management

Evert J. J. Kueppers MSc., MBA, Chief Executive Officer
Appointed as Chief Executive Officer in May 2006, Evert Kueppers joined Pieris from biotech firm IDEA AG. As Vice President and Head of Business Development, Mr Kueppers played a pivotal role in the corporate development of IDEA. Prior to IDEA he worked in London, UK, for the global pharmaceutical / health care practice of the management consultants AT Kearney. Mr Kueppers acquired extensive operational experience during his four year tenure at BASF Pharma (now Abbott Labs.) for whom he also spent two years in Buenos Aires, Argentina, facilitating the establishment of its local businesses. Mr Kueppers has a background in the Biomedical Sciences (Leiden University, The Netherlands), having obtained extensive molecular biology research experience in the USA and The Netherlands, and an MBA degree from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Andreas Hohlbaum Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer
Dr Hohlbaum has first hand experience in commercially oriented Discovery Research from his time at Dyax (Nasdaq; DYAX), where he initiated and developed a project to identify integrin-specific monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic use in prostate cancer. Dr Hohlbaum received his PhD from the University of Konstanz, Germany, and pursued postdoctoral research at Boston University School of Medicine, USA, contributing to the scientific literature in the areas of apoptosis, inflammation, innate immunity, and tumor immunology.

Claus Schalper, MBA, Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer
Claus Schalper has a solid background in financial management, combined with practical experience of raising financing and driving business growth. He holds a masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Bamberg, Germany. Mr Schalper began his career with Arthur Andersen in the Audit and Corporate Finance Department. Subsequently, he grew a start-up company in the area of healthcare IT software as general partner and shareholder. Following the trade-sale of this company Claus Schalper served as a part-time consultant to venture capitalists specialising in seed-financing, and as Head of Controlling at Wire Card AG.

Angelika C. Stern, PhD, Chief Operating Officer
Dr Stern started her career in 1986 as Clinical Expert at Novartis (formerly Sandoz). There she was directly responsible for clinical development (Phase I - Phase III) and registration of the biological GM-CSF (Leucomax®) in cooperation with Schering-Plough, as well as for the clinical development of various other biologicals, including anti-viral monoclonal antibodies. Before founding SternConsult and Hesperion in 1998, she spent three years as Medical Director at F. Hoffmann-La Roche, with responsibility for Neupogen®. Dr Stern obtained her PhD in Immunology from the University of Basel, Switzerland, followed by postdoctoral research through a research grant awarded by the Deutsche Forschungs -Gemeinschaft (DFG). In addition, she was Head of the bone marrow transplantation laboratory at the University of Bern, Switzerland.