Abalos Therapeutics Expands Leadership Team with Drug Development and Viral Therapy Manufacturing Experts

• Klaus Binder appointed as Chairman of the Board;
• Dethardt Müller joins as Chief Technology Officer

ESSEN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Abalos Therapeutics announced today the appointments of Dr. Klaus Binder as Chairman of the Board and Dr. Dethardt Müller as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to rapidly advance and build out the company’s drug discovery and manufacturing efforts for novel arenavirus-based cancer therapeutics. Dr. Binder brings more than 25 years of experience in the fields of drug discovery, business development and corporate strategy to Abalos. Dr. Müller adds in-depth expertise in Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC) of viruses and biopharmaceutical processing to the team.

“As leaders in their respective fields, Klaus’ and Dethardt’s experience will provide significant contributions in putting the right structures in place to efficiently develop our first virotherapy candidates and build our clinical-scale production capabilities early-on,” said Dr. Marcus Kostka, CEO of Abalos Therapeutics. “I look forward to working with Klaus and Dethardt to further add to the solid foundation we are creating for us as a growing company.”

Dr. Klaus Binder said: “With its arenavirus-based approach, Abalos has a very unique position in the ever-growing immune-oncology field and I am excited to support the team in defining the optimal strategies for rapidly advancing this therapeutic approach towards clinical application. As one of the few CMC-experts for viral therapy development, Dethardt will be instrumental in achieving this goal.”

Dr. Klaus Binder is a life science industry leader combining an understanding of therapeutic product development, technologies and corporate development. He was the founding CEO of CEVEC Pharmaceuticals and served on the Board of several companies including Amaxa, Natrix Separations and Pfanstiehl Corporation. Since 2000, he independently advises biotech, pharma and life science companies with a focus on pre-clinical development, manufacturing and corporate strategies including M&A. Dr. Binder started his career at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) in 1990 where he gained in-depth experience in drug discovery and pre-clinical development. Following he held positions in Business Development & Strategic Marketing and became part of the management of the BI Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing business unit as Head of Corporate Business Development & Marketing.

Dr. Dethardt Müller joins Abalos from ViraTherapeutics where he was Head of CMC since 2016. In this role he, amongst other projects, led the development of the clinical manufacturing process for the oncolytic virus product candidate VSV-GP. Prior to that, he held different roles with increasing responsibility at Rentschler Biotechnologie GmbH including Director Technology Development, VP Technology Development and Senior Director Process Science, where he led innovation and technology management in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and oversaw marketing and sales projects. From 2002 to 2008, he worked as Assistant Professor for Bioprocess Engineering at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, leading the research group for Cell Culture Bioprocess Engineering. Dethardt studied Technical Biology at the University Stuttgart and holds a PhD in Biotechnology and Habilitation in Bioprocess Engineering from the BOKU University in Vienna.

About Abalos

Abalos Therapeutics has harnessed the unique immune stimulation of the arenavirus to develop a novel anti-cancer approach that provides the full breadth of the immune system’s power specifically against cancer cells. Through viral replication within cancer cells, Abalos’ arenavirus-based drug candidates are designed to awake precise innate and adaptive immune responses and activate all relevant immune cell types against primary tumors and metastases. Led by experienced biotech entrepreneurs and immunology pioneers, Abalos’ goal is to achieve a quantum leap in immuno-oncology. For more information, please visit www.abalos-tx.com.

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