Management

Originally a chemist/biochemist, Andy later specialised in Virology serving for 9 years at the MRC Virology Unit in Glasgow, Scotland, studying Herpesviruses and Adenoviruses. In 1995, he moved to the industry sector, initially as Director of Virus Validation services with Q-One Biotech Ltd, and later at the Pathogen Safety group of Baxter Healthcare in Vienna, Austria.

Over the last 15 years Andy has been actively involved in the virus and prion safety field, presenting at numerous regulatory agencies either in support of products or as an invited speaker at expert workshops. This has included presentations at the UK MHRA, German PEI, French AFFSAPS, US FDA, EMEA and JMHLW (Japan) supporting regulatory submissions for various products. He has extensive experience in regulatory affairs and virus safety issues. He currently serves as an external expert for the EU SCENIHR committee on emerging human health risks, and continues to be a frequent presenter at international biopharmaceutical conferences.

In 2005 he founded ViruSure with the goal of providing a high quality testing service to the biopharmaceutical industry, a philosophy which remains a key focal point of the company.

Walter is an established member of the ViruSure team and is responsible for management of the in vitro laboratories at the Tech Gate facility of ViruSure. He is a veterinarian by training and thereafter completed his Doctorate at the Institute of Virology, Universtiy of Vienna, Austria. He continued his postdoctoral activities at the Institute of Virology and working eventually for Austrianova, a company specialising in the development of encapsulated cell based therapies for the treatment of cancers. He comes therefore with significant experience in the GMP testing of cell based therapeutics gained during his time at Austrianova.

Maria is a veterinarian by training, with significant experience in the handling of animal models and is responsible for all in vivo studies at ViruSure. Following completion of her veterinary training, she practiced veterinary medicine in Styria, Austria where she worked in a highly interdisciplinary field both involved in research as well as acquiring practical experience as a practitioner. Thereafter she completed a fellowship at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada studying the use of plant based medicines in the treatment of animals. Maria has remained active in the veterinary field and was instrumental in the establishment of the ViruSure BSL3 in vivo facilities in Vienna.

Angelika performed her studies at the Technical College for Chemistry in Graz before completing her post-graduate studies at the Donau University, Krems. She has been active in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 13 years holding positions at Baxter Healthcare, piChem and the Austrian inspectorate for GLP/GMP inspections (AGES PharmMed).

At Baxter Angelika held positions in the Vaccine, Plasma and Biosurgery divisions focussing on molecular diagnostics, cell culture and in vivo based tests for virus and bacteria as well as managing the fibrin glue analytical labs. She also assisted the company piChem R&D in Graz to assist in the establishment of GMP systems. From 2005 till 2010 Angelika served as lead auditor for GLP and GMP inspections for the AGES PharmMed responsible for inspections both within Austria as well as inspections in cooperation with other international authorities including the EMA, OECD and WHO. She continues to serve as external expert to the WHO assisting in inspections ensuring a safe and secure supply of medical products for critical therapies (e.g. AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis) in developing countries.

Angelika joined ViruSure in September 2010 as Quality Manager with overall responsibility for maintaining and developing the ViruSure quality systems to ensure a continued high level of quality for our testing services.

Dr Ralf Klein is Manager of Business Development at ViruSure, having joined ViruSure in August 2009. Ralf comes to ViruSure with ~15 years experience in the contract pathogen safety testing service industry. Prior to his position at ViruSure he has worked at several other CRO´s (BioReliance, Invitrogen, NewLab BioQuality and Charles River Laboratories). At BioReliance he was a Study Director for virus validation studies for about 4 years before moving into the role of a key account manager for biosafety testing services. His subsequent positions at other CRO’s has been in business development / key account management.

A graduate of the University of Heidelberg with a degree in Genetics, Microbiology and Biochemistry, he served for 4 years at the diagnostic laboratory Seelig establishing ELISA and PCR tests for virus and autoimmune diagnostics. He earned his Ph.D in virology at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg working on Hepatitis B Virus. Ralf worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Applied Tumour Virology at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg working on Tumour Suppressor Genes, and holds a patent on a p53 ELISA test.

Dr. Alexander Vodopivec: Alexander serves as Chief Financial Officer. He has extensive experience in the founding, financing, operation and guidance of young start-up companies. He is currently also an executive officer of Busyangel (www.busyangel.at), a Vienna based investment company specialising in investing into small and growing start-up companies.