FundaMental Pharma GmbH, a neuroscience company developing first-in-class small molecule inhibitors for the treatment of a range of neurodegenerative diseases, has appointed Dr. Dirk Beher as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Board member.
 
Beher assumes this role from Dr. Thomas Schulze, who co-founded FundaMental and has been at the helm since its inception. Schulze will transition to the Board of Directors as part of a planned succession strategy.

About Dr. Beher

Beher brings a wealth of experience to FundaMental, having served as a successful founder, drug developer, and long-time Chief Executive Officer in the European biotech sector. Previously, he led Asceneuron, a CNS-focused biotech company he co-founded, for over a decade. Under his leadership, Asceneuron secured significant funding and advanced two programs from early discovery into clinical trials.
 
Before his tenure in biotech leadership, Beher spent 14 years in pharmaceutical drug discovery, leading R&D teams at global organizations such as Merck Sharp & Dohme (UK), Amgen (USA), and Merck Serono (CH). Beher was educated at the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Germany and holds a Diploma (M.S.) and a Ph.D. in Biology. He is an inventor and holds numerous patents and is an author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications and reviews in the field of neurodegeneration.
 
“FundaMental is working on a novel mechanism of action that blocks glutamate neurotoxicity without the undesired effects on the function of synaptic glutamate receptors which positions the company as a distinct player in field of neurodegeneration,” said Beher. “I am excited to join FundaMental to build on the excellent foundations Thomas and his team have laid while further scaling of the Company into a fully-fledged biotech to bring much needed medicines to patients“.
 
Alongside the new CEO appointment, FundaMental welcomes the Novartis Venture Fund to its existing group of seed investors, increasing the seed financing to €12.7 million. As a result, Dr. Mathias Frederiksen from the Novartis Venture Fund will join the FundaMental Board of Directors as a Non-Executive Director.