Vakzine Projekt Management GmbH (VPM) is a private vaccine and biopharmaceutical development company with a high potential for value creation. The company was founded in August 2002 and is based in Hannover, Germany. VPM’s product portfolio targets combined markets of over 6 billion € in cancer, multiple sclerosis and infectious diseases. Each product is developed together with partners with specific expertise in the respective fields. VPM does not bind capital in its own laboratories or plants, but focuses on efficient management of its projects. In general VPM holds worldwide exclusive licence for all of its products. Together with its consortium partners VPM also offers services to third parties.

Main staff involved in the project

Dr. Leander Grode (1970) joined VPM in May 2003. As a manager, he was responsible for all of VPM´s projects until June 2005. Since April 2008 he has been in charge of Business Development. Leander Grode studied biology in Giessen and Frankfurt/Main, Germany, with a focus on cell biology and zoology. As a fellow student he visited the lab of Professor John Watson at the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the University of California San Francisco, USA. He graduated in 1997 in biology from the Max-Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt/Main, Department of Molecular Membrane biology, under the supervision of Professor Hartmut Michel. In 2000 he graduated as a PhD from the Max-Planck Institute of Infection Biology, Department of Immunology under Professor Stefan H.E. Kaufmann. The focus of his thesis was on vaccine development against tuberculosis, based on live carriers, such as Salmonella or Mycobacterium bovis BCG. Between 2001 and 2003 Leander Grode was the coordinator of the vaccine development group at the MPI at the department of Immunology.

Tasks in the project

• VPM will support consortium research groups in evaluating their results for IP protection and for further planning of the R&D programs.
• VPM helps submit clinical trial documents to the respective authorities in Germany (Paul-Ehrlich Institute) or EMEA.
• VPM carries out evaluations of projects and project portfolios in the field of vaccines and pharmaceuticals in the consortium.

In a nutshell, Vakzine Projekt Management GmbH (VPM) acquires promising vaccine candidates from academia, develops them with a consortium of partners and commercialises the results.