Oskar Smrzka

Co-founder - CEO/CSO at Ablevia biotech GmbH

Speaker

Oskar Smrzka has a diverse background in fundamental science and the biotech industry, with expertise spanning rare genetic diseases to cancer. He founded Ablevia, a Vienna-based startup focused on removing anti-drug and anti-vector antibodies from blood. As the inventor of a versatile injectable decoy drug, he developed a method for rapidly and selectively eliminating harmful antibodies from circulation.

Prior to this, he worked as a researcher at top institutions like IMP Vienna, the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, and Institut Curie in Paris, and set up the enabling technology department at AFFiRiS, a Vienna-based peptide-vaccine company. His work included initiating target discovery programs in Allergy and Huntington's disease and developing selective apheresis- and therapeutic antibody-based approaches, earning multiple patents and publications.

As CEO/CSO of Ablevia, he is leading the development of precision therapeutics to address pathogenic and drug-inhibiting antibodies in various rare diseases.