Ulf Grawunder, Ph.D.
Dr. Grawunder is an experienced Swiss/German life-science entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the therapeutic antibody development industry.
Dr. Grawunder has been a co-founder, and since September 2022 serves as chief executive officer, of T-CURX GmbH in Germany, a company that focuses on the development of next-generation CAR-T cell therapies for cancer patients. Furthermore, since January 2022, he serves as the managing partner of Viopas Venture Consulting GmbH, Switzerland. Before that, from June 2012 to November 2021, Dr.Grawunder was founder and chief executive officer of NBE-Therapeutics AG in Switzerland, a biotech company developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for cancer therapy. Dr. Grawunder began his career in biotechnology by co-founding 4-Antibody AG in September 2003, a therapeutic antibody discovery company, where he initially served as start-up chief executive officer and later as the chief scientific officer from August 2006 to June 2012. Dr. Grawunder has served as an independent non-executive director of WuXi XDC Cayman Inc (HKEX:2268) since November 2023.
Dr. Grawunder is known for his post-doctoral research on the mechanism of V(D)J recombination, the process that generates antibody and T-cell receptor diversity in the immune system. He was the investigator of his research at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and at the University of Ulm, Germany from December 2000 to August 2003 and the scientific collaborator of his research at the Basel Institute for Immunology from October 1998 to December 1999. Prior to that, he was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof.Michael Lieber at the University of Southern California, School of Medicine from 1997 to 1998 and at Washington University School of Medicine from 1995 to 1997.
Dr. Grawunder obtained his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry in October 1988 and his master’s degree in Biochemistry in July 1991, both from the University of Bayreuth, Germany. He subsequently obtained his doctoral degree in cell biology from the University of Basel in Switzerland in July 1994. In addition, Dr. Grawunder holds a diploma in Technology Entrepreneurship from the University St. Gallen, School of Business in Switzerland.