award for Business in 2009; has served on numerous scientific advisory and investor advisory boards, and has chaired funding panels for the Welcome Trust and the American Cancer Society.
University of Tartu, Estonia
Pärt is Professor of Molecular Immunology at the University of Tartu, Estonia. He graduated in molecular biology from the University of Tartu and defended his PhD on molecular immunology in 1996 at the University of Tampere, Finland. He spent his postdoctoral period in the Institute of Medical Technology where his research interest focused on the Autoimmune Regulator (AIRE) gene, the key factor in central thymic tolerance. He also co-discovered DANNmethyltransferase 3-like (DNMT3L) gene, a regulator of DNAmethylation and epigenetic imprinting. He obtained the degree of Docent at the University of Tampere and in 2000 became a Fellow of the Finnish Academy. In 2003-2009 he was supported by The Wellcome Trust as International Senior Fellow and started a research group as Professor of Molecular Pathology at the University of Tartu, and later on in 2008, as Professor of Molecular Immunology. In 2009 he was elected as the Research Professor of the Academy of Estonia. Pärt is the recipient of the Estonian Science Prize (2008), and has more than 100 research publications on various aspects of immunology and molecular biology.
University of Tartu, Estonia
Kai received her MD from the University of Tartu, Estonia and earned a PhD from the same university in 1999. She undertook post-doctoral training at the Uppsala University, Sweden. Currently she is the Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Biomedicine, University of Tartu and the board member of the Estonian Society for Immunology and Allergology.
Her major research interests are related to autoimmunity and self-tolerance, among the other projects dissecting the role of autoimmune regulator (AIRE) and its deficiency in the disease pathogenesis (APECED, Autoimmune PolyEndocrinopathy Candidiasis Ectodermal Dystrophy).
She is also involved in teaching immunology to medical students, has been organizing many international immunology courses and meetings and is supervising several PhD studies.
University of Helsinki, Finland
Prof. Annamari Ranki M.D. PhD is Professor of Dermatology and Venereology at the University of Helsinki, Helsinki Finland, and the Chairperson of the Department of Skin and Allergic Diseases, Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUCH), Finland, since 1997. In 1994, Prof. Ranki was appointed as Professor of Dermatology and department head at the University of Oulu and at the University of Tampere.
Her earlier research focused on AIDS and she was a visiting scientist for a number of years in Prof. Robert Gallo’s lab at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, in Bethesda, and at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. After returning to Finland she co-developed a novel DNA-based HIV vaccine candidate, currently being tested in clinical trials. Her research focuses on the molecular pathogenesis of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas and the auto-inflammatory periodic fever syndrome TRAPS.
Prof. Ranki has published ca. 230 scientific papers, she is a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and Knight, First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland.
University of Helsinki, Finland
Prof. Krohn is the emeritus Professor of Pathology at Helsinki University, Finland and was appointed as the first Professor of Pathology at the newly established Medical School at Tampere University in 1974. He served as the Chairman of the University Council and as the Vice-Dean twice. In 1995 he was appointed Director of the newly established Institute of Medical Biotechnology (IMT).
Prof. Krohn completed his medical training (MD) at the University of Helsinki in 1962 and obtained his PhD in 1968. In 1970 he obtained his degree of Specialist in Pathology (Boards).
His early research concentrated in autoimmunity notably of chronic autoimmune gastritis and on the autoimmune syndrome (APECED). Prof. Krohn spent his post-doctoral fellowship at New York Medical Hospital, Cornell University and at the Virus laboratory in New York Blood center, with Dr. Alfred M. Prince. They characterized the newly found virus for serum hepatitis, the Hepatitis B-virus and took the first steps in the development of the HBV vaccine. He spent three years as a Senior Scientist at NIH, working with Prof. Robert Gallo.