CEO   CFO   CSO

VP Process Science & Manufacturing

VP Business Development

Since its foundation in 1994 ProBioGen has evolved from a research-based company into a fully grown, commercially successful organisation. Apart from its cutting-edge, market-driven technologies, its success also lies in the dedication of its staff and, above all, the experience of its management team. The management team brings a wealth of experience in the different areas of day-to-day operation, an in-depth understanding of the trends and needs of the industry, and a well-founded, sound strategic vision for the company.

CEO
Wieland W. Wolf, PhD

CEO of ProBioGen since June 14, 2010. Wieland W. Wolf regards as his pre-eminent task the positioning of ProBioGen as a leading, science driven, contract partner for biopharmaceutical development and production within a network of strategic alliances and cooperations. Special emphasis is put on the further exploration of the excellent scientific expertise and the unique technological know-how, to the benefit of ProBioGen’s customers.
Looking back over three decades of biopharmaceutical experience, Wieland W. Wolf has held several positions in the biopharmaceutical industry. A biologist by education, he was involved in pioneering product registrations at Bioferon GmbH, headed a production unit for API and parenteral dosage forms at the same company, and was responsible for the biotechnology division of the Rentschler Group, which he led through its transformation from a product-oriented enterprise into an established service provider and contract manufacturing organization (CMO).
He is the President of the European Association for Pharma Biotechnology and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB, Stuttgart, Germany)

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CFO
Gertraud Unterrainer, PhD

Dr. Gertraud Unterrainer joined ProBioGen as Chief Financial Officer in October, 2007.
Based on her extensive experience in financial transactions and M&A activities in the healthcare field, she is responsible for ProBioGen’s financial management and the company’s relationships with the financial and business community.
She previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Biovertis AG, Vienna and Munich. Prior to that, she was the investment manager of an Austrian seed fund focusing on life science investments, and a consultant at McKinsey & Company.
She holds a degree in biochemistry, and earned her PhD at the Institute of Brain Research, Vienna.

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CSO
Volker Sandig, PhD

CSO of ProBioGen since April, 2010. Dr. Volker Sandig established ProBioGen’s cell line development program in 2000, and has been responsible for the development of high producer cell lines and the customized design of new cell lines from primary sources. Prior to joining ProBioGen, he held senior management positions at Merck Research Laboratories, USA, focusing on the development of manufacturing systems for gutless adenoviruses. Using his knowledge of viral vectors, he also participated in Merck’s HIV vaccine program. Earlier in his career, he designed experimental strategies for adenovirus-based tumor treatment and directed research projects in cell cycle regulation and artificial promoters at the Max Planck Society and Hepavec, a Berlin-based biotech company. After finishing medical training, Volker Sandig received his PhD in Molecular Biology from the Humboldt University, Berlin.

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VP Process Science & Manufacturing
René Brecht, PhD

Dr. René Brecht joined ProBioGen in 2002 and is currently Vice President of Process Science and Manufacturing. René Brecht is responsible for both process development for recombinant proteins, antibodies and fusion proteins, and cGMP manufacturing of clinical materials. His major process science focus is on product and process specific glycosylation issues and product consistency of sophisticated, continuous perfusion processes.
Prior to joining ProBioGen, he held a position as Research Scientist at the University of Leipzig, where he was responsible for pre-clinical and GMP process development of monoclonal antibodies and antibody fragments for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes.
He received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Marburg on natural occurring anticancer compounds.

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VP Business Development
Dr. Gabriele Schneider

Vice President of Business Development at ProBioGen since July, 2007. Gabriele Schneider is responsible for the marketing, sales and business development of the services of ProBioGen: cell line, process and assay development, and manufacturing of biopharmaceutical substances for clinical development.
Gabriele Schneider holds a master’s degree in political science from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, and a doctorate from the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. She joined the biotech industry in 2000, holding different management positions before she joined ProBioGen in 2003.

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