Dr. Michael Bauer
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

is an experienced biotech entrepreneur and executive with a proven track record as CEO, Board membership, and other senior R&D leadership roles in the life sciences industry. Having worked in global corporations, mid-size and small biotech companies, his focus is advancing innovative, first-in-class cancer therapeutics, including transcription factor targeting drugs, into clinical development. While most projects have reached clinical proof of concept, some have advanced to Phase 3 clinical trials and reached approval.
Prior to joining QUANTRO, Dr. Bauer was Co-founder, CEO, and a member of the Board of Directors at Cellestia Biotech AG (Basel, Switzerland), where he led the company from an early-stage academic spin-off into a pioneering oncology R&D company, closely integrating drug discovery, development and diagnostic approaches for patient selection and response tracking. Beyond advancing a novel protein-protein interaction (PPI) inhibitor of the NOTCH transcriptional activation complex into a successful Phase 2 clinical program in oncology and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, he led the company in building an innovative discovery pipeline for small-molecule inhibitors targeting so-far undruggable transcription factor targets in cancer. During his tenure, he raised significant funds from a global shareholder base in the EU, USA, and Asia. In his earlier career, he held management roles of increasing responsibility, gaining years of experience in leading global development projects, covering the full range of development, from preclinical research to clinical development, including IND and NDA submissions. Dr. Bauer holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and an M.Sc. in Chemistry.

Dr. Arianna Sabò
Head of Research and Discovery

is an accomplished molecular biologist with a distinguished career in cancer research. She obtained her PhD in Molecular Biology from the prestigious Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy. Following her PhD, Arianna continued her research at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan, Italy, where she completed her postdoctoral fellowship.
Throughout her academic career, Arianna has made significant contributions to the field of oncology. Her pioneering research has elucidated critical aspects of the oncogenic transcription factor MYC, integrating cutting edge transcriptomics and functional genomics approaches. This work has been instrumental in advancing the scientific community’s understanding of MYC activity and its implications for cancer biology.
Arianna’s research excellence is evident in her 20+ papers in high-impact scientific journals and her successful funding from national and international cancer organisations, showcasing her leadership and ability for innovation.
Since 2021, Arianna has led QUANTRO’s R&D team composed by bioinformaticians, molecular and cancer biologists. She oversees the drug discovery process from target selection and assay development to high throughput screening and pharmacology.

Dr. Pascal Benderitter
Head of Medical Chemistry

holds two master’s degrees in organic chemistry and macromolecular chemistry from the University of Haute Alsace (France). He furthered his education with an industrial Ph.D. from the University of Strasbourg alongside a master’s degree in pharmacology.
With 17 years of industrial experience in small molecule drug discovery, Pascal is a seasoned expert in the field, boasting a distinguished track record as a program director. His extensive experience spans both small and larger organisations (Novartis, Janssen, AC Immune, Oncodesign) where he has contributed to early discovery programs (hit generation) all the way up to the identification and selection of three preclinical candidates. Notably, his efforts include the development of OPM-101, a highly potent, selective and orally bioavailableRIPK2 inhibitor, currently in clinical stage.
At Oncodesign his work encompassed numerous therapeutic areas, including neurobiology, immunology, oncology, infectious disorders and rare metabolic disorders.
Currently at Quantro, he oversees medicinal chemistry and outsourced activities, including discovery chemistry, DMPK, structural biology and chemoinformatics.