Executive Management Team

Dr. Dongzhou Jeffery Liu was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Heidelberg Pharma AG and Managing Director of the subsidiary Heidelberg Pharma Research GmbH on 24 November 2025. Dr Liu is Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and President of Huadong Global Development at Huadong Medicine in Hangzhou, China. Prior to that he held various leading positions in the pharma industry in the US, including GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth (now Pfizer) and Forest Labs (now Abbvie). His more than 25 years of industry experience include clinical and preclinical research & development of medicinal products, including ADC products.

He obtained a PhD in Immunology/ Biochemistry from Nankai University, Tianjin, China, a Master of Science in computer sciences from New York Long Island University, New York, USA, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Nankai University.

Peter Willinger has been Chief Financial Officer of Heidelberg Pharma AG since May 2026. Prior to that he was CFO at the biotech company Apogenix AG and subsequently worked as an independent consultant.

Peter Willinger has more than 20 years of experience as Chief Financial Officer of private and publicly listed companies, such as SYGNIS Pharma AG and LION bioscience AG. During this time, he managed numerous transactions such as IPO, M&A and fundraising, and directed several departments, such as Finance, Human Resources, Legal/IP, Quality Assurance, Investor & Public Relations and Corporate Development.

He holds a degree in business administration from the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW).

Dr. Strassz has been appointed Chief Medical Officer in March 2021. He has already joined the company in April 2020 as Senior Medical Officer to build up the clinical development function. He has strong experience in clinical development, including in oncology. Dr. Strassz joined Heidelberg Pharma from Affimed, where he served as Medical Director. Previously, he held positions in clinical development at Sandoz and Amgen, among others. He holds both an MD and MBA from the University of Pécs, Hungary.

Dr. Badescu has been Chief Business Officer of Heidelberg Pharma AG since November 2021. Previously, he served as Vice President Business Development of the company. Before joining Heidelberg Pharma, Dr. Badescu was responsible for business development at Abzena Plc. He began his career at PolyTherics in London, where he led the antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) program. He is co-inventor of several patents in the field of bioconjugation and ADCs. He conducted his PhD in biological sciences at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Jörg Kemkowski has been Chief Operating Officer of Heidelberg Pharma AG since January 2023. He has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including positions at Byk Gulden, Altana, Nycomed, Takeda, Grünenthal, and most recently Bayer Animal Health (an Elanco Animal Health company). He holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine, a Master of Science in Applied Toxicology, and a Bachelor of Business Administration.