Apceth is Extending its Top Management: Prof. Ralf Huss Moves from Roche to the Biotechnology Company apceth

Munich, Germany, October 10, 2011 / B3C newswire / – On October 1st, Prof. Ralf Huss, previously Global Head of the Therapeutic Cell Initiative at Roche, joined the management board of apceth GmbH & Co. KG, Munich. Ralf Huss will focus on the pre-clinical and early development of cell-based therapeutics and external innovation in the company that is specialized on the translational development and manufacturing of innovative cell therapy products. CEO Dr Christine Günther warmly welcomes the strengthening of the apceth management team. Majority shareholder Dr Thomas Strüngmann comments: “Ralf Huss has been a founding member of apceth. We are delighted that he has now decided to join the operational team in apceth”.

Expertise in the development of cell therapy products

Prof. Ralf Huss has many years of experience in academic research and in the international pharmaceutical industry. After studying medicine and spending time in research in Switzerland and the USA, where he focused on immunology and stem cell research, he became a consultant and Professor of Pathology at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. In addition to other positions, Ralf Huss is still Adjunct Professor for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem (USA). Since 2005, he has worked at Roche Diagnostics GmbH in Pharmaceutical Research & Early Development (pRED) in Penzberg, Germany.

Dr Christine Günther is an expert in the areas of clinical stem cell transplantation, transplantation immunology and cell therapy. As a haematologist/oncologist, Dr Günther has held various positions at the University Hospital and the Schwabing City Hospital in Munich and, prior to joining apceth in 2008, she worked for several years as Qualified Person and Medical Director in a public stem cell and cord blood bank. In addition, she focused on the development and licensing of an umbilical cord blood product for use in the treatment of malignant diseases.

About apceth

apceth was founded in 2007 as a start-up company with funding from the investors Dr Andreas and Dr Thomas Strüngmann, who, as the founders and former owners of the pharmaceutical manufacturer HEXAL, have many years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry. The research work at apceth is centred on the development and clinical application of pioneering stem cell and gene therapies, particularly for the treatment of malignant diseases. apceth combines the principles of stem cell biology with ground-breaking technologies on the basis of both the GMP-compliant propagation of stem cells and the latest findings in gene technology. apceth’s primary aim is to develop novel cell therapy products for the treatment of clinical conditions for which no satisfactory treatment options have been available to date. For apceth, this above all means closing the translational gaps between research and clinical application. Together with its academic and industrial partners in the region, apceth is continually expanding its network, both nationally and internationally, in order to develop forward-looking cell therapy products and push ahead with the clinical implementation of ground-breaking therapeutic concepts.

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