About us

Christoph is an experienced company executive and former venture capital manager in the fields of life sciences with special focus on drug development (small molecules and biologicals), diagnostics and instrumentation. Prior to VERAXA, he was Managing Director at Acousia Therapeutics (inner ear drug development) and Luxendo (light sheet microscopy).

Torsten has more than 20 years of professional and management experience within the fields of Finance and Business Development in global life science and tech companies such as Molecular Health, BASF Pharma, Techem Energy Services and Colt Telecom. He holds a Diploma in Business Administration from DHBW in Mannheim.

Rick previously served as Vice President, Research at Harpoon Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on T-cell engagers (acquired by Merck in 2024). Prior to Harpoon, he held multiple positions at Amgen and Tularik (acquired by Amgen in 2004), where he led tumor immunology projects using BiTE® technology to target multiple myeloma and ovarian cancers. Prior to Amgen and Tularik, he served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Throughout his career, Rick enabled numerous IND filings and first-in-human studies. He is also an inventor on 12 issued patents and has authored more than 25 peer-reviewed research publications. Rick earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University.

Heinz is a serial entrepreneur and former venture capital investor in the biopharmaceutical industry. He joined VERAXA from EMBL Ventures, where he served as General Partner focusing on corporate venture building. Prior to that, he held CEO positions at ViraTherapeutics (acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim in 2018), Lanthio Pharma (acquired by MorphoSys in 2015) and Sloning BioTechnology (acquired by MorphoSys in 2010). Heinz earned his PhD in Clinical Chemistry at University Regensburg, Germany. He did his Postdoc at Harvard Medical School, USA, and holds an MBA from Henley Business School, UK.

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Dr. Christoph Erkel is an experienced biologist and scientific leader with more than 15 years of expertise in early-stage drug discovery and preclinical development. He has extensive experience in antibody discovery, target validation, and IND-enabling studies, leading programs across diverse indications such as oncology, dermatology, and autoimmune diseases. Prior to joining VERAXA, Dr. Erkel served as Associate Director and Research Program Leader at MorphoSys AG, a leading biotechnology company now part of Novartis. At MorphoSys, he managed cross-functional teams and therapeutic programs in immuno-oncology, including the development of conditionally activated T cell engagers targeting solid and hematologic tumors.

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