Ricarda Finnern, Chief Scientific Officer at LenioBio, brings extensive expertise in global program management and alliance management to her pivotal role. With a rich background in the development of pharmaceutical products—including small molecules, antibodies, bispecific antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates— Ricarda is a distinguished leader in autoimmune indications, oncology, and immuno-oncology.

At LenioBio, Ricarda is responsible for shaping the company’s overall scientific strategy, drawing on over 27 years of experience across academic settings, contract research organizations like Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, and the pharmaceutical industry, including roles at Dyax s.a. and Bayer AG. Her leadership is complemented by her academic credentials, including a ‘Mini-MBA’ from Falconbury Ltd., London, and her role as Co-Founder and CSO of AAvantgarde AG.

Ricarda’s career is marked by extensive line management experience, overseeing cross-functional and cross-cultural teams, and managing significant budgets. Her decade of international experience spans England, the USA, Belgium, and Switzerland, further enhancing her global perspective.

Since 2024, Ricarda has been a member of the Bioeconomy Council of North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, contributing to policy and innovation in the bioeconomy sector. She is recognized as an agile leader with a strategic mindset, exceptional problem-solving abilities, and strong communication and people-management skills. Her track record of delivering results within timelines and budgets speaks to her effectiveness and reliability.

Known for her ability to build high-performance teams, Ricarda is dedicated to attracting, retaining, and developing talent. She fosters an environment where team members can innovate and grow, emphasizing the importance of supporting women in achieving their career goals. An active member of Women in Leadership positions of TOPX and Dechema, Ricarda is committed to advancing female leadership in the scientific community.

Ricarda’s leadership and vision continue to drive innovation at LenioBio, positioning the company at the forefront of biopharmaceutical manufacturing and contributing to the advancement of global healthcare solutions.

Leadership Journey at Bayer and LenioBio

As a global program head at Bayer, Ricarda has spearheaded numerous projects from conception to clinical application. Her work has primarily focused on developing biologicals, including monoclonal antibodies, antibody fragments, multispecifics (e.g., BiTEs), and antibody-drug conjugates, with a particular emphasis on oncology and immuno-oncology.

In her role as global program manager, Ricarda has led multidisciplinary teams responsible for various aspects of product development. This process involves moving therapeutic candidates from research to clinical stages, which includes supporting and verifying the mode of action and disease hypotheses as well as overseeing production and manufacturing. For most biologicals, this entails cell line development and characterization, activities that are often critical to meeting clinical timelines.

A chance encounter with Remberto Martis, the founder of LenioBio GmbH, introduced Ricarda to the cell-free protein production technology AliCE, which Martis had licensed from Dow/Corteva. His pitch about the potential of this technology to revolutionize the biopharmaceutical industry greatly inspired her, leading her to join this innovative journey. Ricarda’s objective is to see proteins produced using AliCE technology advance to clinical trials and ensure its adoption across the industry.

Ricarda envisions the technology being used for discovery, lead identification, optimization, and clinical development. Her approach is encapsulated in the philosophy: “Test more, fail early, adapt fast.” This strategy aims to accelerate the development process, allowing for quicker identification of viable therapeutic candidates and faster adaptation to new challenges.

Innovating with Collaborations and Advanced Technologies

Ricarda possesses an in-depth understanding of the development path of therapeutics and has a robust network spanning academia, applied sciences, biotech, and big pharma. Her expertise includes navigating approval processes and engaging with regulatory agencies early in the development of new production platforms.

At LenioBio, Ricarda recognizes that a start-up can’t establish all functions and disciplines internally. Therefore, building strong networks and collaborating with partners are essential to achieving the company’s objectives and milestones. The primary focus at LenioBio is the ALiCE platform, which is a cell-free protein production technology. The research team is dedicated to deepening the understanding of this platform and exploring its applications both in-house and through collaborations with research organizations.

Internally, the focus is on vaccine development and multispecifics. For vaccine development, LenioBio has partnered with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to support their 100-day mission for rapid vaccine development, where cell-free technology can significantly impact. Monoclonal antibodies and multispecifics are key applications for various disease areas, including but not limited to oncology. LenioBio also emphasizes a data-driven approach and is building capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to enhance their research and development processes.

Additionally, LenioBio has established a protein service team that offers solutions from gene design to feasibility studies and larger-scale protein production. This service allows customers to collaborate closely with LenioBio’s team to unlock novel targets that were previously difficult to produce using established production systems.

To ensure the scalability of the ALiCE technology, LenioBio has developed a robust and transferable process, enabling the technology to be adopted by contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) and other companies. This preparation ensures that sufficient ALiCE lysate will be available in the future, reinforcing the technology’s long-term viability and impact on the biopharmaceutical industry.

Evolving Pharmaceutical Development Paradigms

Ricarda believes that development paradigms in the pharmaceutical industry need to evolve. The rapid advancements during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with mRNA technology, demonstrated that when industries unite towards a common goal, new technologies can be accelerated to deliver effective medicines to patients swiftly. It is crucial to maintain this momentum and continue thinking outside the box.

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds significant potential in identifying novel targets and binding moieties, such as agonists or antagonists. To harness this potential, it is essential to produce and characterize protein moieties quickly, up to the point of in vivo property evaluations. This is where cell-free technologies, like the ALiCE platform, become invaluable, especially as they can be scaled efficiently.

Throughout her career, Ricarda has observed a shift towards patient-centric treatment developments. This approach is gaining traction, with a focus on tailored therapies rather than relying solely on large-scale production lines for established products. Looking ahead, the development of novel agents must be forward-thinking and adaptable to emerging needs and technologies.

Advancing Global Health Preparedness and Therapeutic Innovation

At LenioBio, Ricarda emphasizes two primary internal focus areas that leverage the ALiCE platform’s capabilities:

• Pandemic Preparedness and Vaccine Development:

Objective: Developing vaccine candidates to support initiatives like CEPI’s (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) mission to develop vaccines within 100 days, learning from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Approach: The team is producing viral antigens and virus-like particles (VLPs). VLPs can be decorated with viral antigens to potentially enhance their immunogenicity.

Innovation: Incorporation of non-canonical amino acids and click chemistry to improve the vaccine candidates’ effectiveness and versatility.

• Development of Multispecifics:

Objective: Creating bispecific and trispecific antibodies, as well as fusion proteins, which require novel binding moieties.

Approach: Developing and optimizing novel production systems and protocols tailored for these complex molecules.

Innovation: Utilizing cell-free protein production to meet the unique demands of these advanced therapeutic candidates, making a significant difference in production efficiency and scalability.

By focusing on these areas, LenioBio aims to contribute to global health preparedness and push the boundaries of therapeutic development with innovative approaches and technologies.

Cultivating Growth

Ricarda’s leadership philosophy centers on leading by example and fostering an agile leadership style. She believes in “walking the talk” with her team, emphasizing the importance of mutual effort and collaboration in achieving goals. By embracing flexibility and adaptability, she ensures her leadership style can effectively respond to changing environments and emerging challenges. Ricarda values team members who are focused on continuous learning and improvement, prioritizing growth over perfection. She encourages an open mind towards new information and innovation, creating an environment where everyone is dedicated to getting better rather than merely being good.

Building effective teams that combine business insights with a drive for innovation and creativity is one of her core strengths. Ricarda looks for individuals who are committed to learning and improving, fostering a culture where personal and professional growth are paramount. Open communication and constructive feedback are crucial elements of her approach, as they promote transparency and trust within the team. Ricarda emphasizes the importance of managing ambiguities and uncertainties, understanding that building resilience is key to embracing change. This focus ensures her team can adapt to both internal and external shifts in the industry.

By promoting a growth mindset and agile leadership, Ricarda creates a supportive and dynamic environment where innovation and continuous improvement are at the forefront. Her philosophy ensures that her team is well-equipped to tackle challenges and deliver effective solutions for customers, driving success in a constantly evolving landscape.

Vision for LenioBio’s ALiCE Platform

Ricarda’s aspirations for the future of LenioBio focus on establishing the platform’s permanence and expanding its application in the biopharmaceutical industry. One of her primary goals is to successfully transfer the ALiCE platform to Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs) and biotech or biopharmaceutical companies. This strategic move aims to ensure that the cell-free protein production technology is not only here to stay but also widely available for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. By embedding the technology within these organizations, Ricarda envisions it becoming an integral part of the industry’s manufacturing processes, thereby driving innovation and efficiency in therapeutic development.

Additionally, Ricarda is committed to forging collaborations with innovative companies to develop groundbreaking drugs and initiate clinical development. She believes that by partnering with forward-thinking companies, LenioBio can harness the full potential of the ALiCE platform to bring novel therapeutics to the market. This collaboration will focus on leveraging the unique capabilities of cell-free protein production to create drugs that address unmet medical needs and improve patient outcomes. Ricarda’s vision for LenioBio encompasses both the technological advancement of the platform and its practical application in real-world drug development, ensuring that the company’s innovations translate into tangible benefits for the healthcare industry and patients worldwide.

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