matthias steger, phd mba

ceo and co-founder

Matthias Steger’s long career in pharma and biotech began with F. Hoffmann-La Roche in 1999, when he worked in the design and synthesis of active molecules for a variety of therapeutic indications - next, he joined Axovan (later acquired by Actelion), where he built and implemented a new platform for orphan GPCR drug discovery - Matthias then branched out into investment banking at Kepler Equities before returning to Roche in 2007 - he became the firm’s global head of research and technology partnering, a role in which he investigated and managed more than 50 collaborations - in 2015 he followed his strong entrepreneurial instincts, first establishing SequelBlu, an independent advisory firm aimed at assisting companies with sustainable innovation, and then endogena.
Matthias earned his MSc in organic chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Zurich, and his PhD in medicinal chemistry at the University of Sussex. In 2005 he completed an MBA at the University of St Gallen, where he was awarded Dean’s Honors.

daphna mokady, phd

vp discovery biology

Daphna Mokady is a highly experienced researcher with 15+ years of proven track record in leading projects in a broad spectrum of bio-medical research.  After completing her PhD at Tel Aviv University, Daphna’s first post-doc was directed at the development of a novel zebrafish model for Alzheimer's disease, enabling exciting imaging-based monitoring of whole brain neural activity. In her second post-doc at UHN, Toronto, Daphna has identified a signal transduction pathway involved in the resistance of ovarian cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents, and has performed drug screens targeted at re-sensitizing the cancer cells to the currently used first-line treatment.
Throughout her work, Daphna has established successful collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies, top researchers, and key opinion leaders in various fields. Daphna’s broad experience has allowed her to promote innovative ideas and lead pioneering research projects with demonstrated results.

alex mueller, phd

head chemoinformatics

Alex is an expert in applying the latest machine learning tools to the field of drug discovery. He was among the first to employ generative artificial intelligence and active learning for small molecule, as well as peptide de novo design. Thereby, Alex discovered novel molecular entities and revealed structural patterns important for their activity. By merging chemoinformatics with recent biological discoveries, such as stem cell pathways, he’s exploring the chemical space to design and select small molecules that specifically regulate stem / progenitor cell fate. His pharmaceutical training further allows him to validate computationally designed compounds in wet lab experiments and assess computer-generated hypotheses for their validity.
Alex earned his MSc in medicinal and industrial pharmaceutical sciences, as well as his PhD in computer-assisted drug design at ETH Zürich in the group of Prof. Dr. Gisbert Schneider.