PD Dr. Özlem Türeci, M.D. (Chief Executive Officer & Chief Scientific Officer)

Dr. Özlem Türeci is a founder of Ganymed and became Chief Executive Officer in November 2008. Formerly she had served as Ganymed’s CSO. Dr. Türeci studied medicine at the University of Saarland in Homburg. After finishing her studies in 1992, Dr. Türeci worked as junior resident in the Oncology Hematology, Infectious Disease and Bone Marrow transplantation wards. Dr. Türeci co-developed the SEREX technology for the characterization of tumor antigens. She was awarded the Vincenz Czerny Prize of the German Association for Hematology and Oncology in 1995 and the Calogero Pagliarello Research Prize of the University Saarland in 1997. Since August 2000, Dr. Türeci has been heading an independent research group together with Prof. Dr. Sahin at the University of Mainz, Germany.

Dirk Sebastian (Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer)

Mr. Dirk Sebastian obtained a degree in engineering and business administration from the University of Siegen and Hamburg, Germany. Following his studies, Mr. Sebastian was a founding member of Lünecom GmbH, one of the first internet service providers in Northern Germany. Then Mr. Sebastian founded a professional services company offering a variety of business services to early stage and established German and American biotechnology companies. Mr. Sebastian has gained significant experience in drug discovery operations, business development and financial management.

Rainer Wessel, Ph. D. (Chief Business Officer & Spokesman)

Dr. Rainer Wessel became Chief Business Officer & Spokesman in November 2008. Formerly he had served as Ganymed’s CEO since March 2004. Before joining GANYMED, Dr. Rainer Wessel served at Axxima Pharmaceuticals AG as President & CEO. From 1997 to 1999 he was Head of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Qiagen GmbH. Dr. Wessel began his industry career at Boehringer Ingelheim in 1992, where he served in Japan and Germany in R&D and Intellectual Property. He is a member of the Board of BIO Deutschland (Berlin), a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies (London), and he also serves as a Senior Advisor to the International Council for the Life Sciences (Washington, D.C).