Cairo, Berlin – May 30, 2024 - Minapharm, the leading pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company in Egypt, Africa, and the Middle East announced on May 30th, the appointment of Dr. Alfred Merz, PhD as the new COO and interim CEO of its Berlin-based subsidiary ProBioGen AG, a world leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) and technology provider with expertise in cell line engineering, process development, and GMP manufacturing.

Dr. Merz joins from Bayer Pharmaceuticals where he held the position of Senior Vice President and Head of Product Supply Medical Devices. He has more than 30 years of international experience in manufacturing, operational excellence, and strategy development with leading pharmaceuticals and biotech companies including Bayer and Novartis in Europe and the US.

Dr. Wafik Bardissi, Chair of the Supervisory Board of ProBioGen AG and CEO and Chair of the parent company Minapharm commented: “Alfred‘s strategic vision and proven international track record in Europe and the USA in driving operational excellence, manufacturing and strategy development make him an ideal candidate to prop up ProBioGen’s next phase of innovation and expansion.“

Minapharm Pharmaceuticals is a leading pharmaceutical company in Egypt and the Middle East and the premier biopharmaceutical company in Africa with over 20 years of experience in cellular and bioprocess engineering. Headquartered in Cairo, Minapharm commercializes over 100 life-saving and life-enhancing products ranging from small molecules to complex genetically engineered proteins, with an impressive immunotherapy pipeline. Together with its wholly-owned Berlin-based subsidiary, ProBioGen AG, a globally renowned CDMO and provider of innovative proprietary technologies in the fields of monoclonal antibodies, protein, viral, and cell therapies to the global biotech industry at large, Minapharm has established an integrated business model making it to date the only gene-to-market biopharmaceutical company in the region. Minapharm employs a collective workforce of over 2,000 and is listed on the Cairo and Alexandria stock exchanges (Symbol: MIPH).

ProBioGen is a premiere, Berlin-based specialist for developing and manufacturing biopharmaceutical active ingredients, viral vectors and vaccines with applying proprietary technologies to improve product quality and features. Combining both state-of-the-art development services, together with intelligent product-specific technologies yields biologics with optimized properties. Rapid and integrated cell line and process development, comprehensive analytical development and GMP-compliant manufacturing is performed by a highly skilled and experienced team. All services and technologies are embedded in a total quality management system to assure compliance with international ISO and GMP standards (EMA/FDA). ProBioGen has been operational for almost 30 years. At four locations in Berlin, 300 employees contribute to the creation of new therapies in medicine and groundbreaking innovations worldwide through their creative and meticulous work. ProBioGen's growth strategy is driven by the expansion of the service value chain through organic growth and potential acquisition. Diversification is a complement driver, while the focus is strict on enabling the development of biopharmaceuticals for tomorrow.