Cambridge-based Maxion Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing antibody-based drugs for previously untreatable ion channel- and GPCR-driven diseases, has appointed Dr Arndt Schottelius as chief executive, effective 1 March.

The appointment is part of a planned succession process, with the company’s co-founder Dr John McCafferty transitioning from chief executive to chief technology officer after having co-founded Maxion, raised $16 million in initial funding, and established its KnotBody technology.

Schottelius was previously chief scientific officer of Affimed and worked in executive leadership roles as executive vice-president of R&D at Kymab (acquired by Sanofi) and chief development officer at MorphoSys as well as senior leadership roles at Genentech.

With a 25-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, he has experience of advancing therapeutics from research into early and late-stage clinical developments and in building portfolios of drug candidates and pharma partnerships. He has experience in discovery, project and portfolio management, preclinical and clinical development, FDA negotiations and regulatory filings, as well as business development.

Earlier, Schottelius practised medicine as a resident physician in gastroenterology at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin in Berlin, and held a research fellowship from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Maxion Therapeutics’ chair Eva-Lotta Allan said: “As we are expanding our portfolio of KnotBodies and driving our lead programme towards the clinic, [Schottelius’s] leadership and drug development expertise will be invaluable. I look forward to working with Arndt to shape the vision and drive the company forward.”

McCafferty added: “We have a unique KnotBody technology which addresses the key challenges in ion channel and GPCR antibody drug discovery and our lead programme is rapidly advancing towards preclinical development. With Arndt’s appointment, I am excited to be dedicating more time to further advance the underlying KnotBody technology and enabling new opportunities. The team is keen to work closely with Arndt and benefit from his extensive experience in antibody drug development to ensure we reach our ambitious goals.”

Schottelius commented: “Maxion’s truly revolutionary technology has the unique opportunity to deliver first-in-class and best-in-class protein therapeutics to treat ion channel and GPCR-driven diseases. I am delighted to join Maxion Therapeutics at such an exciting time in the company’s development. I look forward to working with the leadership team and the Board to maximise the value of the company’s proprietary KnotBody technology.”