Management and Board
MetrioPharm AG
Thomas Christély – Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
- Substantial collaborations and licensing agreements with major international pharma and biotech companies
- Multiple financing transactions including a reverse IPO at the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange
- 2019-2021 Development and sale of the German pharma start-up MYR GmbH to Gilead Sciences Inc. for €1.15 billion plus a milestone payment of a further €300 million
Thomas Christély has 30 years of experience in general management, corporate & business development and finance at board level - thereof 25 years with private and listed biotech and pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the U.S. As CEO of MetrioPharm he focuses on corporate & business development and financing.
Wolfgang Brysch, MD - Founder, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
- Co-founder, multiple entrepreneur, physician
- Senior positions at the Max Planck Institute, Biognostik, Antisense Pharma, BioMedion, Athenion
- Many years of experience as Chief Scientific Officer, primarily in drug development
Dr. Wolfgang Brysch was chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Scientific Officer of MetrioPharm AG, until he moved to the position of Chief Executive Officer in 2016. Until 2014, he was managing director of BioMedion - a successful IT company, specialising in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to this, he worked as managing director and Chief Scientific Officer at Biognostik GmbH. At that time, Dr. Brysch was also responsible for the preclinical development of various antisense cancer drugs at Antisense Pharma. Until 1992, Dr. Brysch headed a research group for molecular neurobiology and cancer research at the Max-Planck-Institute Göttingen.
Rudolf Stäger – Founder, Chairman of the Board
- Co-founder, independent management consultant, founders' representative on the Board of Directors
- Many years of international experience in bank management
- Additional Board positions include Glarner Kantonalbank AG, Athenion AG and Werco Trade AG
Rudolf Stäger has been chairman of the Board of Directors since 2017, and was elected to the Board of MetrioPharm AG for further three years at the 15th Annual General Meeting, on May 20th, 2021. Mr. Stäger performs as an independent management consultant and professional Board member and also focuses his activities primarily on advising small and medium-sized companies. Until 2007, Rudolf Stäger was an active bank manager and member of the executive Boards of Schroder & Co Bank AG, Vontobel Bank AG, and Luzerner Kantonalbank. After a classical bank apprenticeship and numerous further training courses, he gained over eight years of experience in the financial centres of Luxembourg and London, among others. Already during his active banking career, he was able to build on his Board experience in numerous different industries.
Ekkehard Brysch - Founder, Executive Member of the Board
- Co-founder, management consultant, founders' representative on the Board
- Area of expertise: joint ventures, licensing negotiations and international business alliances
- Many years of experience in strategic management of international and cross-industry companies
Ekkehard Brysch is Managing Director of Athenion GmbH, member of the Board of Directors of Athenion AG, as well as chairman of the Supervisory Board of Alpha-Telemed AG. From 2001 to 2014, Mr. Brysch was also managing partner of BioMedion GmbH - a company specializing in electronic data management solutions for the pharmaceutical industry. From 1980 to 2001, Ekkehard Brysch was managing director and partner of a BDU consulting company.Mr. Brysch was confirmed as a member of the Board of Directors of MetrioPharm AG, for three years, at the 15th Annual General Meeting on May 20th, 2021.
Werner Wolf, PhD - Non-executive Member of the Board
- Senior positions at Boehringer Mannheim (later Roche)
- Sought-after consultant, for the European Commission (BioFinance, SME Instruments, Systems Medicine), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Uppsala BIO, Austria Research Funding, and others
- Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board at the Berlin Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies BCRT and the College for Regenerative Therapies BSRT (2006-2018), member of ASTIA C-suite project selection for funding, advisory board member of INITS, an incubator for spin-offs of Vienna universities
Dr. Werner Wolf is a strategy consultant for start-ups, and a consultant for international institutions. Until 2008 he was senior venture partner and science & technology advisor for TVM-Capital in Munich and Boston. Dr. Wolf assumed several Supervisory Board mandates, also as a chairman. From 1974 to 1998, he worked for Boehringer Mannheim (later Roche) as head of global development of Biochemica. He was elected to the Board of Directors of MetrioPharm AG for further three years at the 13th Annual General Meeting on June 18th, 2019.
Markus Wenner - Non-executive Member of the Board
- Partner and Managing Director at GCI Management Consulting GmbH, previously Clifford Chance, GSM Industries
- Specialty: Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Finance
- Other Board positions include: Ringmetall, Traumhaus, aifinyo, Wolftank Adisa Holding
Markus Wenner is managing partner of GCI Management Consulting GmbH. Prior to that engagement, he worked for GSM Industries as an investment manager. He also held a position as a lawyer for the international business law firm Clifford Chance in the fields of mergers/acquisitions and corporate finance. Markus Wenner is currently holding further Board positions at Ringmetall, Traumhaus, aifinyo, Wolftank Adisa Holding, and others. Mr. Wenner was elected to the Board of Directors of MetrioPharm AG for further three years at the 13th Annual General Meeting on June 18th, 2019.
Jörg Gruber - Non-executive Member of the Board
- Corporate Financier
- Venture Capitalist with extensive experience in the life-sciences sector
- Jörg Gruber has been a financial advisor to MetrioPharm since 2009
Jörg Gruber is Chairman of the venture capital and corporate finance boutique Clubb Capital Limited in London and has been assisting emerging biotechnology companies since the early 1990s. His past clients include BioMarin, YM BioSciences and Raptor Pharmaceuticals. Prior to his career in venture capital, he was a banker and investment banker with UBS, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. He is Chairman of Constant Therapeutics LLC and advisor to Eisbach Bio GmbH. Previously, he served on the board of FORBIUS (Formation Biologics Inc.) until the latter's acquisition by Bristol Myers in the fall of 2020. He has been an advisor to Metriopharm since 2009 and was elected to the Board of Directors for another three years on 20 may 2021.
