Leadership
Management
Dr. Nisit Khandelwal
Co-Founder & CEO
Nisit is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cycuria. Before establishing Cycuria, he founded iOmx Therapeutics in 2016, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology biotech company based in Munich, Germany, that successfully raised over €110 million in venture financing. Nisit has held pivotal roles within iOmx, beginning as the Head of Research and advancing to Chief Technology Officer and Managing Director.
Nisit completed his Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT University) in India. He then pursued a Masters by Research in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, followed by a PhD in Translational Immunology from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany, under the mentorship of Prof. Dr. Philipp Beckhove. He was PI for a joint research project between the German Cancer Research Center and Bayer Health Care from 2014-2016.
In 2016, with an impressive €40 million Series A funding, Nisit co-founded iOmx Therapeutics. He is a passionate entrepreneur with deep expertise in platform technologies and early-stage oncology drug discovery and development. Nisit is the lead inventor on several granted and filed patents and has authored numerous high-impact scientific publications in the field of cancer immunotherapy.
Prof. Dr. Philipp J. Jost
Inventor & Co-Founder
Philipp J. Jost is the scientific founder and Managing Director of Cycuria. He is a full Professor for Clinical Oncology and Director of the Clinical Department of Oncology and the University Palliative Care Unit at the Medical University of Graz, Austria. In addition, he serves as Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center of the Medical University of Graz, Austria. He is a board-certified hematologist and medical oncologist having received training at the Technical University of Munich (Germany), the Imperial College London (UK) as well as at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne (Australia).
As a physician scientist, his lab focuses on the basic principles of oncogenic signaling, cell death and inflammation with an emphasis on the clinical context. He showed that FAS, an inflammatory cytokine receptor from the TNF receptor family, provides pro-death signals (Jost et al., Nature, 2009). His lab then showed that cell death induced inflammation serves as a tumor suppressive mechanism in myeloid leukemia (Höckendorf et al, Cancer Cell 2016), which served as a stepping stone to show also alternative aspects of cell death-induced inflammation in cancer. His work was published as lead author in journals such as Nature, Cancer Cell and Molecular Cell and was awarded with the German endowed Mildred Scheel-Professorship award (not accepted due to transition to Austria), a Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) award and the excellence program award of the German Cancer Aid (Max Eder Program).
Advisors
John Haurum, M.D., D.Phil.
Corporate Advisor
John Haurum is chair of the board of Solid Therapeutics (DK) and Synklino (DK) and holds non-executive director positions in MC2 Therapeutics (DK), Neophore (UK), and Saniona (DK).
He was previously the CEO of F-star in Cambridge, UK (2012-2018), where he built a successful biotech company, that progressed several products into clinical development, and completed four M&A or licensing transactions with biopharma partners (BMS, AbbVie, Merck, and Denali).
Previously he was VP Research at ImClone Systems, New York (2010-2012) and cofounder and Chief Scientific Officer of Symphogen A/S, Denmark (2000-2009). After graduating in Medicine in Aarhus Denmark 1992, Dr. Haurum received a D.Phil. in Immunology from the Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, England.
Dr. Bertolt Kreft
Scientific Advisor
Bertolt Kreft is currently serving as the Chief Scientific Officer and member of the Executive Team of Bright Peak Therapeutics. Having spent >25 years in pharmaceutical and biotech industry, he is an expert in cancer drug discovery with an excellent understanding of the entire R&D process from target validation through lead discovery/optimization, non-clinical and early clinical development. His drug discovery expertise covers a broad range of therapeutic modalities including low-MW kinase inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, bispecific T cell engagers, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), radioligand therapies (RLT), as well as enhanced cytokines and immunoconjugates (IC).
Prior to joining Bright Peak, Bertolt served as VP Immuno-Oncology at Bayer AG where he was responsible for cancer drug discovery efforts focused on Immuno-Oncology and biologics including ADCs, targeted alpha-emitters and other Ab-based formats. Bertolt entered pharmaceutical industry with Schering AG where he held positions of increasing responsibility including group leader in target identification & validation. He received a PhD in biochemistry from the Free University Berlin/Charité (Germany), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Prof. Dr. Andrew Wei
Scientific Advisor
Professor Andrew Wei is a clinical hematologist at the Peter MacCallum Center and the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Dr Wei is a laboratory head in the division of Blood Cells and Blood Cancers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), where his laboratory conducts translational research into acute myeloid leukemia.
He chaired the Acute Leukemia Working party for the Australasian Leukemia and Lymphoma Group from 2009-2025 and is an international expert in AML, leading clinical trial programs that have contributed to regulatory approvals and changes in clinical practice. His areas of expertise are acute myeloid leukemia, new therapeutic targets and development of clinical trials focused on targeting measurable residual disease and TP53 mutation.
Prof. Dr. Felix Wieland
Scientific Advisor
Felix Wieland is a distinguished biochemist with a career marked by groundbreaking contributions to molecular biology and biochemistry. He earned his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich where he worked with Nobel laureate Feodor Lynen to elucidate the molecular structure of the fatty acid synthase complex, a pivotal molecular machine. Thereafter, at the University of Regensburg, Dr. Wieland discovered the structure and biosynthesis of the first known bacterial glycoprotein, revealing novel glycoconjugate structures and linkages.
During his time as a visiting professor with Jim Rothman (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2013) at Stanford University, he defined key mechanisms of vesicle transport in eukaryotic cells. Continuing this research as a Full Professor and founding director of the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center, he advanced the understanding of intracellular transport processes and discovered a novel mechanistic principle of protein activity regulation based on a highly specific interaction of membrane protein trans-membrane domains with molecular species of membrane lipids. Dr. Wieland has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Heinrich Wieland Prize, and is an elected member of prestigious scientific societies such as EMBO and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. In addition to his academic achievements, he has served as a senior advisor to life sciences companies and as Managing Editor of FEBS Letters for two decades.
Prof. Dr. Walter Nickel
Scientific Advisor
Walter Nickel is a Professor for Biochemistry at Heidelberg University (Germany) and the Managing Director of Heidelberg University’s Biochemistry Center. He studied at Göttingen University (Germany) where he also obtained a doctoral degree in the natural sciences. Following post-doctoral research with Felix T. Wieland at the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center and James E. Rothman at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY, USA), he obtained a full professorship in Biochemistry at Heidelberg University, both steering a research group and teaching Bachelor and Master students in Biochemistry.
Walter Nickel is known for the elucidation of the mechanism of the unconventional secretory pathway of Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 (FGF2), a potent cell survival factor involved in tumor-induced angiogenesis.
Investors
Wieland Capital is an entrepreneurial family office focused on creating long-term value through strategic direct investments in diverse industries, with a strong emphasis on life sciences and healthcare, where it has a proven track record. The company is a shareholder in peptido (a manufacturer of APIs) and in Schlafender Hase (text comparison software for regulatory departments of pharma companies), as well as a lead investor and board member in several biotech companies, including Noscendo and Lifespin. It was an investor in Phagomed, which was acquired by BioNTech in 2021. With an extensive network spanning the scientific community and life-science investors, Wieland Capital brings industry expertise and a collaborative approach to drive sustainable growth and innovation.