Byondis Appoints Christoph Korpus, PhD, MBA as Chief Executive Officer

Byondis B.V., an independent biopharmaceutical company creating innovative targeted medicines for patients with cancer, announces today the appointment of Christoph Korpus, PhD, MBA, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately. Christoph has served as Chief Business Officer (CBO) of the Company since January 2025. He succeeds Byondis Founder and former CEO Jacques Lemmens, PhD, who will remain on the Board of Directors as Chairman.

In his new role as CEO, Christoph will guide the advancement of research and development activities for Byondis’ novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology platforms. These platforms, which combine proprietary, novel payloads with state-of-the-art linker and conjugation technologies and conditional activation, include Byondis' cytotoxic antifolate linker-drug platform, ByonGuard™ masking technology for conditional activation, and ByonBoost™ immune-stimulatory linker-drug platform. Each of these technology platforms has generated frontrunner and multiple follower drug candidates. Byondis, with its fully integrated discovery, development, and manufacturing capabilities, has the flexibility to conduct all essential development efforts for its lead candidates independently. In addition to these in-house activities, Byondis is open to partnerships around its pipeline assets and to licensing its technology for co-development opportunities.

Christoph brings more than 15 years of experience from across the biopharmaceutical industry, spanning oncology R&D, digital innovation, and global business development and licensing. Prior to joining Byondis, Christoph served as Director, Global Business Development and Licensing Oncology at Merck KGaA, where he led partnering strategies and negotiation teams for multiple oncology transactions. Throughout his tenure at Merck, Christoph drove cross-company innovation through the management of global commercial- and development alliances across different therapeutic areas.

Jacques Lemmens, PhD, Chairman of Byondis’ Board of Directors, said: “Since joining as CBO last year, Christoph has been instrumental in driving Byondis’ strategic transformation into a focused, fully-integrated biotech company with multiple proprietary ADC technology platforms and a wealth of clinical and manufacturing expertise. His extensive experience in global business development and strategic partnerships, combined with a deep understanding of how our platforms can address high unmet medical needs in oncology, makes him ideally suited to guide Byondis through its next phase of growth. I am confident that, under his leadership, the Company will continue to advance its innovative pipeline to deliver breakthrough solutions for patients as quickly as possible."

Christoph Korpus, PhD, MBA, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, said: “It is a great honor to be appointed to lead this company, particularly now when the path forward to maximize the value of our decades of ADC expertise is so clear. My focus now is executing our strategic vision, fostering partnerships that enhance our growth, and working with our talented team to deliver innovative ADC therapies that can overcome the critical limitations of current and next-generation therapies to make a meaningful difference for cancer patients. Under Jacques’ leadership, Byondis has built strong capabilities across ADC discovery and development and GMP manufacturing. I am committed to leveraging these strengths as we continue to maximize the potential of our platforms and advance our differentiated programs."

Christoph holds a PhD from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and the University of Connecticut and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management.

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About Byondis

Driven to improve patients’ lives, Byondis is an independent, fully integrated biopharmaceutical research and development company creating innovative targeted medicines for cancer. The company is developing new biological entities (NBEs) with a focus on antibody-drug conjugates.

Byondis’ development portfolio leverages expertise in linker-drug (LD) technology, antibody-drug conjugation, and disease biology. Byondis’ fully integrated drug development capabilities cover all stages from pre-clinical and clinical R&D, production of clinical batches of the selected product candidates, and regulatory filings which are all done in-house.

The company has a dedicated team of more than 200 staff working in its state-of-the-art R&D and GMP manufacturing facilities in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

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