Our Story
The story of 4TEEN4 is also the story of Dr. Andreas Bergmann and his mission to find cure for currently incurable diseases. In all his enterprises, he aimed to develop a product that improves the individual patient life. In a time when established pharma companies shied away from research and investment in complicated indications, Andreas set out on an endeavour to win where others failed – or didn’t even try.
Andreas is biochemist by training and started his career at the former diagnostic and therapeutic company, Henning Berlin. After a management buy-out in 1994, Andreas and his companions developed procalcitonin – today’s standard biomarker for sepsis. While procalcitonin was a financial success and greatly improved doctors’ ability to early diagnose sepsis, the number of deaths due to sepsis remained largely unchanged. Andreas learned that better diagnosis does not ultimately lead to better patient outcomes.
Further research showed that the DPP3 pathophysiological pathway also plays a role in other forms of shock of cardiac causes. To develop these findings into a product that matters for patients’ lives, he founded Sphingotec Therapeutics – today known as 4TEEN4 Pharmaceuticals.
Besides his drive to improve the patients’ lives, Andreas biggest asset was his ability to foster cooperation between researchers to foster medical innovation. Today, our network accounts for scientists from over 50 internationally recognized research institutions and co-authors more than 100 scientific publications citing DPP3 and Procizumab.
Experienced team
Expanded leadership team with a track record in drug development and commercialization and >150 Years of Pharma experience across companies such as Amgen, Vifor Pharma, CSL-Behring, Bayer, Roche & Merk KGaA.
Management
Dr. Andreas Bergmann, CEO
Serial entrepreneur and former executive manager of Adrenomed AG and Sphingotec GmbH, B•R•A•H•M•S (acquired by Thermo Fisher for 480m $). As an executive manager, Andreas raised 100m $ in equity financing for biotech companies in different stages of development, from seed financing through clinical stages to Pharma partnering. Andreas was born and raised in Berlin and loves international scientific exchange.
Dr. Karine Bourgeois, CSO
Karine has 15+ years of experience in R&D of biotech companies. She is experienced in leading scientific, regulatory and drug production programs while directing cross-functional and multi-national teams. She established and currently coordinates a large network of key opinion leaders in critical care medicine. Karine holds a PhD from the University of Göttingen, has co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications and enjoys travelling and playing football.
Prof. Mahir Karakas, CTO
As CTO, Mahir is our link into medical practice. He holds the Professorship for translational research and innovative clinical trials at the University Medical Center Hamburg. He is a board-certified specialist for Cardiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine. A former projectionist, he is still a big fan of arthouse cinema.
Dr. Joachim Struck, CRO
Joachim has more than 30 years of experience in non-clinical and clinical R&D as well as Intellectual Property Development in both diagnostics and pharmaceutical industries (B•R•A•H•M•S, Sphingotec GmbH, Adrenomed AG). Joachim is co-inventor of more than 50 patent families and has co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Dr. Kilian von Seldeneck, CFO
Kilian brings 10+ years of executive experience in financial and operational management across industries. As CFO, he takes care of our numbers. Having started his career in consulting and banking, he entered the biotech world via the M&A side. Kilian is also a sworn auctioneer and enjoys contemporary art and porcelain.
Dr. Chris Springer, COO
Chris brings 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry as executive at AMGEN and Vifor Pharma in leading commercial and strategic roles. Former Chief Strategy Officer Vifor Pharma, where he was driving the growth strategy, creating value through in-house development and a series of licensing deals & acquisitions and ultimately the acquisition of Vifor Pharma by CSL (acquired by CSL for US$ 11.7bn). Board member in various biotech companies including, Adrenomed, Nagi Bioscience, Quercis Pharma and HICT.
Dr. Jens-Peter Marschner, CMO
JP has over 25 years of experience in clinical drug development. In this context, he managed clinical trials in phases 1 to 4 and had extensive contact with regulatory authorities. He spent 14 years of his career in leading global roles at Merck KGaA/Merck Serono. During this time, he also led the clinical team that successfully developed cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of cancer. After Merck, he worked primarily as CMO in several biotech companies. At Affimed, he contributed to a successful IPO that led to a listing on NASDAQ. JP is a board-certified clinical pharmacologist and responsible for the clinical development of Procizumab.
Advisory board
Renke Lührs (Chair)
Partner at BUSE and a member of the Corporate Law and M&A practice group
Prof. Alexandre Mebazaa
Professor in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Université de Paris and head of the anesthesia and critical care department of the Saint Louis-Lariboisière - Fernand Widal University Hospitals
Dr. Gerald Möller
Former CEO of Boehringer Mannheim Group and former Head of Development and Strategic Marketing at Roche
Dr. Christoph Winterhalter
Chief Business Officer at AGC biologics
Dr. Ute Kilger
Partner at BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT Intellectual property Law Office
Thomas Krause
Managing Director at Brandenburg Kapital GmbH
Laurent Kirsch
Chief Operating Officer at Therabel Pharma
Dr. Marek Kozlowski
Senior Investment Director at NRW.Venture, Life Science Venture Capital arm of NRW.BANK
Hendrik Görlich
Managing Partner at Görlich Gruppe and Görlich GmbH & Co. 1. Biotech KG
