Cardior Appoints Axel-Sven Malkomes as Chief Financial Officer

Cardior Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotech company developing non-coding RNA (ncRNA)-based therapeutics for patients with cardiac diseases, today announced the appointment of Axel-Sven Malkomes as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Mr. Malkomes joins the executive leadership team to lead Cardior’s financial operations and planning, risk and compliance, investor relations and information technology (IT) as the company continues to advance its pipeline and clinical development globally. Mr. Malkomes brings to Cardior nearly 30 years of life science industry experience from executive roles, investment banking, healthcare investing, and corporate development positions.

“Axel-Sven comes to Cardior at an exciting period of growth as we move our lead candidate CDR132L through the ongoing multi-national Phase 2 study in Europe, with the next step being global expansion of our clinical and operational footprint with a focus on the US,” commented Claudia Ulbrich, MD, CEO and Co-Founder of Cardior. “His decades of experience in the industry, with a strong track record across the financial side of biotech, will be an important addition to our team. Gaining this strength will enable us to build out our non-coding RNA-based therapeutics pipeline and establish an internationally leading position with this new therapeutic modality.”

“Axel-Sven is exceptionally qualified to ensure Cardior’s future corporate growth,” added Russell Greig, PhD, Chairman of Cardior’s Board. “His addition to the leadership team will add momentum for the company’s mission to bring disease-modifying treatments to heart disease patients to prolong and improve the quality of their lives.”

“Cardior is rapidly advancing a completely new approach that has significant potential to become a game-changer for heart disease treatment by identifying and counteracting the molecular mechanisms of ischemic-induced heart failure affecting large patient populations as well as rare cardiac diseases. I am impressed by the progress that the team has made to date and look forward to working closely with Claudia and her team to continue this positive momentum,” added Axel-Sven Malkomes, CFO of Cardior.

Axel-Sven Malkomes most recently held the position of CFO and CBO at Medigene AG, a listed German cell and gene therapy company, where he was responsible for finance, business development, investor relations, legal affairs, and IT. During his tenure, Axel played an integral role in strategically and financially reshaping the company, significantly advancing the cash reach as well as expanding the range of business development and licensing partnerships. Before Medigene, Mr. Malkomes held healthcare investment banking positions at Barclays and Société Générale. Prior to this, he co-headed European healthcare investments at UK private equity firm 3i Group plc, with over $20 billion in assets under management. Earlier, he held senior operational and corporate leadership positions at Merck KGaA, including a CEO position at a Merck KGaA group company. Mr. Malkomes started his career in investment banking at a range of banking institutions, namely Dresdner Bank, Sal. Oppenheim, which is now Deutsche Bank, Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette, which later became Credit Suisse, and Lehman Brothers, where he focused on a range of transactions in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets and private equity for the healthcare industry.

Mr. Malkomes holds a business administration degree from the Otto-Friedrich University in Bamberg, completed senior executive management programs at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago and University of Science & Technology in Hong Kong, as well as gained extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and medicine through his professional activities and comprehensive further education.

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About Cardior

Cardior Pharmaceuticals is a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery and development of RNA-based therapeutics designed to prevent, repair and reverse diseases of the heart. Cardior’s therapeutic approach uses distinctive non-coding RNAs as an innovative platform for addressing the root causes of cardiac dysfunctions. The company aspires to bring transformative therapeutics and diagnostics to patients and thereby make a lasting impact on the treatment of cardiac diseases worldwide.

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