We are Yumab

Home » We are YUMAB

Company Profile & History

Supporting researchers, industrial clients and partners worldwide to translate their biomedical science into the next generation of immunotherapies is our mission. Our team is committed to bridge the gap between target innovation and biotherapeutic lead compounds optimized for pre-clinical and clinical testing using state-of-the-art and next-generation technology platforms, success-oriented solutions, and tailored contract research programs.

Our History

2012 I Founding of YUMAB GmbH

Founding of a biotechnology company by experts and pioneers in recombinant antibody technologies of the University of Braunschweig in Germany. No. of employees: 1

2013 | First booth participation at Biotechnica in Hannover and Bio Europe

The first time on a conference stage at major trade shows to grab attention which clearly influenced the path and strategy of the YUMAB business model. No. of employees: 2

2016 | IHK Technology Transfer Award

YUMAB received the IHK Technology Transfer Award for the transfer of antibody generation technologies to industry. No. of employees: 10

2017 | Innovation Award Niedersachsen

For the development of human antibodies, YUMAB and TU Braunschweig received the Innovation Network Lower Saxony Award (1st place). No. of employees: 14

2017 | Founding of YUMAB Inc. Atlanta Georgia

Founding of the US subsidiary to be able to serve the American market more intensively. No. of employees: 14

2018 | Relocation to the campus of the Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research

Open house day with many interesting participants from the press, politics and science. No. of employees: 20

2020 | Spin-Off CORAT Therapeutics GmbH

Fighting COVID-19 with recombinant fully human antibodies. No. of employees: 25

2022 | New Logo & Corporate Design

Our new logo – 2022 and beyond! No. of employees: 30

2022 | YUMAB Anniversary Event

Our Leadership & Management Team

Our leadership and management team combines deep scientific expertise with proven business leadership to drive excellence across contract research, client services, and corporate operations.

Scientific & Advisory Board

YUMAB’s Scientific and Advisory Board brings together well-recognized experts whose experience and insight guide the company’s strategic and scientific direction and innovation.

Dr. Yemi Onakunle

CMC Expert

Yemi Onakunle is an experienced biotechnology executive and expert in the chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) of innovative biotherapeutics. He previously served as Chief Business Officer at Selexis in Geneva, Switzerland, a leading cell line development company. He is an active co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and board member of several biotechnology companies, including Mabswitch and VLP Biotech. In addition, he has served as a scientific and business advisor to organizations such as, Medincell (Montpellier, France), PacificGMP and ServareGMP (San Diego, California). Earlier in his career, he held business development roles at Fujifilm Diosynth (formerly Merck), Bachem, Lonza, and Cancer Research Horizons (formerly Cancer Research Technology) Dr. Onakunle holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Imperial College London and a PhD in Microbiology from University of Kent at Canterbury.

Prof. Dr. Matthias Peipp

Immunotherapy & ADC

Matthias Peipp is a molecular biologist and immunologist, Head of the Antibody-Based Immunotherapy Research Division at Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (Kiel, Germany). Matthias is a recognized Key Opinion Leader in the field of bispecific antibodies and immunotherapy, with over 150 publications. His work is focused on modulating antibody effector functions and strategies to improve recruitment and activation of various immune cell populations (T lymphocytes, NK cells, macrophages). He is one of the collaborators and a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of BIOMUNEX Pharmaceuticals for immunotherapeutic approaches using bispecific antibodies. Our Scientific Advisory Board is completed by the top Key Opinion Leaders, who are specialists of MAIT cell biology, that was gathered around the unique MAIT engager approach.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Dübel

Antibody Discovery & Technology

Prof. Dr. Stefan Dübel is one of the inventors of antibody phage display and has over 30 years of experience with antibody engineering. He wrote basic textbooks on recombinant antibodies and is editor of the reference “Handbook of Therapeutic Antibodies”. Stefan is Professor of Biotechnology at Braunschweig University, and advisor to a number of biotechnology companies and government institutions worldwide. His passion is to learn from nature’s repertoire of molecules and mechanisms to treat cancer and infectious diseases, with a special focus to make these treatments as human as possible – by keeping the involved molecules as human as possible. Following completion of his PhD in molecular Biology at the University of Heidelberg, he developed Antibody Phage Display at the German Cancer Research Centre, and continued to provide innovative new technologies for the field. Two human monoclonal antibodies developed in his academic lab reached clinical use.

Prof. Dr. Michael Hust

Infectious Diseases

Michael studied biology at the C.v.O. Universität in Oldenburg from 1993-1999. He received his PhD from the Leibniz Universität in Hannover in 2002. Since the end of 2002 he has been working as group leader at the Technische Universität Braunschweig. In 2011 he finished his professorial dissertation (Habilitation) and was appointed Privatdozent (PD). In 2014 he was appointed professor for biotechnology. In 2022, he became head of the Department of Medical Biotechnology. Michael published around 200 articles and filed several patents in the field of antibody engineering and phage display. He is editor of the book “Phage Display” and co-author of the German text book “Rekombinante Antikörper”. He is working on antibodies for diagnostics and therapy with a focus on infectious diseases (Marburg virus, WEEV, Listeria monocytogenes, Ebola, West-Nile virus and others) and toxins (botulinum toxins, diphtheria toxin and others), but also in the field of CAR-T/CAR-Treg therapies. Another field of his work is the identification of pathogen biomarkers using ORFeome phage display. He is co-founder of four biotech companies.

Prof. Dr. Roland Kontermann

Antibody Engineering & Oncology

Roland Kontermann received his PhD in molecular biology from the University of Heidelberg in 1992. From 1993-1996 he was a postdoctoral research fellow in Sir Gregory Winter’s laboratory at the MRC Centre for Protein Engineering in Cambridge (UK) where he started his work in the field of recombinant antibodies and phage display technology. From 1996-2000 he was a group leader at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Tumor Research (IMT) at the University of Marburg, where he also obtained his habilitation in molecular biology. Between 2001 and 2004 he was head of biotechnology and later on head of research of a co-founded Biotech company working in the field of targeted drug delivery systems. In 2004 he was appointed Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology (University of Stuttgart), endowed until 2014 by the Deutsche Krebshilfe. Current research interests focus on the development of recombinant antibodies and bispecific and bifunctional antibody fusion proteins with improved biological and pharmacokinetic properties for cancer therapy and other indications.