Executive Management Team

Dr Jan Schmidt-Brand has been Chief Executive Officer of Heidelberg Pharma AG since 2014. Furthermore, Dr Schmidt-Brand holds the position of CEO/CFO in the subsidiary Heidelberg Pharma Research GmbH. The doctor of law has over 30 years’ experience in leading positions in the commercial as well as the fiscal sector of pharmaceutical companies. From 1997 to 2001 he was Managing Director of EBEWE Arzneimittel GmbH, an Austrian BASF Pharma subsidiary. Prior to this, he held several positions at the BASF Group for a total of eight years, most recently as an executive in the central tax department with a general commercial power of attorney (“Prokurist”). Dr Jan Schmidt-Brand studied law, business management and French at the universities of Bayreuth and Geneva and obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Mannheim.

Professor Andreas Pahl acts as Chief Scientific Officer of Heidelberg Pharma AG since June 2016. Professor Pahl has worked as Chief Scientific Officer and member of the executive management of the subsidiary Heidelberg Pharma Research GmbH since September 2012 and can look back on 25 years’ experience in research and higher education. Prior to his position at Heidelberg Pharma, he was Head of Late Pharmacology at Nycomed and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. After graduating in chemistry from the University of Berlin, he spent several years lecturing at TU Berlin and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), at which he was also appointed Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology. He will continue to perform his teaching duties at FAU.

Walter Miller has been Chief Financial Officer of Heidelberg Pharma AG since May 2023. Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer of Optimapharm Group, headquartered in Zagreb, Croatia, and was responsible for Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and Administration. He has more than twenty years of experience in corporate finance, M&A, strategic controlling as well as accounting and corporate development, both in biotech companies and Clinical Research Organizations (CROs). From 2016 to 2019, Walter Miller was Chief Financial Officer of Mologen AG in Berlin. Prior to that, he also headed Finance and Administration of the Nuvisan Group in Neu-Ulm as a member of the Executive Board. For Santhera Pharmaceuticals in Pratteln, Switzerland, he held senior financial positions for more than ten years. Walter Miller holds a degree in business administration from the University for Applied Sciences of Aachen.

Dr. Strassz has been appointed Chief Medical Officer in March 2021. He has already joined the company in April 2020 as Senior Medical Officer to build up the clinical development function. He has strong experience in clinical development, including in oncology. Dr. Strassz joined Heidelberg Pharma from Affimed, where he served as Medical Director. Previously, he held positions in clinical development at Sandoz and Amgen, among others. He holds both an MD and MBA from the University of Pécs, Hungary.

Dr. Badescu has been Chief Business Officer of Heidelberg Pharma AG since November 2021. Previously, he served as Vice President Business Development of the company. Before joining Heidelberg Pharma, Dr. Badescu was responsible for business development at Abzena Plc. He began his career at PolyTherics in London, where he led the antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) program. He is co-inventor of several patents in the field of bioconjugation and ADCs. He conducted his PhD in biological sciences at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Jörg Kemkowski has been Chief Operating Officer of Heidelberg Pharma AG since January 2023. He has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including positions at Byk Gulden, Altana, Nycomed, Takeda, Grünenthal, and most recently Bayer Animal Health (an Elanco Animal Health company). He holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine, a Master of Science in Applied Toxicology, and a Bachelor of Business Administration.