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Our vision: individualize cancer medicine
Management
A team of first-movers and entrepreneurs in the fields of immunology and oncology
Ugur Sahin
Chief Executive Officer
Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., Co-Founder and CEO of BioNTech, is a physician, immunologist and leader in the development of novel approaches to fight cancer and infectious diseases. Sahin is one of the world’s foremost experts on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) medicines. He has pioneered several breakthroughs enabling the development of mRNA vaccines and other types of immunotherapies. Sahin initiated and oversees “Project Lightspeed,” the historic development of the first mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, moving from lab and clinical testing to conditional approval within an unprecedented 11-month period. He also leads BioNTech’s research and development of neoantigen specific mRNA cancer vaccines which are individually tailored and produced on demand according to the profile of non-synonymous mutations identified by next-generation sequencing in patients’ tumors. Ugur Sahin is co-inventor of more than 500 filed patents applications and patents. Sahin’s academic credentials include serving as a Full Professor (W3) in Translational Oncology & Immunology at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, where he was the supervisor for more than 50 PhD students. He also holds the role of Chairman of the Scientific Management Board of the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON), also in Mainz. Based on his contributions to scientific discovery, Dr. Sahin has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the German Sustainability Award, the Mustafa Prize, and the German Cancer Award. He is married to Dr. Özlem Türeci.
Sean Marett
Chief Business and Chief Commercial Officer
Sean Marett joined BioNTech in 2012. Prior to joining BioNTech, he worked in global strategic and regional marketing and sales roles at GlaxoSmithKline in the United States and Pfizer in Europe before taking business development executive roles at Evotec and Lorantis, the latter of which he helped to successfully sell to Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. He has successfully executed complex licensing transactions with large pharmaceutical companies, negotiated M&A transactions and raised finance from investors. Mr. Marett built and ran a contract clinical manufacturing organization with operations across Europe and the United States for over half a decade for the contract manufacturer, NextPharma. Mr. Marett has been Chairman of PHMR Ltd, a company specializing in market access and pharmaceutical reimbursement, since 2017. He previously held non-executive directorship of KWS BioTest Ltd (successfully sold to Charles River) from 2011 until 2018 and was a member of the investment committee of Mann BioInvest Ltd, a fund dedicated to biotechnology and pharmaceutical company investments from 2013 until 2016. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from Kings College London and an MBA from Manchester Business School.
Sierk Poetting
Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Sierk Poetting is our Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Poetting joined BioNTech in September 2014 from Novartis, where he served from May 2012 to August 2014 as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the Sandoz Division in North America. Dr. Poetting started his career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company. A German citizen, Dr. Poetting holds a Master of Science in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in Physics from the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich.
Jens Holstein
Chief Financial Officer
Jens Holstein is our Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining BioNTech, Jens was CFO of dual-listed MorphoSys AG where he was instrumental in building a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company. Before joining MorphoSys in 2011, Jens served in multiple CFO positions as well as general management roles within the Fresenius SE Group. He served as Regional CFO for the region EME (Europe/Middle East) and as Managing Director of Fresenius Kabi Deutschland GmbH. From 2006 to 2010, he was Regional Chief Financial Officer of Fresenius Kabi Asia Pacific Ltd., based in Hong Kong. Prior to this appointment, Jens Holstein was Managing Director of Fresenius ProServe GmbH, and CFO and Labor Director of the company's subsidiary Wittgensteiner Kliniken AG. Earlier positions within Fresenius included General Manager of hospitalia care GmbH, Commercial Manager of the Projects & Service business unit of Fresenius AG and Commercial Manager of hospitalia international GmbH. Jens Holstein also spent several years in the consulting industry, including in M&A with positions in Frankfurt and London. Jens Holstein holds a Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Münster, Germany. He is also a Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors at global genomic diagnostics company Veracyte Inc.
Özlem Türeci
Chief Medical Officer
Özlem Türeci, M.D., Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of BioNTech, is a physician, immunologist, and cancer researcher with translational and clinical experience. Türeci has helped lead the discovery of cancer antigens, the development of mRNA-based individualized and off-the-shelf vaccine candidates and other types of immunotherapies which are currently in clinical development. Türeci leads the clinical development of BioNTech’s “Project Lightspeed,” the company’s successful effort to develop and distribute an mRNA-based vaccine against COVID-19, a historic achievement completed in less than one year. Türeci previously served as CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, which she co-founded with Ugur Sahin and Christoph Huber. The company was acquired by Astellas in 2016. She is also a professor for Personalized Immunotherapy at the University Medical Center Mainz and the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology Mainz (HI-TRON) and currently serves as President of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT) in Germany. She is a recent recipient of the German Sustainability Award, among other notable recognitions. Türeci is married to Prof. Ugur Sahin.
Ryan Richardson
Chief Strategy Officer
Ryan Richardson is our Chief Strategy Officer. He brings more than 15 years of experience in the finance and healthcare industries to BioNTech. Prior to joining BioNTech in 2018 as SVP Corporate Development & Strategy, Ryan was an Executive Director in the Global Healthcare Investment Banking team at J.P. Morgan in London, where he advised companies in the biotech and life sciences industry on M&A, equity and debt capital financings. Earlier in his career, Ryan spent five years as a Management Consultant to biopharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and Europe, where he worked on a wide range of strategic and operational projects in the areas of commercial strategy, pricing and market access, new product planning, and R&D operations. Ryan holds an MBA from the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a BS in Biology from the University of Kansas.
Supervisory Board
Supported by an experienced Supervisory Board with a proven leadership track record in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry
Helmut Jeggle has been Chairman of our Supervisory Board since its foundation in 2008. Helmut Jeggle has a degree in business administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Neu-Ulm and an MBA (Master of Business Administration) from the Stuttgart Institute of Management and Technology. From 2000 to 2007, Helmut Jeggle held various positions at Hexal AG. From 2007 onwards, Helmut Jeggle was, among other things, in charge of Direct Investments at ATHOS KG, the family office of the Strüngmann family, from which he retired as personally liable managing director in April 2021. Since 2014, Helmut Jeggle has been Managing Director of Salvia GmbH, where he acts as an entrepreneurial venture capital investor. He is currently a member of 2 other supervisory boards of listed companies, including 4SC AG and Tonies SE.
Michael Motschmann has served as a member of our Supervisory Board since 2008. Mr. Motschmann co-founded MIG Verwaltungs AG, or MIG, in 2004, where he serves on the Management Board and as Head of Equity Investments. In his role with MIG, Mr. Motschmann currently serves on the supervisory boards of several private portfolio companies.
Prof. Christoph Huber, M.D. is a co-founder of BioNTech and has served as a member of our Supervisory Board since 2008. Prof. Huber has more than 50 years of professional experience in hematology, oncology and translational immunology. Prof. Huber served as Chairman of the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the Johannes-Gutenberg University Mainz from 1990 to 2009 and, since 2009, has served as Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Hematology and Oncology. Prof. Huber was a co-founder of Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, now a subsidiary of Astellas. He is an executive board member of CIMT and a board member of Ci3. From 2018 to April 2019, Prof. Huber served as a member of the supervisory board of TRON. Prof. Huber earned his M.D. at the University of Innsbruck.
Dr. Ulrich Wandschneider, Ph.D. has served as a member of our Supervisory Board since 2018. Dr. Wandschneider has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare sector as a manager in the operative business and as a member of boards and committees. He was a Partner at Arthur Andersen until 2002 and at Deloitte from 2002 to 2004 in the healthcare and life science sector for many years. From 2004 to 2016 Dr. Wandschneider served as Chief Executive Officer first of Mediclin AG later of Asklepios Kliniken GmbH & Co. KGaA. Dr. Wandschneider currently serves on various supervisory and advisory boards.
