Management

Christian O. Thirion, Ph.D., is currently serving SIRION Biotech GmbH as chief executive officer and chief technology officer, a company he co-founded in 2005. He held multiple leadership positions over a nearly fifteen-year tenure and was responsible for the scientific direction and strategic planning for SIRION. Prior founding SIRION Christian was a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Gene Therapy at Universitätsklinikum Ulm and led a team for neuromuscular disorders research at the Universitätsklinikum der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Christian holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and holds a diploma in Chemistry, both from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He currently serves as a board member of InProTher Aps.

Dieter has a longstanding general management experience with both Roche Diagnostics, Roche Applied Science and MorphoSys. Today, the latter is one of the world’s leading bio-technology companies on the basis of its proprietary antibody platform. Earlier, Dieter worked several years with Booz & Company’s healthcare practice after receiving his MBA from Indiana University as a Fulbright Scholar.

Michael joined SIRION Biotech in September 2007. Prior, he acted as leader of a research group at the Botanical Institution of Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (LMU) and as Head of Research and Development at Vertis Biotechnology AG in Freising, Weihenstephan. There, he has gained broad and profound experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology and functional genomics. His special expertise over the years has been with viral vector technologies. He received his Ph.D. in biology at the LMU in Munich, Germany in 1991.

Sabine Ott, Ph.D., serves as our Senior Vice President, Global Business Development and Licensing and joined SIRION Biotech GmbH in 2016. Sabine has 20 years of broad experience in the biotech and biopharmaceutical sector. She previously served as Director of Business Development at GeneWake GmbH (now R-Biopharm AG), where she was responsible for leading collaborations, licensing transactions, and Business Development. Prior, Sabine served as Marketing and Product Manager at MWG Biotech AG (now part of Eurofins Scientific S.A.). Sabine holds a Ph.D. and diploma in Biology/Genetics from Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich and University Konstanz.

Kathrin joined SIRION Biotech in early 2011, she is adding years of scientific experience in the fields of functional gene analysis and RNAi. During her PhD at the “Theodor-Boveri-Institute for life science” in Würzburg she investigated molecular pathways with an emphasis on cell cycle regulation. She has been specializing in developing genetically modified cell models using both viral vector technologies and RNAi. Kathrin received her diploma in human biology from the University of Marburg in 2007 with a focus on molecular biology, human genetics and virology. During this time she gained insight into cell modeling projects by working for Bayer HealthCare Leverkusen and the “Institute of Molecular Biology and Tumor Research” (IMT) Marburg.

François has a PhD in Cellular Microbiology obtained at the Institut Pasteur (Paris) where he gained profound skills in host-microbe interaction and cellular biology. He completed his training with a Business certificate from the INSEAD Business School bringing additional expertise in Management, Economics, and Strategy among others. After a year of entrepreneur experience, François worked as a Business Development Consultant for three years in which he assisted many companies in Life Science & Biotech industry in their strategic development in Europe. He also conducted market studies and significantly grew businesses through sales and partnership development. François joined SIRION Biotech in August 2018.

A true dual-citizen of American and German descent, Carl has lived and worked as a molecular biologist on both sides of the Atlantic. After receiving his PhD at the Technical University Munich (Germany) he completed 4 productive years as Post-Doc at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. With his well based understanding of molecular physiology and his unique bilingual background, he functions as a vital connection between the Germany based headquarters and its foreign accounts – making SIRION Biotech’s global communication fast, clear and precise.

Franziska joined SIRION Biotech in August 2015. She worked as Project coordinator and Post-Doc in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich (TUM) where Franziska also received her PhD. During her thesis in the Laboratory of stem cell physiology she investigated the interaction of hematopoietic stem cells and the bone marrow niche in benign and malignant state and its regulation through the Wnt-signaling pathway. At the University of Erlangen Franziska received her Master’s degree in cellular and molecular biology, her main subjects were human genetics, Immunobiology and molecular tumor research.

Cristina manages the Asian Market as Senior Key Account Manager at SIRION since July 2016. Academically, Cristina completed her PhD in Immunology at Hannover Biomedical Research School (MHH). Her background and lab experience include immunovirology, tumor biology, adeno- and lentivirus application, TCR and CAR engineering. During her time at SIRION, she refined her international sales and negotiations skills, abilities that enabled her to build solid, trusting and long-lasting relations with our customers and distributors in Japan and South Korea.