Eckhard G. Guenther

Eckhard was appointed as Managing Director of Aeterna Zentaris GmbH in January 2020, and Vice President of Business Development & Alliance Management in 2018. Dr. Guenther brings more than 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry, with profound knowledge and expertise in drug discovery and development in various indication areas like oncology and endocrinology. Additionally, over the course of his career he has gained extensive experience across research coordination, project management, intellectual properties and business development.

After receiving his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Martin-Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (Germany), he started his industrial career at Fahlberg-List Magdeburg in 1985. In 1990 he joined ASTA Medica AG in Frankfurt where he worked in the department of Medicinal Chemistry. During his time at ASTA Medica, Dr. Guenther was significantly involved in the preparation and execution for the spin-off of the biotechnology company Zentaris from ASTA Medica. After the founding of Aeterna Zentaris in 2002 he was appointed to Vice President of Drug Discovery and Preclinical Research. In 2008 he was promoted to Vice President Alliance Management & Intellectual Property and in 2014 he became Vice President of Business Development at Aeterna Zentaris. Dr. Guenther was responsible for the initiation and execution of several R&D and licensing deals with midsize and large international pharmaceutical companies, like Schering Pharma, Solvay, Yakult Honsha, Hikma Pharmaceuticals and Sinopharm A-Think. Dr. Guenther is based in Frankfurt, Germany.