Our Team
The Team of founders bundles expertise and experiences in the fields of biology and biochemistry, bee keeping and apidology, drug discovery and development, regulatory affairs, finance, investor relation and intellectual property rights. All founders have a track record as entrepreneurs and scientists and with this cover a broad area of necessary know how and insight.
Varolis attracted a broad range of experts who support the operation and cover aspects of marketing and sales, industry intelligence, pharmacovigilance and regulatory affairs in the field of apiculture, quality management and more.
Dr. Stefan Hannus
Dr Stefan Hannus studied Biology and did his PhD at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biochemistry in Munich, where he gained experiences in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology and yeast genetics. He joined GPC-Biotech, where he took over responsibilities in Drug Discovery and Screening. In 2008, Dr Hannus founded his first Biotech Company, Intana Bioscience, providing drug discovery services to Pharma companies. In 2013 he was cofounder of SiTOOLs Biotech, active in the field of RNAi and gene expression control and participated in the spin-out of alpine-antiviral in 2021, to harness the potential of siRNAs as therapeutic against Covid19. In 2023, he initiated the founding of VAROLIS, a company devoted to bee health, aiming to bring Lithium based anti-Varroa therapies to the market. Stefan Hannus started beekeeping in 2010 and has gained broad experiences in apiculture. He has taken over management positions at Intana Bioscience and siTOOLs Biotech, conducted research projects, supervised employees, applied for research funds, attracted investors and is involved in the training and education of master students at the University of Regensburg
Prof. Dr. Uwe Jacob
Dr. Uwe Jacob studied biochemistry at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover and the University of Southern California. He finalized his PhD thesis in X-ray crystallography at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry. Afterwards Uwe Jacob continued his career as a post doctoral scientist at RochePharmaceuticals where he also finished his habilitation program. He was teaching biochemistry atthe Gene Center and worked as assistant Professor at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munichand a group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry. Uwe Jacob is Co-founder and the first CEO of SpectraMab. Previously he founded the biotech consulting company Westend-Innovation UG. He is also one of the Co-founders of SuppreMol GmbH where he has been CSO between 2002 and 2008 and Chief Development Officer between July 2008 and July 2009. Besides his profound knowledge in biochemistry, Uwe Jacob contributes his experiences and expertise in the field of drug development and regulatory affairs
Dr. Dirk Buehler
Dr. Dirk Buehler studied biochemistry at the Freie Universität Berlin, UC Berkeley, and Ruprecht-Karls Universität Heidelberg. He did is PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry. He became a European and German Patent Attorney and has been practicing patent law as a Managing Partner at Maiwald GmbH since 2007. He specializes in the management of product-related patent portfolios worldwide and infringement proceedings in the fields of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and personalized therapy. Dirk Bühler has particular expertise in patent law on antibodies, cancer immunology, gene editing, diagnostics and 2nd and 3rd generation sequencing. Dr. Buehler received international recognition after defending the CRISPR/Cas patent of Nobel laureates Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier.
Dr. Frank Becker
Dr. Frank Becker studied plant physiology at the University of Cologne and received his PhD for his
investigation of the plant ubiquitin system. He continued his career at the UCLA before joining GPC
Biotech as group leader and director of drug discovery research and chemical biology. Dr Becker
cofounded Intana Bioscience GmbH and later siTOOLs Biotech GmbH and Alpine Antiviral GmbH.
Within the companies he is responsible for corporate governance, human resources, administration of grant application, quality management and financial control. In 2023 he cofounded VAROLIS GmbH and supports the team as COO/CFO.
