Dr. Alessandro Banchi

Dr. Banchi was Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors of Boehringer Ingelheim until 31st of December 2008.

After classical humanistic studies in high school he became Dr. in Chemical Engineering. Dr. Banchi started his professional experience in a small Italian pharmaceutical company in sales. In 1973 he joined Boehringer Ingelheim and held different positions in Italy, USA and Germany. The consideration and the respect enjoyed from Dr. Banchi in the business community are recognised by numerous positions he has held in international associations and committees.

Prof. em. Dr. Hans P. Merkle

Prof. Merkle is professor emeritus of the ETH Zurich (Switzerland) where he held the Chair of Drug Formulation and Delivery until January 2008.

The research of his group focused on the (i) delivery of therapeutics through epithelial barriers, (ii) preformulation and formulation of therapeutic peptides and proteins, (iii) particulate vaccine delivery systems, and (iv) biodegradable polymeric systems and scaffolds for the localized delivery of growth factors in tissue engineering. He served on the boards of several scientific journals and is Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists AAPS.

Dr. Giuseppe Vita

Dr. Vita was long-standing CEO of Schering AG, Berlin. A radiologist by training, Dr. Vita held several positions of increasing importance at Schering AG.

He was active in clinical research in Berlin before appointed head of Schering’s Italian subsidiary. After his tenure as CEO of Schering he became Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Dr. Vita has also been active on other boards, including at firms Axel Springer, Deutz and Allianz’s Italy division. Since August 2008, Dr. Vita is private shareholder in ALRISE and head of its Advisory Board.