Our Company
Our Story
At CDR-Life, we are on a mission to transform the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases through our innovative T cell engager (TCE) platform, M-gager®. By developing highly selective treatments that harness the power of the immune system, we are targeting both conventional tumor antigens and previously inaccessible or difficult-to-treat targets. This unique capability, built on over two decades of therapeutic antibody innovation, opens new possibilities for treating diseases that have historically resisted standard therapeutic approaches.
Our platform has successfully generated 6 novel development candidates, with 2 having already advanced to being tested in patients. Through strategic partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies and backed by leading cross-Atlantic investors, our team is passionately working to make transformative immunotherapies available for patients with hard-to-treat diseases, whether in oncology or autoimmune conditions.
Team
CDR-Life was founded in 2017 by a seasoned team of drug developers and biotech entrepreneurs with a mission to develop a next generation of superior T cell engaging therapies against solid and liquid tumors. We have built a team of highly accomplished people with broad expertise in antibody discovery, pharmacology, clinical and drug product development, enabling us to break new ground with our growing portfolio of highly tumor-selective immunotherapies.
All
Leadership
Christian Leisner is a biotech entrepreneur and seasoned drug developer. He has worked in all phases of drug development within the areas of ophthalmology, oncology, autoimmunity and cardiovascular disease. Christian has led several global programs with new biologic entities including LME636 (Novartis) from the preclinical stage up through successful Phase 2 in two different ophthalmic diseases. He has also played lead roles in the clinical development of Rydapt (approved in acute myeloid leukemia and aggressive systemic mastocytosis) and brolucizumab (approved in age-related macular degeneration).
Christian has served on Business Development and Licensing teams at Alcon and Novartis and was part of the senior management at ESBATech.
Christian obtained his Ph.D. in biochemistry from ETH Zurich, Switzerland. In addition, he holds a Master of Science degree in Molecular Biology and in Chemistry from Roskilde University, Denmark.
Konstantin von Schulthess has more than 15 years of experience in financial leadership positions. He has held key roles in R&D finance, first serving as global controller at Hoffmann-La Roche, and later as CFO at ESBATech.
As CFO of ESBATech, Konstantin was responsible for overseeing all financial and business operations, including funding, investor relations, budgeting, reporting, IT and infrastructure. He was an integral part of the transaction team during the company's $589 million acquisition to Alcon in 2009.
Konstantin previously served as the first global life-cycle controller at Roche, where he managed an R&D and marketing budget exceeding $400 million for the company's Anti-CD 20 portfolio.
Konstantin holds a law degree from the University of St. Gallen and an MBA (summa cum laude) from Babson College in Massachusetts. He is also a Swiss Certified Accountant. In addition to his executive roles, Konstantin sits on the boards of Schulthess Klinik, Uznaberg AG, and his own consultancy, Goldhalden, which focuses on leadership in finance.
Leonardo Borras is an accomplished protein engineer with a track record in preclinical development of antibodies. He leads CDR’s Research Unit.
Previously, Leonardo led the scaffold technologies group at Novartis Biologics Center where he worked in antibody-based scaffolds and multispecifics for multiple disease areas including immuno-oncology, cardiovascular diseases and ophthalmology.
Leonardo joined ESBATech in 2004, serving as Head of Protein Engineering, for more than 12 years. He designed and optimized numerous single chain variable fragment s(scFvs) including brolucizumab (RTH258), which recently achieved positive Phase III against wet AMD for Novartis and is now being prepared for approval and launch. Leonardo was responsible for leveraging the scFv platform to generate bispecific antibodies. He also directed strategies to assess manufacturing properties and risks of antibody fragments and led multiple projects from antibody discovery to early development for Alcon and Novartis.
Leonardo's scientific contributions include the development of a generically applicable antibody humanization procedure that for the first time resulted in highly stable and potent antibody fragments. He is an inventor on numerous patents, and his work has been published in peer reviewed journals.
Rouven Bingel-Erlenmeyer is an accomplished leader in technical development and manufacturing of biologics. He leads the Technical Development Unit at CDR-Life. Throughout his career, Rouven has played leading roles in the successful development of manufacturing processes for multiple therapeutic antibody formats including antibody fragments, multi-specific antibodies and monoclonal antibodies via both microbial and mammalian processes.
Prior to joining CDR-Life, Rouven served as Head of Downstream Processing & Analytics at ESBATech. He also spent more than 6 years at Novartis, most recently serving as Global Drug Substance Lead. Rouven was part of the team that prepared the IMPD and BLA submissions for brolucizumab (Novartis).
Rouven received his Ph.D. in Structural Biology, Protein Chemistry and Biophysics from
Sarah Holland has more than 30 years of strategic biopharma leadership experience, distinguished by her ability to drive transformative global business initiatives. She most recently served as Chief Business Officer of Cureteq, where she was instrumental in attracting and acquiring therapeutic assets to build the group portfolio. Previously, Sarah served as Chief Business Officer of VectivBio during its IPO on NASDAQ and drove the acquisition and integration of Comet Therapeutics as well as a partnership with Asahi Kasei. Prior to this, Sarah was Global Head of Licensing and Head of R&D at Lonza and led the External Science and Partnering team at Sanofi. She held positions of increasing responsibility with Roche for over a decade, where she drove notable deals in oncology and central nervous system and built and led the M&A assessment and integration team. In her last role at Roche, Sarah was the Lifecycle Leader for Alecensa during FDA and EMA submission. Prior to Roche, she held commercial roles in diagnostics, biotech and pharma, culminating in the global launch of Faslodex for AstraZeneca. Sarah also serves as President of the Swiss Healthcare Licensing Group.
Shet Biswas joined CDR-Life in August 2022 as a key addition to the company’s leadership team. Prior to joining CDR-Life, he served as a Development Leader for MAGE-A4+ autologous cell therapies at Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc, where he was instrumental in progressing afamitresgene autoleucel through an accelerated approval submission pathway. Prior to Adaptimmune, Shet held the position of Clinical Director in oncology drug development at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Oncology, UK. In this role, he served as the clinical lead for the company’s BCMA-targeting multiple myeloma program with multiple trials across all phases of development.
Earlier in his career, Shet worked as a National Health Service (NHS) Consultant where he gained valuable clinical expertise in teenage cancer medicine, sarcoma, lymphomas and brain tumors at two university teaching hospitals. He also held an academic position as a Clinical Senior Lecturer in medical oncology at Newcastle University’s Northern Institute for Cancer Research (NICR) from 2009 to 2013.
Shet received his medical degree from Sheffield University Medical School and his DPhil from the University of Oxford. He became an elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP), London, in 2020.
CDR-Life is led by a seasoned management team with deep expertise in all key areas and phases of biologics development from discovery to commercialization. Our leaders are inventors, drug developers, and biotech builders with a proven track record. They founded ESBATech, a Swiss antibody-fragment based biotech acquired in 2009 by Alcon (now Novartis) and have played critical roles in the development of multiple therapeutics, including Beovu® & Rydapt®.
Board of Directors
Dominik Escher is a biotechnology entrepreneur with a proven record of success.
As the founder and CEO of ESBATech from 1998 to 2016, he led the company from inception through its $589 million acquisition by Alcon in 2009. Under his leadership, ESBATech raised over $90 million in venture capital.
Following the acquisition, Dominik continued his leadership at ESBATech while also serving as Vice President of R&D and a member of the Global R&D Leadership Team. When Alcon acquired by Novartis in 2011, ESBATech became part of the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research (NIBR). As Head of ESBATech, a Novartis company, Dominik was a member of the NIBR Global Ophthalmology Leadership Team as well as the NIBR Global Leadership Team of Biologics.
Concurrent with ESBATech’s sale to Alcon, Dominik was a founder of Delenex Therapeutics. He served on its board until the company was acquired by Cell Medica in 2016.
Dominik holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Science in Molecular Biology and Immunology from the University of Zurich, as well as a Master in Education with a focus on Management and Organization from ETH Zurich.
Since 2002 Dominik has been a Board Member of the Swiss Biotech Association, the biotech industry organization of Switzerland, serving as its President from 2013 to 2022.
Mehdi Ainouche is a Senior Principal at Jeito Capital, a global leading independent private equity fund. He brings over a decade of experience as an investor in life sciences.
Since joining Jeito in 2020 shortly after the fund's launch, Mehdi has played a key role in several investments and portfolio companies, particularly in the areas of ophthalmology, oncology, cardiometabolic and neuromuscular diseases, and fibrosis investments and portfolio companies notably in the fields of ophthalmology, oncology, cardiometabolic, neuromuscular diseases and fibrosis.
Mehdi previously served as an Associate within the healthcare venture team at Turenne Capital, a French investment group managing over €1.8Bn. There, he successfully contributed to multiple investments in biotech and medtech companies.
Mehdi holds a Pharm.D. from University of Rennes (France) and an MBA from ESCP Europe Business School Paris.
Josh Resnick, MD, is a Managing Director at RA Capital Management where he leads early-stage private investments and oversees the creation of new companies developing drugs, medical devices, diagnostics and research tools. Josh has more than 15 years of experience in investing, company formation and company leadership across all stages of drug development, from discovery through commercialization. He was previously Co-Lead of SV Health Investors’ U.S. biotech practice where he was responsible for its venture creation activities, including its incubator, Brahma Discovery. Prior to this, Josh served as President and Managing Partner at MRL Ventures Fund, the early-stage therapeutics-focused corporate venture fund within Merck & Co. He previously was a Venture Partner with Atlas Venture and a Partner at Prism Venture Partners, focusing on company formation and seed and Series A investing. Josh is a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He holds a BA in chemistry from Williams College, an MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.
Claudio Nessi is a Managing Director of Omega Funds and Managing Partner at NeoMed. He has over 20 years of experience in healthcare venture capital investing in Europe and the U.S. He has academic research experience in molecular biology from the Max Planck Institute and the University of Connecticut and has authored scientific articles in the fields of genetics, microbiology and structural biology. Claudio has been an investor and a board member of many successful emerging life sciences companies including Axovan AG (sold to Actelion), Endosense SA (sold to St. Jude), PregLem SA (sold to Gedeon Richter), Chord Therapeutics (sold to Merck Serono), and Avitide Inc (sold to Repligen).
Claudio holds an MBA from Erasmus University, the Netherlands and a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Pavia, Italy. He graduated with a Master of Science degree in Biology from Lausanne University, Switzerland.
Nicole Onetto is an independent consultant in oncology, drug development and translational research.
She previously served as a Deputy Director and Chief Scientific Officer at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Toronto. Before that, she held executive positions in pharmaceutical and biotechnology at companies in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, including the positions of Chief Medical Officer at ZymoGenetics and Chief Medical Officer at OSI Pharmaceuticals where she led the clinical development leading to the U.S. and European approvals of Tarceva® (erlotinib) in collaboration with Genentech and Roche.
Nicole previously worked in senior management positions at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), Nexstar Pharmaceuticals, and Gilead Sciences. At BMS, she was the international project leader for Taxol (paclitaxel) and contributed to several international market authorizations for Taxol in ovarian cancer and breast cancer. At Gilead, she was the Senior Vice President responsible for clinical, drug safety and regulatory operations for the entire Gilead portfolio and also served as head of the oncology drug development team which was subsequently acquired by OSI Pharmaceuticals.
Nicole currently serves as a director on the boards of Basilea Pharmaceutica and Bolt Biotherapeutics. Previously, she served on the boards of Sierra Oncology, ImmunoGen, YM Biosciences and NBE Therapeutics (until its acquisition by Boehringer Ingelheim). Nicole was also director for several private companies during her tenure at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.
Nicole has a medical degree from the University of Paris and a Master of Pharmacology degree from the University of Montréal. She is Board certified from the University of Paris in pediatrics and hematology.
Christian Leisner is a biotech entrepreneur and seasoned drug developer. He has worked in all phases of drug development within the areas of ophthalmology, oncology, autoimmunity and cardiovascular disease. Christian has led several global programs with new biologic entities including LME636 (Novartis) from the preclinical stage up through successful Phase 2 in two different ophthalmic diseases. He has also played lead roles in the clinical development of Rydapt (approved in acute myeloid leukemia and aggressive systemic mastocytosis) and brolucizumab (approved in age-related macular degeneration).
Christian has served on Business Development and Licensing teams at Alcon and Novartis and was part of the senior management at ESBATech.
Christian obtained his Ph.D. in biochemistry from ETH Zurich, Switzerland. In addition, he holds a Master of Science degree in Molecular Biology and in Chemistry from Roskilde University, Denmark.
Scientific Advisors
World leading experts
The Scientific Advisory Board consists of experts within the fields of immune-oncology and ophthalmology and will serve as a vital strategic resource to the company to develop novel and impactful medicines.
In addition to guiding CDR-Life’s research and development activities, including clinical trial designs, the SAB will also identify new target indications and will evaluate strategic assets that leverage the management’s expertise in therapeutic antibody fragments.
Oncology Advisors
Dr. David Hong is a Professor and Deputy Chair of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he has helped form one of the largest Phase I clinical trial units worldwide.
Dr. Hong is an expert in the early clinical development of innovative immunotherapies and targeted therapies and has served as the principal investigator for more than 100 trials. He has been involved in the early development of various drugs — including larotrectinib, sotorasib and levatinib — leading up to their eventual FDA approvals. As an expert in c-Met, NTRK, and KRAS, he has led several national trials, including the c-Met amplified, c-Met exon 14 deleted and NTRK arms of the NCI-MATCH trial.
Dr. Heather Shaw is a Consultant Medical Oncologist at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood, UK, and lead for the Medical Oncology Skin Cancer Service at University College London Hospital. Dr. Shaw's main interests include the development of new strategies for the treatment of melanoma and novel therapies to overcome resistance to currently available treatments in order to maximize patient benefit. She is particularly interested in the management of immunotherapy adverse events and is involved in the development of local and national guidance while leading services in both institutions for acute patient management.
Dr. Shaw is the oncology representative on the Skin Cancer Prevention Group of the British Association of Dermatologists, a member of both the national Uveal Melanoma Surveillance Guideline Committee and the Advanced Cellular Therapy Sub-Committee of British Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and has provided governmental advisory input to the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer with regard to cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
She is currently National Coordinating Investigator for several international groundbreaking melanoma studies including cellular and vaccine therapy indications which will deliver first-in-class licensed indications, and Principal Investigator for a large portfolio of melanoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma early phase studies including first-in-human.
Dr. Pavel Pisa is the former Head of Translational Medicine at Roche/Genentech, with broad experience in drug early and late clinical development from over 50 programs. He has in-depth knowledge of experimental and clinical challenges coupled with real-life experience of the successful translation of scientific findings into medicines and innovative treatment modalities. Dr. Pisa has amassed a distinguished academic clinical and scientific career and has served as Full Professor of Clinical Experimental Oncology at the world’s leading medical institutions and has authored 120 highly cited publications and patents within tumor immunology.
Dr. Rom Leidner serves as the Director of Immune Cell Experimental Therapy and Co-Director of Head & Neck Cancer Programs at the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, a division of Providence Cancer Institute of Oregon. His areas of research include tumor immune microenvironment remodeling through combinatorial individualized stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (iSABR) for lung cancer, TIL 2.0 adoptive cell therapy in head and neck cancer, first-in-human immunotherapeutics, and the clinical development of neoantigen TCR transduced T cell adoptive therapy in solid tumors. Dr. Leidner earned his medical degree from Tel Aviv University. He completed his internal medicine residency and a chief year at the Virginia Mason Clinic in Seattle and his medical oncology fellowship at Case Western Reserve University, followed by a K12 research fellowship.
Dr. Jaeger is Professor in Hematology at the Medical University of Vienna and Head of the Hematology and Hemostaseology Department at Vienna General Hospital (AKH Wien). During his training, he completed a three-year research stay with Prof. Stanley Korsmeyer at Washington University in St. Louis. His clinical and scientific focus is on lymphoproliferative diseases (leukemia and lymphoma). As a study director, he is responsible for the international NHL13 study of aggressive lymphoma and for acute lymphocytic leukemia of the adult age within the Study Group of Medical Tumor Therapy (AGMT). He is also lead investigator in several Austrian and international studies. His special focus is on translational research. Dr. Jäger was President of the European Hematology Association (EHA) from June 2011 to June 2013 and is currently a member of the European Biomed Alliance and the European Alliance for Personalized Medicine.
Dr. Manz is Professor in Hematology at the University of Zurich. He is the Director of Hematology at the University Hospital of Zurich where he also serves as the Director of Center for Hemato-Oncology. In addition, he is the Head of the Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma Center at the Comprehensive Cancer Center Zurich (CCCZ).
Dr. Yoram Reiter is a Professor of Immunology and the head of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. His research involves basic and translational research in antibody and cell engineering for the design of novel immunotherapies.
Dr. Reiter is a pioneer in the field of T cell receptor (TCR)-mimicking antibodies. His work led to the creation of Applied Immune Technologies developing next generation antibody-based immunotherapies. AIT was acquired and merged into Adicet Bio Inc (NASDAQ:ACET). He has more than 25 years of experience in molecular immunology, antibody and cell engineering related to cancer immunotherapy. His lab combines basic and translational research related to T cell biology, effector T cells functions, design of optimal CARs and well as multiple projects on antibody engineering and T cell engagers. Dr. Reiter was the dean of the faculty of Biology (twice) and is director of an institutional interdisciplinary research. He published over 120 papers, patents, review articles in the fields of molecular immunology and antibody engineering.
Dr. Gilberto Lopes is a Professor of Clinical Medicine, Chief for the Division of Medical Oncology, Medical Director for International Programs and Associate Director for Global Oncology at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. He holds concomitant positions as Editor-in-Chief for the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s JCO Global Oncology and as a board member for the Union International for Cancer Control.
Throughout his career, Dr. Lopes has taken leading roles in the development of cancer therapeutics including chemotherapies, targeted agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors and has published more than 250 papers and book chapters in journals such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer, Nature Reviews, Lancet, Lancet Oncology and Health Affairs.
Dr. Lopes has also led several entrepreneurial and business consulting activities in drug development and healthcare services, including serving as founding Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for the Oncoclinicas group, co-founding Biomab and serving as a Board member for Morphometrix. He is currently the leading Scientific Advisor for Lucence, a California and Singapore-based biotech company that has developed and commercialized cancer-related next-generation sequencing tests for the prevention and treatment selection including detection of circulating tumor RNA in addition to DNA.
Contact
Get in touch
CDR-Life
Tödistrasse 46
8810 Horgen
Zurich Switzerland
Phone +41 44 515 98 98
How to reach us:
Office:
Tödistrasse 46, 8810 Horgen, 3rd floor
From Zürich:
Public transport: (approx. 35 minutes)
- S2 Horgen – 18 minutes by train and 17 minutes on foot
- S24 Horgen Oberdorf – 23 minutes by train and 10 minutes on foot
By car:
- 17.2 km (approx. 30 minutes via the A3)
From Zürich Airport:
Public transport: (approx. 45 minutes)
- S2 Horgen – 29 minutes by train and 17 minutes on foot
By car:
- 42.6 km (approx. 45 minutes via the A4/ A3)
Parking is available – please inform us
For deliveries:
Tödistrasse 48, 8810 Horgen (at the delivery ramp)