Dr. Hans Loibner has retired as of July 15, 2018 as chief executive officer of APEIRON Biologics AG. Peter Llewellyn-Davies, chief financial officer and chief business officer of APEIRON, has  been appointed chief executive officer. Dr. Loibner will continue to support APEIRON in an advisory capacity.

Dr. Loibner had a long and distinguished career at the company, including the establishment, successful development and strategic orientation following its foundation by the well-known Austrian molecular biologist, Prof. Josef Penninger. A major milestone of Dr. Loibner’s service to the company was the launch of APEIRON’s immuno-oncological development activities. Dr. Loibner oversaw the out-licensing of two important development projects with large pharmaceutical companies, and the approval of Qarziba, an immunotherapeutic drug to treat neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that mainly occurs in children. Qarziba is based on the monoclonal antibody ch14.18/CHO and marketed by Apeiron’s worldwide and exclusive licensee EUSA Pharma.

Mr. Llewellyn-Davies joined APEIRON’s management board in October 2017. He has more than 25 years of international experience in leading management positions, especially in the biotechnology sector. Most recently, he worked for publicly listed cancer immunotherapy companies Medigene AG and Wilex AG, now Heidelberg Pharma AG.

“Hans Loibner achieved great success as an entrepreneur and scientist. He led APEIRON to the very top of the international immuno-oncology field through extraordinary research achievements and convincing clinical development, and we thank him deeply for his vision and dedication to APEIRON,” said Josef Penninger, founder and member APEIRON’s Supervisory Board, as well as the former long-term Managing Director of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA).

Manfred Reichl added, “Peter Llewellyn-Davies is the preferred candidate of the Supervisory Board and is highly respected by Hans Loibner. In the last 9 months, his engagement was exceptional and he has already set important standards and objectives for the company.”