Management Team

Christoph Antz, Ph.D. is an experienced entrepreneur, and biotechnology executive with a proven track record in founding, leading, and scaling high-tech life sciences companies. He is currently the CEO of VERAXA Biotech GmbH and the Company. He shaped the transition of the Company from a service-oriented company towards a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Under his leadership, the Company was formed through the merger of Velabs Therapeutics GmbH and Araxa Biosciences GmbH and has since developed from a technology-driven partner for pharma and biotech service into a clinical stage drug development company with true innovative disruptive technology platforms, based on the company’s proprietary BiTAC concept. Dr. Antz has served as CEO of multiple biotech startups, including Velabs Therapeutics, Araxa Biotech, Acousia Therapeutics, and Luxendo GmbH, leading and preparing successful Series A, B or C financing rounds, mergers, and trade sales (e.g., Abeta’s acquisition by The Genetics Company or Luxendo’s acquisition by Bruker Corporation). He was previously Managing Partner at EMBL Ventures, where he was building and financing early-stage life science companies across Europe. His background includes founding roles in companies such as Otogene AG and Abeta GmbH, contributing to innovations in Alzheimer diagnostics and inner ear therapies. Earlier in his career, he was a scientist at leading institutional research groups including the University of Tübingen, UC San Francisco, and the Max Planck Institute, with publications in Nature and Nature Structural Biology. He holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Heidelberg and the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research. Dr. Antz is active in several scientific and entrepreneurial networks and has served on expert committees in the Rhein-Neckar biotech region and the European Horizon 2020 initiative. He is a fellow of Class 10 of the Kaufmann Fellowship Program for Venture Education. His broad expertise bridges deep science, company building, and translational commercialization.

Heinz Schwer is a serial entrepreneur and former life science venture capital investor with more than 25 years of experience in innovation management, strategic leadership, and corporate development. He joined VERAXA from EMBL Ventures Partners (EVP), where he served as General Partner focused on venture building. Previously, he managed ViraTherapeutics as CEO, a biotechnology company developing oncolytic viral therapy, and led the company to its acquisition by Boehringer Ingelheim in 2018. Prior to that, he was CEO of Lanthio Pharma, which was acquired by MorphoSys in 2015, following the transition of the company into a clinical-stage developer of novel peptide therapeutics under his leadership. As a Senior Director at MorphoSys, Dr. Schwer contributed to substantial licensing and M&A transactions, including corporate venture activities. As the former CEO of Sloning BioTechnology, a pioneer in the development and commercialization of synthetic genes and proteins for research and biotechnology applications, Dr. Schwer was instrumental in positioning Sloning as a profitable market leader and managed its acquisition and integration by MorphoSys in 2010.Heinz Schwer earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Chemistry at the University Hospital Regensburg, Germany, completed postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School, USA, and holds an MBA from Henley Business School, UK.
 

Torsten Bürgermeister is a senior executive with more than 25 years of experience in finance, business development, and product management across the life sciences, pharma, and technology sectors. He joined VERAXA Biotech from Molecular Health, a leading provider of data-driven software solutions that integrate and contextualize biomedical, molecular, and pharmacological data. During his tenure as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Finance at Molecular Health, he supervised the financial strategy and the growth of key company departments such as controlling, human resources, and investor relations across Germany, the U.S.A., and Switzerland. He successfully scaled company operations, establishing several U.S.-based sites and CAP/CLIA-certified laboratories.Prior to Molecular Health, he held various business development and financial roles at Techem Energy Services, Kabel BW, COLT Telecom, and BASF Pharma/Knoll AG. Mr. Bürgermeister holds a Diploma in Business Administration from DHBW in Mannheim, with a major in finance and international marketing.
 

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.

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. Previously, he held senior roles in Discovery Biology and Antibody Engineering, as well as earlier scientific and leadership positions at Sloning BioTechnology GmbH. Dr. Erkel earned his Ph.D. in Biology from Philipps University in Marburg and completed his postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology.