Virometix AG is a privately held biotechnology company developing a new generation of vaccines and immunotherapeutic drugs for the prevention and treatment of infectious and chronic human diseases.
In an increasingly global world there is a considerable medical need for vaccines to combat infectious as well as a number of chronic human diseases. Fast growing demands, health threats from newly arising complex viral and bacterial pathogens and increasingly stringent requirements for stability, safety and tolerability require new approaches to tackling current and future challenges.
Rational molecular design, chemical synthesis and Virometix’ proprietary Synthetic Virus-Like Particle platform technology allow for the rapid production and optimization of vaccine candidates with superior properties in terms of safety, efficacy and stability.
Our mission
Virometix’ mission is to develop safe, effective new-generation vaccines for the treatment of chronic human diseases and the prevention of infectious diseases afflicting millions of people worldwide.
Virometix exploits the tools traditionally used in drug discovery, rational molecular design and chemical synthesis, for the generation of structurally optimized Synthetic Antigen Mimetics (SAMs) along with its proprietary Synthetic Virus-Like Particle (SVLP) platform technology for delivery of SAMS to immune system cells.
With its uniquely positioned SVLP and SAM platform technologies, Virometix aims to establish a new benchmark in the design of synthetic vaccines and nanomedicines.
Management
Anna Sumeray
Chief Executive Officer
Anna Sumeray has over 25 years of experience in the life sciences sector with a combination of strategic consultancy, hands-on P&L leadership and deal transaction experience in big pharmaceutical and small biotechnology companies, globally, across Europe and within individual countries.
Anna’s diverse experiences include the build of a successful European biotech business for a US-based company from the ground up and management of Novartis’s oncology businesses in Finland and Germany. She also has significant M&A and licensing experience and was global head of business development and licensing at Novartis Ophthalmics. She has worked in 13 countries and in 4 languages.
Anna has a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, UK and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.
Sasan Navid
Chief Financial Officer
Sasan Navid has over 30 years of experience in the finance sector. He previously worked at Amgen Inc., where he held various positions within finance in the US and in Europe. Prior to Amgen, Sasan spent eight years with Ernst & Young in the firm’s audit group. He holds a B.S. degree in Accounting and a M.S. degree in Taxation from California State University Northridge.
Board of Directors
Harry Welten, MBA – Chairman
Over the last 17 years, Mr. Welten was Chief Financial Officer of both public as well as venture capital financed biotech companies. During that time, he has raised more than CHF320 million through IPO, venture capital, M&A as well as debt offerings. He now serves as Chairman or Member on the Board of Directors of several biotechnology companies in Switzerland, Belgium and the USA. He has degrees in Banking, Finance and Economics as well as an MBA (hons.) from Columbia University, NY, USA.
Dr. Isaac Kobrin, MD
Dr. Isaac Kobrin is an internist with 15 years of experience in academic medicine both in Israel and the USA. With 23 years of experience in the Pharma industry, he was responsible for the worldwide clinical development of key compounds at Roche for 10 years and subsequently in Actelion for 13 years. In Actelion, Dr. Kobrin was the head of clinical development and member of the executive committee for 10 years and later he was appointed as Chief Medical Officer and Chairman of the Strategic and Portfolio Board of the company. Dr. Kobrin is also a Board member at ProteoMediX.
PD Dr. med. Axel Polack
Axel Polack is General Partner at JPIF, a life-science oriented early stage venture capital fund. He is also a supervisory board member of HealthUp Sp.zo.o and Survivor Life Ltd and acts as a senior advisor to the Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung (EKFS), a non-profit foundation dedicated to advancing medical research and medical-humanitarian projects Axel has had an impressive three-phase career path with notable achievements in venture capital, business management and biomedical research.
Axel holds a Medical Doctorate degree from the University of Freiberg and a second doctorate (Privatsdozent) in Virology from the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität (LMU) Munich.
Anna Sumeray
Anna Sumeray has over 25 years of experience in the life sciences sector with a combination of strategic consultancy, hands-on P&L leadership and deal transaction experience in big pharmaceutical and small biotechnology companies, globally, across Europe and within individual countries.
Anna’s diverse experiences include the build of a successful European biotech business for a US-based company from the ground up and management of Novartis’s oncology businesses in Finland and Germany. She also has significant M&A and licensing experience and was global head of business development and licensing at Novartis Ophthalmics. She has worked in 13 countries and in 4 languages.
Anna has a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, UK and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.
Advisory Board
Prof. Paul-Henri Lambert, MD
Prof. Paul-Henri Lambert, MD, is now associated with the Centre of Vaccinology in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at University of Geneva. He is directing the International Advanced Course of Vaccinology (ADVAC) organized under the auspices of the Fondation Mérieux and University of Geneva. He is a member of the Governing Board of the Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI), past-chairman of the Human Vaccine Committee of the International Association for Biologicals (IABS) and of the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety of the World Health Organization (WHO). In 1987, he was appointed as chief of Microbiology and Immunology at the World Health Organization and in 1994, chief of the Vaccine Research and Development, WHO Global Program for Vaccines and Immunization. During this time he was deeply involved in co-ordination of research aiming at the development of vaccines against diseases of major importance in developing countries.
Prof. Gerd Pluschke
Prof. Pluschke is Head of the Molecular Immunology Unit and the Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). Prior to joining the Institute, he worked as a scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, the Basel Institute for Immunology and for Ciba Pharma Research. Prof. Pluschke has published more than 150 papers and holds several patents. He graduated in Biochemistry, receiving his Doctorate from the University of Tubingen.
Prof. Richard Ulevitch
Prof. Ulevitch is Venture Partner at 5AM Ventures (Menlo Park CA USA), Professor of Immunology and Chairman Emeritus at The Scripps Research Institute ( La Jolla, CA USA). For nearly four decades, Prof. Ulevitch has performed research to understand the role of the immune system in human disease. He also serves as a scientific advisor to Aravis Ventures and was previously an advisor to the Lombard Odier Immunology Fund. Prof. Ulevitch currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of multiple biotechnology companies. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications and is a co-inventor on multiple patents. He received an A.B. from Washington and Jefferson College and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and joined The Scripps Research Institute in 1972.
Dr. Rinaldo Zurbriggen
Rinaldo Zurbriggen is currently Director, Strategic Growth Investments and Head Microbial Program Management at Lonza Visp. Previously he was Head of Viral Research at Berna Biotech and later on co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Pevion Biotech. He has been working in the pharmaceutical and vaccine field for more than 15 years and has brought three vaccine candidates from preclinical testing to human clinical trials. Dr. Zurbriggen has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals and is author of chapters in three different scientific books. He graduated from the University of Fribourg with a Doctorate in Biochemistry.
Dr. Urs Breitenstein
Dr. Breitenstein is one of the leading valuation experts in Switzerland. He is Partner at Hoffmann & Co. Prior to Hoffmann & Co fe worked as equity analyst for a Swiss Bank, then for PricewaterhouseCoopers and, most recently, for Deloitte in Zurich, where he was a partner and team leader of the M&A- as well as of the internal life science industry team. He holds a Doctorate in economics from the University of Basel.
Prof. John A. Robinson
Prof. Robinson is a co-founder of Virometix, professor of organic chemistry and former chairman of the Organic Chemistry Institute and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Zurich. Prof. Robinson is a leading expert in the development of epitope mimetics for drug and vaccine applications. He has published more than 150 papers in major scientific journals and is named as co-inventor on 12 patents. He obtained his Doctorate in Chemistry from Cambridge University, UK.
Lawrence Segal PhD ERT
Lawrence (Larry) Segal has over 30 years professional experience in regulatory toxicology in the chemical and pharmaceutical Industries and in a Regulatory Agency (Health Canada). He is a Eurotox Registered Toxicologist (ERT). Larry was Director of Nonclinical Toxicology & Pharmacology at GSK Vaccines, where he was responsible for the preparation and review of the non-clinical toxicology sections of all regulatory submissions, interactions with regulatory agencies worldwide, planning and review of GLP toxicity studies, and participation in internal safety monitoring boards and project teams.
Larry is now working as a consultant on freelance basis.
Careers
Working at Virometix
Are you a team player whose scientific curiosity is complemented by an entrepreneurial spirit, focus and persistence? Do you feel motivated to bring innovative medical solutions to breakthrough?
If so, we encourage you to send your curriculum vitae to info@virometix.com.