Dr. Ralf Brandt (PhD)
President, Discovery and Early Development
Dr. Brandt is the co-founder of vivoPharm. He is a biochemist and cell biologist with over 15 years experience in research programs of experimental oncology. Furthermore, he has immense experience in in vivo pharmacology and anti-cancer drug profiling. He received his Licence (BSc in Biochemistry and Animal Physiology) in 1986, and his PhD (in Biochemistry) in 1991 from the Martin-Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. Dr. Brandt was employed at research positions at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD, USA and at Schering AG, Germany. Since 1990, Dr. Brandt has been active in the field of preclinical oncology. He led the Tumour Biology program at Novartis Pharma AG, Switzerland and established several transgenic mouse lines developing tumours under the control of oncogenes. During Dr. Brandt’s long career in the pharmaceutical industry he has acquired significant knowledge and expertise in leading business units and representation of services to the pre-clinical research market. Dr. Brandt is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at Receptor Inc. in Toronto Canada and Propanc in Melbourne VIC, Australia.
Mrs. Sabine Brandt
Executive Finance & HR Manager
Mrs Sabine Brandt is a co-founder of vivoPharm. Her career, which has spanned close to 10 years, includes financial management, financial planning and sales in a variety of industry sectors such as insurance and banking. In these roles, Mrs Brandt has gained experience within various departments of the banking and financial markets in Germany. Mrs Brandt led in the establishment of new offices for some insurance companies which has brought her a high level of experience in accounting and sales.
Dr. Melanie Keller
Division Head, Europe
Dr. Keller joined vivoPharm as Project Manager in 2008 from GPC Biotech AG, where she was responsible for management of international clinical trials (phase I-III). In this position at vivoPharm she coordinated preclinical projects for clients in Europe and U.S. East. In 2011 she was promoted to Team Leader Europe and is now involved in acquisition of new clients, development of strategies and study designs in close cooperation with the clients, as well as overseeing organisation of the study teams and ongoing project performance.
Dr. Keller received her PhD in 2005 from the Department of Pharmacy – Center for Drug Research at the Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Germany. Subsequently, she took a position as Clinical Research Associate at Ecron (now Ecron Acunova), a full service CRO, where she was responsible for preparation, monitoring and performance of clinical trials (phase II and III).
Dr. Vanessa Villard
Test Facility Manager
Dr. Vanessa Villard graduated with INSERM in 2009, she wrote her doctoral thesis about the anti-amnesic and neuroprotective effects of Sigma-1 receptor ligands. Then she co-founded Amylgen, a French CRO for preclinical studies specialized in neurological disorders offering Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, depression, addiction, anxiety and schizophrenia models. Dr. Vanessa Villard has been its CEO the past 12 years, being responsible for both operations and financial activities of the company. In 2015 she received the Sciences and Technologies award from Languedoc-Rousillon for her exemplary role as a woman in the Sciences and Technology sector. Dr. Vanessa Villard has also an MBA degree from Montpellier Business school that helps her managing scientific issues including business aspects. She is used to working with multidisciplinary teams in international collaborations with institutes and drug development industries.