Symeres, a transatlantic CRDMO, has appointed Henning Steinhagen as Chief Executive Officer, marking a key transition as the company scales its operations and broadens its market reach.

Steinhagen will focus on advancing Symeres’ vision of being a crucial partner from discovery through development with its “One Symeres” integrated platform that serves strategic partnerships across biotech and pharma.

He succeeds Guillaume Jetten, who has served as CEO and played a key role in strengthening the company’s operational and scientific foundations during a period of growth and transformation.

“Recently, we have made strong progress in bringing together our teams, capabilities and culture into one organization,” said Jetten. “We are now seeing clear validation from our customers, who value the continuity, scientific depth and collaborative approach we offer. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved and confident that Dr. Steinhagen will build on this momentum and lead Symeres through its next phase of growth.” 

Experience

As a seasoned CEO, board director and R&D executive, Steinhagen brings more than 25 years of experience across pharma, biotech and the CRO/CDMO sector.

He joins from Lario Therapeutics, where he served as CEO and co-founder, as well as Venture Partner at Epidarex Capital. His previous positions include President R&D at Aptuit, where he was a key member of the leadership team responsible for the company’s growth and successful sale to Evotec AG in 2017. Prior to that he acted as SVP and Head of Global Drug Discovery at Grünenthal and held senior roles at Sanofi-Aventis and Bayer Pharma.

Steinhagen holds a PhD in Chemistry and earned an executive MBA degree from the IMD in Lausanne in 2018.

“I was drawn to Symeres because of its unique capabilities and legacy in delivering and supporting biopharma from inception to IND,” said Steinhagen. “With strong foundations in place, the opportunity ahead is to fully realize and unlock the power of integrated services across chemistry and biology. The goal is to create best-in-class solutions to rapidly advance even the most challenging programs for the benefit of our customers and ultimately patients.”