Dr. Ulrich Thibaut
Dr. Ulrich Thibaut
Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences
Additional information
Curriculum vitae
Personal Data
Dr. Ulrich Thibaut, Herzog-Heinrich-Ring 28, 84307 Eggenfelden, Germany
Born Jan 12th,1960 in Urach, Germany (now: Bad Urach)
Married to Maud Alinde Thibaut, 2 children (Florian, 30 and Annika, 29)
Languages: German (mother tongue), English (fluent), French (basic knowledge)
Education and professional positions
1982-1986 Study of Pharmacy at the University of Tübingen, Germany
1986-1987 Practical education as Pharmacist in Karlsruhe, Germany
1987 German approbation as Pharmacist
1988-1991 PhD Thesis in pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Tübingen on “Quantitative structure activity relationships of loop diuretics of the Furosemide type”
1991-1992 Scientific Advisor and Sales Representative for Molecular Modelling Software and Workstations at Evans & Sutherland, Munich, Germany
1992-1996 Research Scientist for Molecular Modelling and Scientific Computing at Byk Gulden GmbH in Konstanz, Germany
1996-1999 Senior Research Scientist, responsible for Data- and Chemical Compound Management in Discovery Research at Byk Gulden GmbH, Konstanz
1999-2002 Head of Department of Bio- and Chemo-Informatics at Byk Gulden GmbH, Konstanz
2002-2005 Corporate Vice President R&D, Head of Discovery Research of ALTANA Pharma AG, the pharmaceutical division of ALTANA AG (former Byk Gulden), Konstanz
2005-2007 Executive Vice President and Member of the Executive Board of Management R&D of ALTANA Pharma AG with HQs in Konstanz and R&D sites in more than 30 countries worldwide, major sites i.a. in Germany, the US and in India
2007-2010 Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Executive Board of Management R&D of Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Lübeck, Germany
2010-2015 Chief Scientific Officer and Member of the Executive Board of Management, R&D, Octapharma AG, Lachen, Switzerland
2015-2017 Member of the Supervisory Board of Glycotope GmbH, Berlin, Germany.
2016-today Member of the Strategic Advisory Committee of Ascension plc, a venture capital based Biotechnology Firm in London, operating in the field of rare diseases
2017-today Lecturer at D-CHAB, the Department of Chemistry and applied Biosciences at ETH Zürich, teaching two classes in the Master Program for Industrial Pharmaceutical Sciences
2018-2021 CEO and CSO of a newly founded, venture-capital based firm operating in the field of import and distribution of special pharmaceuticals in Germany, TherCanni GmbH (www.thercanni.com)
Drugs which have been developed and approved with contributions and under the leadership of Ulrich Thibaut:
· Pantoprazole® Irreversible H+/K+-ATPase-inhibitor – proton pump inhibitor, i. a. for the
treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease and as co-medication for the
eradication of H. pylori infections (Protonix® sales US only in 2007: US$ 2.1bn)
· Daxas® Phosphodiesterase-4 Inhibitor for the treatment of COPD
· Alvesco® Inhalative glucocorticosteroid for the treatment of asthma
· Nuwiq® First recombinant human coagulation factor VIII produced in gene-
technologically modified human cells (HEK293-F) for the treatment of hemo-
philia A
· Octagam® Polyvalent i. v. immunoglobulin G (IVIG) produced from human plasma.
Regulatory re-approval after modification of the production process in order to
eliminate coagulation factor XIa contaminations, i. a. for the treatment of
primary immunodeficiency
· Panzyga® Polyvalent i. v. immunoglobulin G produced from human plasma.
New fractionation method and formulation, i. a. for the treatment of primary
immunodeficiency
· Fibryga® Human plasma derived fibrinogen concentrate, i. a. for the treatment of
afibrinogenaemia
Medical devices which have been developed & launched under the leadership of Dr. U. Thibaut:
· Dräger Perseus® A500 (high-end anaesthesia system for the operating room)
· Dräger Evita® Infinity V500® (high-end intensive care ventilation system)
· Dräger Infinity® Acute Care System (patient monitoring system for the intensive care unit)
· Dräger Infinity® M540, M500 (mobile patient monitoring for the intensive care unit)
· Dräger Infinity® M300 (mobile W-LAN based patient monitoring system)
Special education, trainings and awards:
2000-2001 Management Development Circle of Byk Gulden GmbH, Leadership and Management Training
2002 “Moving Into Upper Management” – Management Training at European Business School in Brussels, Belgium
2004 Columbia Senior Executive Program (CSEP 117), Graduate of Columbia University, New York, USA
2009 “Wilderness Experience”, Outdoor Survival and Senior Management Training in Glaskogen National Park, Sweden.
2022 “Golden Owl 2022” for the best lecture of the year 2022 at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences (D-CHAB) of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland.
Professional Positions (in reverse order)
Executive Director and entrepreneurial shareholder of a newly founded, venture capital based start up firm (TherCanni GmbH, from February 2018 to February 2021)
The position involved all necessary work to implement and build up a new firm, which operated in the field of import and distribution of pharmaceuticals requiring special licenses from German authorities.
There were three equal shareholders engaged in the company, two of them are acting as Directors, one (U. Thibaut) for scientific, regulatory and organizational aspects, the other for the economic and operational aspects of the business.
As the market for the products did not evolve as expected in Germany, the company merged with Breathe Solutions GmbH, based in Munich, and U. Thibaut subsequently left the executive position of TherCanni GmbH in best terms, still holding stock in the merged venture.
Lecturer at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zürich (continuously since Winter-Semester 2017/2018)
Teaches Master Students in Industrial Pharmaceutical Sciences[1] (MIPS), which is a newly established Master-Course at ETH for BSc’s in pharmacy and other natural sciences who want to engage in pharmaceutical research and development in their later professional lives.
The course covers all phases of research and development for new drugs, both in the fields of small molecules and biologics and introduces the students to all scientific, technological, organizational, managerial and economical aspects of preclinical and clinical drug research and development, regulatory submission and approval, pharmacovigilance and market entry from an industrial, experienced point of view. It is intended to prepare the students as good as possible for their later careers in the pharmaceutical industry.
Since spring semester 2022 a second course in the same Master Class covers communication skills and social competences as success factors for a later career in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The course has been awarded with the “Golden Owl” as best lecturer at ETHZ from the Institute Chemistry and Applied Biosciences in 2022.
Member of the Strategic Advisory Committee at the biotechnology firm Ascension plc., based in London, UK (since October 2016)
Advises the executive board of Ascension in all strategic and scientific questions concerning the development plans for three preclinical / early clinical product candidates which are intended to become innovative treatment options for an inherited rare disease (Haemophilia A).
The contributions involve scientific advice for the design of preclinical animal studies as well as medical and regulatory advice in the design and conduct of clinical studies for proof of concept and further development in order to strategically prepare the portfolio for the next round of funding required for the running Phase II/III studies, regulatory submission and approval as well as market launch.
Member of the Supervisory Board of Glycotope GmbH, Berlin (December 2015 to July 2017)
Reported to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Roland Sand. The role involved both scientific as well as strategic and organizational advice to and supervision of the executive, general management of Glycotope GmbH, Berlin and Glycotope Biotechnology GmbH, Heidelberg. The company is a venture capital based firm, it is a market leader in the area of Glyco-Biology and has a special focus on novel therapeutic drugs in Oncology. The company has a pipeline of several drug development candidates showing optimized glycosylation patterns, which are derived from cell lines of human origin. The role ended in July 2017 in full mutual agreement due to a change in the development strategy of the company driven by the major shareholders towards a more services oriented business.
Chief Scientific Officer and Member of the Executive Board of Management, Octapharma AG, Lachen, Switzerland (December 2010 to December 2015)
Reported to the Chairman and President of the Octapharma group, Wolfgang Marguerre, major shareholder and founder of Octapharma. The company has currently > 6.000 employees, in 2015 it generated revenues of approx. 1.5bn € per year. Octapharma AG is not publicly listed, yet highly profitable (EBIT approx. 25%) and entirely privately owned.
The contract has been fulfilled until Dec. 31st, 2015 in full agreement with the Supervisory Board and the Chairman. It has not been prolonged (due to private reasons) according to the wish of the undersigned as well as in full agreement with the Chairman of the Board, Wolfgang Marguerre. The undersigned still acts as an advisor to the Chairman of Octapharma, in particular with regard to the significant investment and engagement of Octapharma AG in an R&D collaboration with Glycotope GmbH, Berlin and Glycotope Biotechnology GmbH, Heidelberg.
As Board Member R&D responsible for the entire R&D organisation of the Octapharma group and affiliated companies as well as for managing the intellectual property assets of the group. The R&D organisation consists of 6 R&D sites, most of them located in Europe (Vienna, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Berlin, Lachen and New York).
In addition, the undersigned was responsible for strategic and operational management of one of the affiliates of the Octapharma group, the Octapharma Biopharmaceuticals GmbH, located in Heidelberg, Germany. The company is focussing on research and development of recombinant biopharmaceutical drugs produced by human cell lines in the therapeutic fields of Haematology and Oncology.
In 2011 introduced project management structures for major development projects and a portfolio review process into the Octapharma group. In 2012 organized and led a strategy workshop with the Board of Management and the owners of the Octapharma group in order to define the roadmap and strategic success factors for significant growth objectives targeted for 2018/2019.
The scientific and medical background of Octapharma R&D is structured into 3 therapeutic areas: Immunology, Haematology and Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. Main sources of therapeutic drugs are on the one hand human plasma, fractionated by state-of-the-art technologies including advanced virus and prion safety measures and on the other hand recombinant human cell lines which produce human-like post-translational modification patterns with lowest immunogenic potential. All medications in the portfolio of Octapharma are parenteral drugs which require highest purity and safety standards to be maintained.
The work also included research and development of drugs for the treatment of rare diseases and genetic disorders like Primary Immunodeficiency (PID), hereditary Angioedema, hereditary and acquired Afibrinogenemia, Haemophilia A and B, von Willebrand disease, etc.
One of the most prominent recent development successes was the finalization of the clinical development program, the transfer to production scale and the regulatory submissions and approvals of the first recombinant human coagulation FVIII produced in a human cell line for the treatment of Hemophilia A. The product (brand name Nuwiq®) constitutes a medical break-through in the long term treatment and management of this hereditary bleeding disorder with very low risk of immunological reactions (inhibitory antibodies).
The leadership and management of this particular project has been one of the major tasks delegated to the undersigned during the last 4.5 years. The product is meanwhile approved in Europe, Canada and Australia, and the approval in the US is due shortly, with more worldwide regulatory submissions and reviews ongoing. The project also includes management and supervision of upscale activities from the 100 L to the 500 L bio-fermenter scale in the Stockholm production facility of Octapharma AB.
The second important recent achievement is the successful pre-clinical and clinical development and regulatory submissions and approval (EU, US submission under review at the FDA) of a new 10% i.v. immunoglobulin gamma preparation of Octapharma (brand name Panzyga®) which is based on a modern, state-of-the-art purification process from human plasma and shows an improved biochemical and clinical profile vs. established products.
Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Executive Board of Management, Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Lübeck, Germany (2007 to 2010)
Reported to the Chief Executive Officer of Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Stefan Dräger, the major shareholder and member of the founding Dräger family. The company is publicly listed in the TecDAX at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Responsible for managing the worldwide R&D organisation of Drägerwerk and affiliated companies, in particular Dräger Medical and Dräger Safety as well as the basic research unit (Grundlagenentwicklung) of Drägerwerk AG. Headcount in R&D (2008) approx. 1.100, budget responsibility approx. € 140Mio.
Additional responsibilities included strategic purchasing with a purchasing volume in 2008 of approx. € 800Mio, international IP organisation and test center. Member of the Board of DMSI, Telford, PA, the US affiliate and SDMI, Shanghai, China, a 100% affiliate of Dräger Medical.
In 2008 introduced portfolio management into Drägerwerk basic research and Dräger Medical research and development pipelines, respectively. Developed and professionalized the project management organization of medical product development. In 2008 reorganized development organization of Dräger Medical in order to concentrate engineering resources of distributed business units and to leverage skills and capabilities.
Main current development activities of Dräger Medical R&D include systems for intensive care ventilation and anaesthesia workstations, patient monitoring systems, emergency and home care ventilation units as well as patient data management systems for OR and ICU (operating room and intensive care unit of hospitals).
Main R&D activities of Dräger Safety R&D include i.a. gas detection systems, personal protection equipment for fire fighters and industrial or mine workers, thermo imaging cameras, diagnostic systems for alcohol and drug testing, deep diving systems for off shore exploration and infrastructure development etc.
Head of R&D and Member of the Executive Board of Management of ALTANA Pharma AG, Konstanz, Germany (2005 to 2007)
Reported to the CEO of ALTANA Pharma AG, Dr. Hans-Joachim Lohrisch. Left the company in best terms after it had successfully been sold by the then DAX listed ALTANA AG, Bad Homburg to the new owner Nycomed in Dec. 2006.
Responsible for the worldwide R&D Organisation of ALTANA Pharma AG (APAG) and affiliated companies. HC in 2007 approx. 1.600, budget approx. € 450Mio. The span of responsibilities consisted of all research and development activities, including discovery research, preclinical development, clinical development, regulatory affairs, drug safety and multi-project management.
Research and Development programs at that time span the therapeutic areas gastroenterology, respiratory diseases and oncology. Responsible for research sites in Konstanz, Hamburg, Mumbai (India) and Waltham (near Boston, MA, USA) as well as clinical development sites in more than 30 countries worldwide.
Compound classes of interest were i.a. PDE (phospho-diesterase) inhibitors, protease and kinase inhibitors, reversible and irreversible inhibitors of the gastric proton pump (H+/K+-ATPase) as well as a biotechnologically produced lung surfactant component, the surface protein C derivative rSPC / Lusupultide. Widely known development and successfully marketed compounds of ALTANA Pharma AG (later Nycomed, now Takeda Pharmaceuticals) are Pantoprazole (blockbuster with revenues > € 3bn/year), Soraprazan (stopped), Roflumilast[2] and Venticute.
In 2006 actively participated in the bidding process of ALTANA AG who wanted to divest its pharmaceutical branch. Several management presentations to interested international bidders together with board colleagues and Goldman Sachs, who were the investment bank to enable the deal. Deal was closed in December 2006 with Nycomed for € 4.6bn.
Corporate Vice President R&D, Head of Discovery Research of ALTANA Pharma AG, Konstanz, Germany (2002 to 2005)
Reported to the Head of R&D and Member of the Board of Management, Prof. Dr. Heinz-Werner Radtke. Responsible for the entire discovery research activities of ALTANA Pharma AG (former Byk Gulden GmbH). HC in 2005 approx. 450, budget approx. € 100Mio. Research sites were located in Konstanz, Germany and Waltham near Boston, MA, USA with minor activities in Amsterdam, Netherlands and a research unit under construction in Mumbai, India.
Voting member of the Commercial Asset Management Team (CAM), the global governance body for the development pipeline and the product portfolio of APAG. Voting member and chairman of the Preclinical Steering Committee (PSC), the global governance body for the preclinical pipeline of APAG. Voting member of the Human Resources Advisory Board, the global governance body for personnel development of APAG.
Main focus during this phase was managing the fast growth (>15% per year) of the research community in three major sites and one smaller site, including the planning and realization of several laboratory buildings, the implementation of a clean and seamless discovery research process from biological target finding through compound synthesis, both classical and combinatorial, high throughput screening, biochemical and pharmacological testing and finally up to selection as well as handover of promising development candidates for preclinical and toxicological characterization.
During that period managed also a major high tech investment project in a fully automated and work-flow integrated deep temperature (-20° C) store for chemical compounds, which was implemented together with Remp, Oberdiessbach, Switzerland. The 20m x 7m x 7m storage system can hold more than 2 Mio chemical compound probes and can retrieve them individually in frozen state by an 8-channel linear robot which operates at these low temperatures with a positioning precision level of less than 0.1mm.
Head of Department of Bio- and Chemo-Informatics at Byk Gulden GmbH in Konstanz, Germany (1999 to 2002)
Reported to the Head of Chemical Research, Prof. Dr. Volker Figala. HC in 2002 approx. 20, budget approx. €10Mio. Responsible for bio-informatics and chemo-informatics research and infrastructure, chemical compound handling for storage and high throughput screening preparation and all chemical and biological databases. Built the entire department and IT-infrastructure from scratch, built network of high performance UNIX-servers and Windows-PCs in a modern client server architecture for lab-useable chemical registration and information system and optimized workflows of compound handling in research unit.
Senior Research Scientist, responsible for Data- and Chemical Compound Management in Discovery Research at Byk Gulden GmbH, Konstanz, Germany (1996 to 1999)
Reported to the Head of Chemical Research, Prof. Dr. Volker Figala. Built a chemical compound management system which could handle compound numbers in the screening library beyond the 100K range. Designed and built a client server based chemical information and registration system which was used in all synthesis labs for storage and retrieval of compound information. Prepared chemical library for later use in high throughput screening efforts in order to find new lead structures. Extended molecular modelling activities in order to support chemical synthesis labs during lead optimization series design. Holds several substance class patents in the field of PDE- (phospho-diesterase) and H+/K+-ATPase-inhibitors.
Research Scientist for Molecular Modelling and Scientific Computing at Byk Gulden GmbH in Konstanz, Germany (1992 to 1996)
Reported to the Head of Department of Chemical Research I, Dr. Jörg Senn-Bilfinger. Extensive molecular modelling work, assisting and supporting the chemical synthesis labs in their lead optimization efforts, mainly in the field of reversible H+/K+-ATPase-inhibitors. Work led to several granted patents in this class and several preclinical candidates emerged later from the efforts. Worked mainly with SYBYL (Tripos) and Insight/Discover molecular modelling packages, performed three dimensional QSAR studies with Comparative Molecular Field Analysis Method (CoMFA) and quantum chemical calculations with MOPAC and GAMESS.
Scientific Advisor and Sales Representative for Molecular Modelling Software and Workstations at Evans & Sutherland, Munich, Germany (1991)
Reported to the President of Evans & Sutherland Germany, Peter Keuschnigg. Responsible for sales of UNIX based 3D graphics workstations for molecular modelling in Southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. Exceeded sales quota within 9 months by approx. 10% in a difficult market environment against competition from Silicon Graphics, the fast rising market leader in this realm. In addition gave scientific advice for the further development of molecular modelling software to Tripos, a 100% affiliate of Evans & Sutherland at that time.
[1]https://ethz.ch/en/studies/prospective-masters-degree-students/masters-degree-programmes/masters-degree-programmes-natural-sciences-and-mathematics/master-pharmaceutical-sciences.html
[2] Roflumilast has been approved in EU and US as the branded drug (Daxas®) for the treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
Course Catalogue
Spring Semester 2024
| Number | Unit |
|---|---|
| 511-0037-00L | Communication Skills - Social Competence |