Management Team

Sean R. Smith has been CEO and a member of the Board of Directors for ImmunOs Therapeutics AG since May of 2017. He previously spent over 15 years at MSD/Merck and Co., Inc in positions of increasing responsibility in commercial leadership, cross-departmental management, business development, country and regional operations with broad exposure to multiple therapeutic areas including early-stage clinical, in-line, and launch portfolios in hospital / specialty, infectious disease, general medicine, and vaccines. He has extensive leadership experience in global markets focused on North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, China, Japan, and Latin America. Sean received his B.S. from Pennsylvania State University and M.B.A. from the University of Denver​.

Jeff Abbey has been Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Officer of ImmunOs since August 2021. Jeff brings over twenty years of expertise in the development of innovative biopharma­ceutical products and has a strong track record in business development and capital markets transactions in the U.S. and Europe, including private and public placements, in- and out-licensing, and joint ventures. Jeff spent over 16 years at Argos Therapeutics, Durham, NC, USA, serving as CEO for over eight years and, prior to that, as VP Business Development. He led Argos through completion of a phase 3 trial, raised over $250 million in equity financings, including an IPO on NASDAQ, and completed numerous partnering transactions with international biopharmaceutical companies. Jeff received a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and an MBA and JD from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Osiris Marroquin Belaunzaran brings over 15 years of research expertise in the fields of immuno-oncology and autoimmunity. He earned his Ph.D. in Bioengineering and Biotechnology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne. As a founding member of the executive leadership team, he played the leading role in company creation and business development, including raising equity capital. Osiris is an inventor of several granted patents and continues to lead scientific innovation at ImmunOs R&D facilities. His expertise covers multiple areas of research including drug discovery, protein engineering, antibody development, immunology, drug delivery systems, and pre-clinical work. 

Prof. Dr. Christoph Renner is a Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Basel. Previous appointments include Head of the Department of Internal Medicine and Oncology, Head of the Cancer Center, Head of the division of Clinical Immunology and Professor for Clinical and Experimental Oncology at the University of Zurich. Christoph joined the Swiss Tumor Institute in January 2013 and started a Cancer Center Initiative Network. He has a strong background in antibody engineering and has been an affiliate of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research for more than 15 years and a senior physician specialist in oncology, onco-immunology and internal medicine at Hirslanden Hospital Zurich. Prof. Dr. Renner is a member of different research organizations and has served on the board of the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research for six years. 

Steve Coats has been Chief Development Officer of ImmunOs since December 2021. He has over 25 years of experience as a biopharmaceutical research and development executive, leading non-clinical, clinical and technology teams to develop innovative biologic-based therapies using multiple technology platforms in a variety of therapeutic areas. Steve spent over 15 years at AstraZeneca/MedImmune, most recently serving as VP of R&D, where he led global project teams developing novel biologic therapies through IND/CTA filings and proof of concept phase 2 clinical trials. Prior to AstraZeneca, Steve was a research director at Amgen where he led research and discovery teams for both small molecules as well as biologic therapies. Steve completed post-doctoral training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle with a focus on signal transduction and the cell cycle. He holds a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from Vanderbilt University and a B.A. from the University of New Hampshire. 

Claudia Berger is a proven expert in the field of clinical development and has been focusing on clinical trial operations and project management for more than 15 years. Before joining ImmunOs Therapeutics, she served as Director Clinical Operations at Inflazome Ltd, an Irish company recently acquired by Roche. Prior to that, she headed clinical operations at several biopharmaceutical companies such as Kinarus AG and Delenex Therapeutics, leading Phase I/II clinical programs, including profiling, biomarker and proof-of-concept studies with both biologics and small molecules and establishing quality assurance systems. From 2007 to 2012, she held several positions of increasing responsibility at the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research (NIBR), most recently as Principal Clinical Scientist. Claudia Berger holds a Master of Science Degree in Pharmacy and a Diploma as a University Professional of Advanced Studies in Pharmaceutical Medicine.

Hilmar Ebersbach has been Vice President for Antibody Development and Protein Engineering at ImmunOs since Oct 2022. He has more than 20 years of experience in research and development of biologics including 15 years at Novartis/NIBR in different roles with increasing responsibilities in scientific and operational leadership. Hilmar has expertise in the development of a broad range of modalities, including therapeutic and multi-specific proteins, bio-conjugates, and CAR-T and AAV based assets, and has advanced a number of therapeutic candidates from early research into clinical development in the fields immuno-oncology and autoimmune disease. Hilmar has contributed to numerous scientific publications and granted patents, completed post-doctoral training in the Plückthun lab at University of Zurich, and holds a PhD in protein engineering and a diploma in biochemistry, both from University of Halle, Germany.

Dr. Darryl H. Patrick is a pharmaceutical research and development executive specializing in non-clinical development for over 30 years. He was Vice President, Exploratory Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and responsible for all non-clinical development activities and clinical pharmacology directing programs through to proof-of-concept. While at Vertex, he was a member of the management team and responsible for the first NCE developed within the Company. Darryl began his career at Merck/MSD Research Laboratories, working in numerous roles over 20 years and ultimately serving as Vice President/Head, Worldwide Safety Assessment. In this function, he was responsible for all non-clinical aspects of potential drug development candidates, including toxicologic evaluation, definition of pre-clinical drug development candidate plans, interaction with drug development teams, and preparation of regulatory submissions including INDs/NDAs.