WUPPERTAL, Germany, May 25, 2021 – AiCuris Anti-infective Cures AG, a leading company in the discovery and development of drugs against infectious diseases, today announced that the Supervisory Board appointed Dr. Stefan Oschmann as chairman. He succeeds Helmut Jeggle, Chief Executive Officer of Salvia GmbH, who stepped down as planned from his role as Interim-Chairman of the initial Supervisory Board of AiCuris AG. Helmut Jeggle will continue to serve on the board as member and Vice-chairman.
“We are proud to welcome Dr. Stefan Oschmann, an ex-DAX CEO and one of the most experienced German business executives in the pharmaceutical industry, as new Chairman of our Supervisory Board,” said Dr. Holger Zimmermann, CEO of AiCuris Anti-infective Cures AG. “The months to come will be extremely important for AiCuris as our lead compound, pritelivir, is ready to enter pivotal phase 3 trial and we focus on the continued expansion of our pipeline in the antiviral and antibiotics fields. In Dr. Oschmann, AiCuris has gained a visionary from the research-based economy whose proven expertise will be of tremendous value in preparing the Company for future growth.”
“We are delighted Dr. Stefan Oschmann joined the AiCuris Supervisory Board. The Company’s first product, Prevymis® (letermovir), a novel therapy for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infections is already on the market revolutionizing transplant medicine. In addition, the company built up a rich pipeline with further promising candidates, facilitating future success,” said Dr. Thomas Strüngmann, who, together with his brother, Andreas, is the main investor in the Company. “We will further built on this auspicious basis and are convinced the tremendous experience of Dr. Oschmann in the pharmaceutical industry will help to bring AiCuris to the next level.”
“I am excited to join the AiCuris Board. With the experience of big pharma and the flexibility and scalability of a small biotech, AiCuris is driven by scientific expertise that forms the basis for the development of innovative anti-infective drugs that really can make a difference,” said Dr. Stefan Oschmann, Chaiman of AiCuris Supervisory Board. “I look forward to working with the AiCuris management team and the AiCuris Supervisory Board to support the Company in its efforts to explore additional opportunities for further growth in a field of indications that in the light of current and future pandemics and the threat of antimicrobial resistance becomes more and more important.”
Dr. Stefan Oschmann was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Executive Board of Merck from April 2016 to April 2021. Before taking office as Chairman of the Executive Board, he served as Vice Chairman and Deputy CEO. Dr. Oschmann joined Merck in 2011 as a member of the Executive Board and was responsible for the Healthcare business sector until the end of 2014. He drove the transformation of the Biopharma business by optimizing its cost structures and improving the efficiency of its research & development model, which included a clear portfolio prioritization.
Before joining Merck, Dr. Oschmann worked for the U.S. pharma company MSD, where he served in a range of senior executive positions. He started his career at an agency of the United Nations, and worked for the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI). Dr. Oschmann is Chair of the Board & Independent Director at UCB, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Josef Schörghuber Foundation, Vice President of acatech, the National Academy of Science and Engineering and member of the Supervisory Board of Springer Nature AG & Co. KGaA.
Chaired by Dr. Stefan Oschmann, the members of the AiCuris Supervisory Board include highly renowned pharmaceutical leaders Helmut Jeggle, Chief Executive Officer of Salvia GmbH, Sean Marett, CBO and CCO of BioNTech SE and Prof. Dr. Helga Rübsamen-Schaeff, Founding CEO of AiCuris,.
About AiCuris Anti-infective Cures AG
AiCuris was founded in 2006 as a spin-off from Bayer and focuses on the discovery and development of drugs targeting infectious diseases. SANTO Holding is the Company’s majority investor. PREVYMIS® (Letermovir), a first-in-class non-nucleoside cytomegalovirus (CMV) inhibitor acting via a novel mechanism of action, was licensed to MSD in 2012 and is approved in the EU, the USA, Japan and other
parts of the world for use in bone marrow transplants for the prevention of HCMV infections in adults who receive an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The Company is developing drugs for the treatment of viruses such as human CMV, herpes simplex virus (HSV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and adenoviruses. In the field of antibacterials, AiCuris seeks to develop innovative treatment options for life- threatening, multidrug-resistant, hospital-treated pathogens.
For more information, please visit www.aicuris.com.
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