Anette Sommer, PhD

Head of R&D at Synaffix BV

Speaker

Anette Sommer is a biochemist by training and has more than 25 years of experience in Pharma R&D. Anette is the Head of R&D at Synaffix BV - a Lonza company. Previously, she was the Emerging Science & Innovation Lead (ESL) Oncology Europe at Pfizer. In this role, she was responsible for search and evaluation of novel preclinical stage opportunities for cancer therapies in Europe – starting from validated targets up to IND stage assets and covering also R&D technology platforms.

Prior to joining Pfizer, Anette held several positions in drug discovery at Schering AG and Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany – covering all stages of the R&D value chain: from target identification, lead optimization, to being project leader and being member of global project teams for clinical stage assets. As a Principal Scientist she supported external academic alliances and consortia, due diligences and the creation of a spin-off company in the ADC field. Anette studied biochemistry at the Universities of Hannover (Germany) and Glasgow (UK). She was awarded a doctorate after performing research at the Medical School Hannover (MHH), and was a postdoctoral research fellow at MHH and Schering AG. Anette is co-author of >50 scientific publications and >10 patent applications.