Our team

Dr. Patrick Amstutz is acting Chief Executive Officer of Molecular Partners AG in Schlieren. He co-founded Molecular Partners and has been a member of the Company’s management team since its inception in 2004. At the Company, Patrick has been responsible for business development, alliance management and research and development (R&D) operations. He has established a wide range of commercial collaborations and licensed several key technologies. Patrick holds a Master of Science from the ETH Zurich and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Zurich.

Anne Marie de Jonge–Schuermans has a PhD from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ). Thesis: Management of Sustainability Issues in the Life Sciences Industry.

Her CV highlights

• Since end ‘22 Sandoz (part of Novartis, NVS) responsible for global external manufacturing supply operations
• From end ‘21 Non-Executive Board Member Pharvaris
• ‘18-’22 Swedish Orphan Biovitrum responsible for Technical Operations, incl. CMC development and integration of various Biotech acquisitions (a/o Novimmune)
• ‘15-’18 Biogen across various roles responsible for global supply chain operations, strategic partnerships internal and external manufacturing operations
• ’00-’15 Various global roles in Novartis divisions ranging from Health, Safety & Environment, ESG, Ethical Procurement, Quality, Business Continuity Management and Third Party Operations

Dr. Madiha Derouazi is a serial entrepreneur and accomplished drug development expert. Shie is currently CEO of Swichtkine, a company developing engineered cytokines for chronic inflammation. She joined Switchkine from AC immune, where she was CSO working on various treatments including immunotherapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Before that, she was CEO of Speransa Therapeutics since its inception, leading the development of a novel platform for prophylactic vaccines. Previously, she founded and led AMAL Therapeutics as CEO and CSO: an immuno-oncology company developing a new generation of therapeutic cancer vaccines. AMAL Therapeutics was acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim in 2019 in one of the most successful biotechnology start-up acquisitions of Switzerland. She holds a PhD in Cellular Biotechnology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and a Master in Biotechnology Engineering from the Technische Universität Berlin.

Dr. Bettina Ernst is a biotech entrepreneur and investor. She has been investing in healthcare companies for the past 10 years. She also serves on the board of several early-stage biotech companies, on the board of the Swiss Biotech Association, and as a member of the advisory board of the Swiss Entrepreneur Fund and of the Innovation Council of Innosuisse. Bettina is a co-founder of two biotech companies. Prior to her investment and entrepreneurial activities, she worked for 10 years in fundamental immunology in the US (Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, CA) and in Europe. Bettina holds a PhD in immunology and an undergraduate degree in natural science from the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Bettina resides in Switzerland.

Igor Fisch is President of Fongit, Switzerland's premier innovation incubator. Igor is also CEO and Co-founder of NewBiologix, a start-up active in gene therapies. Formerly, he was CEO and Co-founder of Selexis, a world-leading cell line development company. With a successful exit in 2017, Igor was instrumental in guiding Selexis to develop technologies that help biopharmaceutical companies manufacture biologic drugs such as monoclonal antibodies. Under his leadership, this resulted in 10 marketed products. He obtained his PhD at the University of Geneva and continued his postdoctoral studies under Nobel laureate, Prof. Sir Gregory Winter. Igor sits on the boards of Igyxos and Fluosphera.

Matthias Fehr is with HBM since 2002, initially as an investment advisor across public and private equity, and leading the private equity business since 2020. Brings over twenty-five years of experience in investment management and research. Previously served as Senior Sell-Side Analyst at Lombard Odier, covering the biotech and medical technology sectors, and as a scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich). Holds an MSc and PhD in Chemistry from ETH Zurich and has been a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) since 2002. Serves as a board member of Swixx Biopharma, Numab, and the Swiss Biotech Association.

Filippo Riva, MBA, is Managing Director of Humabs Biomed SA, a subsidiary of VIR, in Bellinzona. He brings over 15 years management experience in both privately held and venture backed biotech and high-tech companies. Filippo holds a degree in Economics from the School of Economics and Business Administration of Lugano and a MBA from the Warwick Business School, United Kingdom.