About us
Driven by passion and curiosity for science, we aim for some of the most urgent but also most complex challenges in drug development.
Philipp Bürling, MBA
CEO
Philipp Bürling, MBA
Prof. Dr. Dieter Willbold
CSO
Prof. Dr. Dieter Willbold
Prof. Dr. Dieter Willbold is a biochemist, biophysicist and structural biologist. He has headed the Institute of Physical Biology at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf since 2004 and was Director of the Institute of Biological Information Processes (IBI-7) at Forschungszentrum Jülich from 2005 to 2025. Prior to this, he studied biochemistry (1985-1991) in Tübingen, Bayreuth and Colorado, obtained his doctorate in Bayreuth in 1994 and habilitated there in 1998 – with a research stay in Tel Aviv – before heading a junior research group in Jena (1998-2001). In 2017, he was the initiator and co-founder of Priavoid and has been driving the further development of the platform as Chief Science Officer since June 2025. He is also the founder of the biomolecular NMR network bio N³MR, a board member of the BMFZ Düsseldorf since 2000 and co-speaker of various graduate schools (BioStruct, iGRASP). He has received several awards for his scientific contributions, including the Research Prize of the University of Bayreuth (1995), the Gerhard Hess Prize of the DFG (2000), the Innovation Prize of the Bioregions and other honors.
Prof. Dr. med. Oliver Peters
CMO
Prof. Dr. med. Oliver Peters
Prof. Oliver Peters studied human medicine and worked at Charité Berlin from 2003 to 2023, where he specialized in geriatric psychiatry and dementia research. From 2008, he took over the position of senior physician at the geriatric psychiatry day clinic and headed the memory consultation and the Center for Dementia Prevention at the ECRC. He qualified as a professor in 2014 and was appointed to a W2 professorship in geriatric psychiatry in 2019. Prof. Peters has been Chief Physician of the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Klinikum Frankfurt (Oder) since January 2024. He is intensively involved in clinical research, with a focus on biomarker-based preclinical diagnostics of chronic neurodegenerative dementia. Prof. Peters is a board member of the Dementia Competence Network (KND e.V.) and the Hirnliga e.V. and Principal Investigator at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE Berlin). He has been part of the management of Priavoid GmbH as Chief Medical Officer since July 2025.
Dr. Antje Willuweit
Director Preclinical Development
Dr. Antje Willuweit
Dr. Antje Willuweit studied Biology at the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany) and received her PhD from the Max-Planck-Institute in Bad Nauheim (Germany). She gained 9 years of industrial experience in the following Biotech companies: Artemis Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Evotec Neurosciences AG, Evotec AG. In 2011 she joined the Jülich Research Centre at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-4), where she established her own research group. In total, she has got 20 years of experience with animal models in preclinical research, including at least 13 years in the field of preclinical drug testing against Alzheimer´s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. She co-founded Priavoid in 2017 and is since then Director of Preclinical Research.
Dr. Dagmar Jürgens
Director Clinical Development
Dr. Dagmar Jürgens
Dr. Dagmar Jürgens studied Agricultural Sciences at University of Göttingen (Germany) and subsequently earned her PhD at the University of Gießen. She gained experience at national and international levels since 1990, after founding and leading a small and medium-sized biotech enterprise for more than 15 years. In 2006 she changed her focus to Clinical Research and Drug Development. She furthered her experience in Phase II and III Clinical Trials, whilst working at the German Competent Authority (BfArM) and with international Contract Research Organizations. She has been working at the Jülich Research Center since 2011, first at the Technology Transfer Department, and then at the Institute of Complex Systems (ICS-6), where she is the Project Manager for Preclinical and Clinical Research. She co-founded Priavoid in 2017 and is since then Director of Clinical Development.
Dr. Knut Adermann
Director CMC
Dr. Knut Adermann
Dr. Knut Adermann has more than 20 years experience in peptide therapeutics discovery, translational medicine and clinical development, with a focus on the chemistry, manufacturing and control of novel, peptide active pharmacological ingredients. He holds a PhD in organic chemistry and has co-founded several biotech start-ups, pursuing indications in the fields of antivirals and antibacterials. He was involved in the successful sourcing of seed and round A financing for various start-up companies and has served as managing and scientific director of these ventures. As a consultant in peptide development, he has also supported various preclinical and clinical programs in cardiology, hematology and metabolic diseases. He is an author of more than 90 publications and is a co-inventor of numerous internationally filed patents and patent applications. He co-founded Priavoid in 2017 and is since then Director of CMC.
Dr. Gunther Kauselmann
Director Quality Management and Regulatory Compliance
Dr. Gunther Kauselmann
Dr. Gunther Kauselmann studied Biology at the University of Hamburg and completed his PhD at the Center for Molecular Neuroscience Hamburg (ZMNH). In 1998 he joined the startup company Artemis Pharmaceuticals GmbH in Cologne, which was renamed Taconic Biosciences GmbH after being acquired by Taconic Biosciences Inc. in 2009. At Taconic Dr. Kauselmann held several management positions in scientific operations, quality management and regulatory compliance with increasing responsibility, before being appointed as Vice President of Operations to oversee the production process at the Cologne site. During his professional career he also graduated in Drug Regulatory Affairs and obtained his Master´s Certificate from the University of Bonn. He co-founded Priavoid in 2017 and is since then Director of Quality Management and Regulatory Compliance.
Prof. em. Dr. Dr. h.c. Detlev Riesner
Chairman
Prof. Dr. Detlev Riesner
Professor Dr. Riesner held the chair of Biophysics at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf from 1980 to 2006, was dean of the Science Faculty and prorector of research. Since his retirement in 2006, he was member of the board of trustees of Heinrich Heine University until 2017. During his academic career Professor Dr. Riesner worked as a research assistant at Princeton University and as a visiting professor at the University of California, San Francisco and Academia Sinica (China). Professor Dr. Riesner is a co-founder of Qiagen N.V., member of the Supervisory Board and held the position as Chairman of the Supervisory Board from 1999 to 2014. He was also a member of the Supervisory Boards of NewLab Bioquality AG, Erkrath, Drevo AG, Cologne, Alantos AG, Heidelberg and AC Immune, Lausanne. Furthermore, Professor Riesner was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Friedrich-Löffler Institute, Isle of Riems and PrioNet and APRI, both in Canada. He received awards from the Federal Government, from the State of NRW and the Max Planck Society. Prof. Dr. Riesner works with Priavoid as a business angel, partner and mentor.
Dr. Johannes Schmiegel
Dr. Johannes Schmiegel
Dr. Schmiegel is a qualified attorney-at-law specialised in corporate law and venture capital and represents one of Priavoid’s shareholders. He studied at the Westphalian-Wilhelms University of Muenster (WWU), underwent his legal traineeship at the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf and started his legal career in a major international law firm in Düsseldorf. Dr. Schmiegel also holds an Executive Master of Business Administration.
Prof. Dr. Jörg Breitkreutz
Prof. Dr. Jörg Breitkreutz
Full Professor and Director of the Institute of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics at the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, Germany, and president of the non-for-profit International Association of Pharmaceutical Technology (APV), is a long-standing expert in the field of drug formulations, orphan drug development and process analytical technologies.
Prof. Dr. med. Gereon R. Fink
Prof. Dr. med. Gereon R. Fink
Full Professor and Director of the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital Cologne and Director of the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Cognitive Neuroscience (INM-3) at the Research Center Jülich. He is a member of the Council of the German Neurological Society (DGN) with clinical specialization on cognitive neurology and dementia, stroke and neurorehabilitation, and movement disorders. His scientific interests include stroke and neurohabilitation, movement disorders and deep brain stimulation, and non-invasive neuromodulation including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).
Prof. Dr. Holger Stark
Prof. Dr. Holger Stark
Full Professor of the Institute of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, is an expert in the field of Medicinal Chemistry (i.a. drug research for CNS drugs/neurotransmitters, dopamine receptor subtypes, NMDA receptors and lipid signaling) and co-inventor of Wakix®, the first histamine H3 receptor antagonist into market.
Prof. Dr. med. Inga Zerr
Prof. Dr. med. Inga Zerr
Full Professor at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Director of the German Reference Centre for Prion Disease Surveillance at the Department of Neurology at Georg-August-University Göttingen. She is member of the German Neurological Society (DGN) and German Society for Liquor Diagnostics in Neurology (DGLN). Her main research interests include genomics-, proteomics- and interactomics-based scientific approaches to investigate molecular mechanisms and post-translational modifications underlying neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease as well as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. One of her specific scientific interests in the field of neurodegenerative disorders are patients with rapidly progressive Alzheimer´s disease (rpAD).
Our team consists of highly skilled and specialized scientists with different backgrounds. Scientific excellence is both a goal and a demand on ourselves.
"Decades of research have gone into a unique treatment concept for neurodegenerative diseases. Priavoid continues to translate this concept into the development of efficient and safe drugs."
Prof. Dr. Dieter Willbold, Co-Founder
Forschungszentrum Jülich / Sascha Kreklau
Our Network
As is well known, together we are stronger. Priavoid is proud of its network. Our most important partners include the Research Center Jülich (FZJ), Heinrich Heine University (HHU) and Prinnovation, a subsidiary of the German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation.
The Research Center Jülich and the Heinrich Heine University are the birthplaces of Priavoid. In addition, the Institute of Physical Biology (HHU) is headed by Prof. Dr. Dieter Willbold, CSO and co-founder of Priavoid. He was also director at the Institute of Structural Biochemistry (IBI-7, FZJ) for 20 years. All parties benefit from an intensive scientific exchange and collaboration in specific topics.
Prinnovation GmbH was founded as a subsidiary of the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIN-D). In 2021, Prinnovation and Priavoid established a research collaboration to implement the further clinical development of our Alzheimer's program PRI-002.
