InSphero Appoints Distinguished Pharma Industry Executive Prof. Armin Wolf as Chief Scientific Officer
With 30 years of cumulative experience at Novartis and Janssen, Prof. Wolf strengthens the InSphero leadership team and augments 3D models and organ-on-a-chip R&D.
Schlieren, Switzerland – February 13, 2019—InSphero AG today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Prof. Armin Wolf as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). Wolf will oversee the company’s market-leading 3D-cell-based organ-on-a-chip, metabolic disease, and toxicology programs.
An accomplished pharmaceutical R&D executive and board-certified toxicologist, Prof. Wolf brings a first-hand perspective on the challenges facing the industry and the need for more physiologically relevant human models to improve efficiency in drug discovery and safety testing.
“With their 3D human tissue platforms and organ-on-a-chip technology, InSphero is an innovative partner for an industry in need of new ways to improve productivity and return on R&D investment,” noted Prof. Wolf. “After many years in the industry, I’m excited to join this impressive team and continue the advancement of these technologies to better support pharmaceutical companies in their quest for new cures.”
Prof. Wolf joins the company from Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. (a Johnson & Johnson company), where he was Senior Director and Global Head of the Mechanistic & Investigative Toxicology (MIT) group in Beerse (Belgium), Spring House (PA) and La Jolla (CA). Previously, Prof. Wolf led Novartis drug development teams as Director of Global Biomarker Group and Head of Biochemical Cellular Toxicology in Discovery and Investigative Toxicology in Basel. Prof. Wolf will continue his role as Professor of Toxicology at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Germany,
In March, Dr. Patrick Guye, who has successfully led InSphero R&D and assay services as CSO over the past two years, will join the company’s Scientific Advisory Board. Speaking on behalf of the InSphero Board and executive management team, CEO and Co-founder Dr. Jan Lichtenberg says, “Patrick has been instrumental in guiding InSphero towards becoming the leading technology provider for predictive, human, 3D in vitro disease models that help pharma companies identify new drug targets and therapies for complex diseases such as NASH and type 1 and type 2 diabetes. We have greatly appreciated his innovative spirit and market insights, and we are grateful that he will continue to contribute as a member of our Scientific Advisory Board.”
