Meet the Leadership Team

As Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Silvia Steyrer-Gruber is responsible for Coriolis Pharma’s operational leadership and future development. Silvia is working closely with the Board of Directors.

Her motivation is to support Coriolis’ clients in developing new therapeutics and vaccines, many of them in areas of unmet medical need. The profound scientific expertise, the strong client focus, and the ability to shape a highly attractive workplace for the deeply engaged team attracted her to join Coriolis in early 2022.

Before joining Coriolis, Silvia gained strong international leadership experience in renowned pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, she served as Managing Director Europe and Germany for Exeltis (part of the Insud Pharma Group), leading the European pharmaceutical business of the family-owned, Spanish Multinational Healthcare Group.

Silvia spent an important part of her career at Baxter Vaccines, working in Global, European, and local roles of increasing responsibility. Her passion was focused on preventing potentially life-threatening diseases and Baxter’s engagement in Pandemic Preparedness Planning. Before this, Silvia also held roles in Kwizda Pharma and Serono.

Silvia holds a degree in International business administration from the University of Innsbruck, Austria. She also spent one year of her studies at the Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain.

Dr. Andrea Hawe is the Chief Scientific Officer at Coriolis. She is an expert in drug product development for biologics with a strong scientific background in protein formulation, surfactant and particle characterization, and lyophilization process technology. Andrea has published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters.

At Coriolis, Andrea is responsible for Science & Technology in close collaboration with Dr. Tim Menzen. She also leads the Coriolis Scientific Advisory Board. Andrea supports the business development and projects teams, the scientific advisors, and her internal team of scientific reviewers in developing new formulation concepts and designing the best project strategy for our clients. She continuously works to improve Coriolis’ scientific processes, scientific knowledge management, and staff training.

Andrea values Coriolis for the opportunity to work with our clients worldwide on developing very exciting and novel biopharmaceutical drug products. She is also passionate about creating a positive and motivating working environment where each team member’s contribution is encouraged to shape Coriolis Pharma’s future.

Her background is as a pharmacist with a PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology from the LMU Munich. After her PhD thesis, she continued her career as a postdoctoral scientist at the Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research (LACDR) in Leiden (The Netherlands). She was awarded a Veni grant (NWO, The Netherlands) to develop novel approaches for aggregate analysis. She joined Coriolis from the very beginning as a member of the founding team and has been supporting the company since 2008.

Dr. Tim Menzen is Coriolis’ Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He is a trained pharmacist who received his PhD from Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany.

Tim joined Coriolis in 2014 and is responsible for internal research projects and scientific relations, including collaborations with partners from industry and academia. He has co-authored over 20 publications, including book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Frank Schaubhut is the Chief Operating Officer at Coriolis. Frank is a trained pharmacist and received his PhD in pharmaceutical technology from the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany.

He gained several years of experience as a pharmacist before joining Coriolis in 2008, first as head of project management and later as head of operations.

Dr. Gerhard Sax is Chief of Staff and the Unit Leader Program Management at Coriolis. Gerhard is a trained pharmacist who received his PhD from Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany. He joined Coriolis in 2011, where he has held various roles and contributed to its success as Client Project Manager, Head of GMP Quality Control, and Business Unit Manager for analytical services under GMP.

Gerhard has been responsible for implementing new services and processes, such as establishing a GMP QC laboratory, implementing ATMP/S2 facilities, improving safety processes under GMP and GRP, and rolling out project management software.

Frédéric Gilot is Chief Financial Officer at Coriolis Pharma. He brings extensive experience in financial leadership, business transformation, and international operations, with a strong focus on healthcare and project-based environments.
Frédéric holds a background in business administration and finance. He started his career within the Big Four as an auditor before taking on senior finance and operational roles as Finance Director, Managing Director and Group CFO mostly within the pharmaceutical sector.

Frédéric joined Coriolis Pharma in April 2026. As CFO, he oversees financial strategy, corporate finance, and operational steering, with a focus on driving scalable growth, ensuring financial transparency and acting as a business partner. He also plays a key role in managing complex projects and supporting executive decision-making.

Dr. John Gabrielson is the President of Coriolis Pharma US Inc., where he is guiding the company’s U.S. expansion, establishing its laboratory operations in North Carolina, and defining its long-term strategic vision. A seasoned leader with a proven track record of scaling successful organizations, he most recently served as Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development at Sidewinder Therapeutics. His career is marked by high-impact leadership roles, including launching Similis Bio as SVP of Biosimilars at JSR Life Sciences and managing a team of 400 scientists as SVP of Analytical and Formulation Sciences at KBI Biopharma.

With over 20 years of expertise in biologics development, John’s entrepreneurial background includes co-founding Elion Labs, where he served as President and CEO. His leadership evolved from his early career at Amgen, where he directed analytical organizations supporting biologics at all stages of development. At the forefront of advancing analytical methods for biologics, John has contributed extensively to the field through numerous publications, bringing a deep commitment to advancing complex biologics through rigorously defined Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) pathways.

Dr. Michael Wiggenhorn is one of the founders of Coriolis Pharma.

As a member of the Board of Directors, he is being responsible for the strategic development of Coriolis Pharma.

His motivation lies in linking scientific research with the development of modern drugs and vaccines. At Coriolis Pharma, he creates the scientific and entrepreneurial conditions under which (bio)pharmaceutical innovations are created and developed to market maturity.

Dr. Michael Wiggenhorn holds a degree in pharmaceutical engineering (University of Applied Sciences Detmold) and a master’s degree in biopharmaceuticals (MSc. Biopharmaceuticals) from Leiden University in the Netherlands. He also holds a PhD in Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Technology (Dr. rer. nat.) from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany. Here he also developed the strategic foundations for Coriolis Pharma.

With Coriolis Pharma, Dr. Michael Wiggenhorn succeeded in establishing a professional network through which scientists from a wide range of disciplines contribute their individual expertise and experience to the development of innovative drugs and vaccines. Even as a start-up, the pharmacist, who holds a doctorate, focused on bundling the competencies of each individual employee in a targeted manner in order to use this networked know-how to meet customers’ requirements for high-quality, modern medicines. He consistently developed his entrepreneurial strategy in view of the company’s advancing growth.

In this way, Coriolis Pharma has become one of the world’s leading independent service companies for the research and development of (bio)pharmaceutical drugs.