Cracking the metabolic code for millions at risk

Dieter Hemmer, Chief Executive Officer

Dieter Hemmer is a seasoned executive with 40 years of experience spanning pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and global consumer industries. Before joining MetaShape Pharma, he served as CEO of SynDermix AG (2017–2021), a Swiss developer of innovative health technologies in the biotech, pharma, and MedTech industries. Mr. Hemmer spent the majority of his career as a senior executive at Nestlé, first as Senior Vice President and Head of the Strategic Business Unit for Food Services (1998–2006) and Chairman of the Nestlé Pro Gastronomia Foundation (1999–2014), and later as Senior Vice President of Global Branded Food at Nestlé Professional (2008–2014). Prior to Nestlé, he spent 22 years in senior executive roles at Lufthansa, including Head of Global Inflight Service and Managing Director for Lufthansa Service (LSG) Asia. Mr. Hemmer holds a BSc in Economics from FHS Heidelberg and has completed postgraduate programs in management at INSEAD, London Business School, and IMD.

Vincenzo Sorrentino, PhD​

Vincenzo Sorrentino is an Italian-born scientist in the fields of aging, mitochondrial biology and neuromuscular degeneration. He obtained his PhD Cum Laude at the University of Amsterdam, in the lab of Prof. Noam Zelcer, on LDL-cholesterol regulation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system, with publications including in European Heart Journal and Circulation Research. Subsequently, he moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, for his postdoctoral research in Prof. Johan Auwerx’s lab at the EPFL. His work there focused on the understanding of mitochondria and NAD+ metabolism in neurodegeneration and muscle aging, with his research discoveries on Alzheimer’s disease and muscle aging published in Nature (2017) and Cell Reports (2021). He then obtained a position as Group Leader at the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences in Lausanne, to lead research focused on integrating basic discoveries on nutraceuticals and their effects on mitochondria and protein homeostasis with their translation into novel clinical applications. Since December 2022, he is an Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Health Longevity Translational Research Program, University of Singapore, to continue to develop his research on how metabolism, nutrition and proteostasis are linked and impact on health and aging.

Dr. Eduardo N. Chini, MD, PhD

Dr. Eduardo N. Chini, MD, PhD, is Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology, Mayo Clinic. His research focus is in the fields of metabolism, nutrition, obesity, pharmacology, cancer and aging, and kidney disease. In particular, Dr. Chini is interested in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) metabolism and functions. He and his colleagues are exploring the nonoxidative and oxidative roles of NAD (as a signaling molecule and energy coin in cells). Dr. Chini’s laboratory has done seminal work on NAD catabolism, including the description of the main enzyme responsible for the degradation of this molecule in mammalian tissues.

Caius Radu, MD, PhD​

Caius Radu is Professor in the Departments of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Surgery at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He also serves as a Vice Chairman of the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, and Co-Director of the Cancer Molecular Imaging, Nanotechnology, and Theranostics Research Program (CMINT) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Radu received his M.D. from the University of Medicine, Craiova, Romania and completed his postdoctoral training in immunology and cancer biology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and at UCLA with Dr. Owen Witte.

Randall Riggs, MBA

Chief Business Officer

Randall B. Riggs obtained his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University and received an M.B.A. in Management and Finance (cum laude) from the University of Houston. He began his career at Eli Lily & Company and later became Sr. VP for corporate development at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals. As a member of the Executive management team, he was intimately involved in raising $220 million for an initial IPO. He served as the Sr. Vice President of Corp Development for Biocryst Pharmaceuticals and was responsible for approximately $1 billion in strategic partnerships. From October 2007 to January 2017, he was president and CEO of Advanced Cancer Therapeutics (ACT), where he created the infrastructure, in-licensed several novel anti-cancer products and raised capital. He organized a successful Phase I trial for their small molecule anticancer drug and then joined Gibson Oncology as President and Chief Executive Officer.

Jessica Kourniaktis, DPhil

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Dr. Jessica Kourniaktis has 10 years’ experience leading strategic and external communications for life sciences startups, having collaborated with industry-leading communications’ agencies, as well as major branding, storytelling and design agencies. Prior to joining the industry, Jessica was a Teaching Fellow at the University of Oxford, where she also completed her DPhil in Cold War History and published original research in peer-reviewed academic journals and collective volumes. Since, she has served as COO of three life sciences startups (2019-present: SynDermix AG, Laevoroc Medical AG, and metaShape Pharma AG) and as a Board Member of a Swiss investment company formerly listed on Bx Swiss (ESGTI AG, 2022–24), focusing on market research, asset valuations of pre-revenue life sciences assets and key stakeholder reporting (at the Board and shareholder levels). In 2020, she founded her own Company, Manage Mind AG, where she is responsible for orchestrating a wide array of communications initiatives, from press releases and industry-specific articles to investor decks, shareholder communications and communications’ project management.

Shanta Bantia, PhD
Co-Founder–Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)

Shanta Bantia (PhD in Biochemistry) has over 25 years’ experience in drug design, discovery biology and early clinical development and has worked on purine nucleoside phosphorylase inhibitors for almost two decades. Prior to co-founding metaShape, Shanta served as Head of Discovery Biology at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals for 20 years, where she was involved in drug design, discovery and development of several candidates and advanced a number of compounds to clinical trials in the areas of oncology, virology and inflammation. In particular, she supervised pre-clinical biological work and was actively involved in the clinical development of RAPIVAB, approved for the treatment of influenza, and MUNDESINE, approved in Japan for the treatment of relapsed/refractory peripheral T-Cell lymphoma. In addition, she discovered a novel use for a compound on-shelf, Galidesivir (a viral RNA polymerase inhibitor), as a broad spectrum anti-viral agent that demonstrated efficacy in preclinical models of various viruses, including Ebola and Marburg.

Subsequently, she founded her consultancy, Nitor Therapeutics, and discovered small molecules that activate the innate immune system through modulation of pattern recognition receptors like TLR and STING. Her discovery led to the development of STING inhibitors for the treatment of neurological diseases and the award of a grant for a Phase I study in Parkinson’s Disease. Shanta has authored more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals and is an inventor of over 15 patents.

Thomas Mehrling, MD, PhD
Founder–Chief Executive Officer (CEO)​

Thomas Mehrling (PhD in Pharmacology and MD) has over 20 years’ experience in multinational Pharma companies developing novel oncology compounds from preclinical research through to registration. Prior to entering the industry, he spent 13 years as an MD at the University Hospital in Frankfurt, working on preclinical and translational projects. He served as Director of European Oncology at Mundipharma International (2003–2013), building the company’s first European oncology business from the ground up out of Cambridge, UK, and completing the clinical development, registration and launch of two major products in Europe, DepoCyte® and Levact® (Ribomustin® and Treanda®). In 2013, he led the establishment of the Mundipharma Group’s start-up, Mundipharma EDO, developing anti-cancer therapeutics for solid tumours out of Basel, Switzerland.

Thomas’ work with PNP inhibitors began during his tenure at Mundipharma, during which he was responsible for the clinical development of a specific inhibitor for the treatment of aggressive blood cancers. The development of this compound was later discontinued for commercial reasons. However, since 2020, Thomas has devoted much of his time and resources to investigating the properties of PNP inhibitors, together with his colleague, Dr. Shanta Bantia.​