A leader in innate immunity in the immuno-oncology field, Dr. Hoess has built his more than 25-year biotech career from an extensive background in general management, business development, product commercialization, fundraising, M&A and drug discovery. He joined Affimed in October 2010 as Chief Commercial Officer, and since September 2011, has led the company as Chief Executive Officer, advancing the company’s commitment to improving the lives of people with hematologic and solid tumor cancers.

At Affimed, Dr. Hoess has integrated his scientific expertise and experience driving R&D toward drug discovery and clinical trials to cultivate a productive organizational culture and lead its high-performing team. He has transformed and elevated the business, taking it from an early-stage, preclinical engineering company of 20 employees to a mid-stage, clinical development pioneer of innate immune activation for cancer treatment with over 125 of the industry’s most talented scientists, entrepreneurs and seasoned leaders. Dr. Hoess successfully drove the decision to take the company public on the Nasdaq in September 2014. He has since led the company to the largest signed collaboration in biotech with Roche Genentech, as well as secured collaborations with Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Roivant Sciences, among others.

Prior to joining Affimed, Dr. Hoess was the Chief Commercial Officer at Jerini AG, where he led the development and launch of the novel orphan drug Firazyr® for people living with hereditary angioedema. His leadership influenced Jerini AG’s eventual sale to Shire. Before joining Jerini, he was General Manager and Vice President of the Molecular Medicine Division at Carl Zeiss in Jena, Germany.

Dr. Hoess began his professional career in 1993 as a scientist at MorphoSys AG. There, he partnered with the company’s founder in translating intellectual property he had developed at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School. Within six years, he was promoted to Vice President of Licensing and Business Development, where he played an instrumental role in the company’s successful German IPO.

Dr. Hoess completed post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and holds a Doctorate of Medicine from the Technical University of Munich as well as a PhD in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Munich.