Draft:Maria J. Wurm

Maria J. Wurm
Maria J. Wurm
Born	1965
Citizenship	Swiss-Portuguese
Alma mater	New University of Lisbon, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
Known for	Development of complex life-science products and services for clinical use
	Scientific career
Fields	Healthcare solutions, Engineering, Cell biology, Biochemistry
Institutions	ExcellGene SA, Magellan Biologics LDA, Caravella Biopharma SA

Maria J. Wurm (born 1965) is a Swiss-Portuguese scientist and entrepreneur known for her contributions to healthcare solutions, applying knowledge in engineering, cell biology, and biochemistry. She has co-founded and managed several companies, including ExcellGene SA, Magellan Biologics LDA, and Caravella Biopharma SA, which focus on developing complex life-science products and services for clinical use utilizing cultivated plant and animal cells. Earlier in her career, Maria published under the last name De Jesus.

Education and Early Career

Maria earned a degree in Environmental Engineering at the New University of Lisbon and received a Portuguese scholarship to pursue her PhD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Her thesis work centered on bioreactor-cultivated plant cells to produce pigments for the food industry.^[1] Later, she became a Senior Scientist using recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells for the generation of therapeutic candidate proteins. Her innovative technology for mL-volume high-throughput cell culture led to breakthrough results, inspiring the development of plastic-based bioreactors sold globally (TubeSpin bioreactor).^[2] In 2001, she left academia to co-found ExcellGene.

Entrepreneurial Ventures

ExcellGene SA (Switzerland, 2001)

ExcellGene SA provides services for the generation of biopharmaceuticals, from DNA to clinical use. Maria was instrumental in establishing the company's functional operation and client acquisition. As laboratory director (2002), COO (2010), and CEO (2017), she developed mammalian cell-based technology for therapeutic production, providing access to clinical trials for hundreds of clients worldwide. The company's research in molecular biology, cell physiology, genetics, and process engineering for cell-based manufacturing provides unique and wide-ranging recognition of ExcellGene.^[3]^[4] Pioneering transposon-mediated gene transfer to CHO cells, this concept is now widely used in the industry.^[5] Also, ExcellGene was the first in 2020 to provide Corona virus spike proteins for vaccines and for diagnostic purposes.^[6]^[7] The company employs >50 co-workers in 2024.

Magellan Biologics and Consulting LDA (Portugal, 2014)

Founded in Portugal and in return for the scholarship received by Maria in the 1990s, Magellan Biologics and Consulting LDA generates life-science products and provides employment for 4 co-workers (2024). A first line of innovative gene-transfer products has entered international markets. This technology is the result of years of research at the EPFL and at ExcellGene with numerous publications.^[8] A US patent has recently been granted for this technology.^[9]

Caravella Biopharma (Switzerland, 2016)

Caravella Biopharma is a spin-off from ExcellGene for the development of protein-based therapies for rare diseases. The first product, for which a patent application has been filed, is geared towards the treatment of Alpha-1 AntiTrypsin Deficiency. The product has achieved in July 2020 Orphan Drug Designation by the US-American Food and Drug Administration and is soon to enter clinical trials.^[10]

Research towards industry-impact solutions

Maria Wurm is one of the very few CEOs in the biopharmaceutical industry who continue to be active in fundamental research. Her profound understanding of the needs of the biopharma industry leads her to direct research at ExcellGene towards solutions that have direct and lasting impact. She has co-authored more than 50 highly referenced papers, with more than 1600 citations (2024).

References

^ De Jesus, M., Leathers, R., Schwitzguebel, J.-P. and Zrÿd, J.-P. (1992). The effect of initial carbon concentration on culture growth and betalain biosynthesis in high betacyanin-yielding cell suspensions of Beta vulgaris. Experientia, 48, p. 10.
^ De Jesus, M., Girard, P., Bourgeois, M., Baumgartner, G., Jacko, B., Amstutz, H., Wurm F.M. (2004). TubeSpin satellites: a fast track approach for process development with animal cells using shaking technology. Biochemical Engineering Journal 17, 217-223.
^ Hunt, L., De Jesus, M. Wurm, F.M. (2009) Medium and process development for high yield, high-density suspension cultures: From low throughput spinner flasks to high throughput milliliter reactors Bioprocess International, Vol 7, Suppl. 1, February 2009, p13- p19.
^ De Jesus, M., and F.M. Wurm (2011). Manufacturing Recombinant Proteins in kg-ton Quantities using Animal Cells in Bioreactors. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, European J. Pharm Biopharm vol 78,2,184-188.
^ Matasci, M., Baldi, L., Hacker, D.L., Wurm, F. M. (2011) The PiggyBac Transposon Enhances the Frequency of CHO Stable Cell Line Generation and Yields Recombinant Lines with Superior Productivity and Stability. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 108, 9, 2141-2150.
^ Pino, P., Kint, J., Kiseljak, D., Agnolon, V., Corradin, G., Kajava, A., Rovero, P., Dijkman, R., Hartog, G.d., McLellan, J., Byrne, P.O., Wurm, M.J. and Wurm, F.M. (2020) Trimeric SARS-CoV-2 Spike Proteins Produced from CHO Cells in Bioreactors Are High-Quality Antigens. Processes 2020, 8, 1539; doi:10.3390/pr812153.
^ Counoupas, C., Pino, P., Stella, A.O., Wurm, M.J. et al. (2022) High-titer-neutralising antibodies against the SARS-CoV2 Delta variant induced by All hydroxyquim-Il-adjuvanted trimeric spike antigens. Microbiol Spectr. 10(1) e0169521. Doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01695-21.
^ Stettler, M., Zhang, X., Hacker, D.L., De Jesus, M., and Wurm, F.M. (2007). Novel orbital shake bioreactors for transient production of CHO derived IgGs. Biotechnol. Prog. 23 (6), pp. 1340-1346.
^ Wurm, F.M., Wurm, M. J., Rodrigues, M. de Lourdes, Kiseljak, D., Bürki, C., Pugin, C., Raussin, G. (Sept. 5, 2023) Novel Eukaryotic Cell Transfection Systems and Related Methods. US 11,746,360 B2.
^ Wurm, M.J., Wurm, F.M., Janciauskiene, S., Hamacher, J., Stammberger, U. Methods of producing and using recombinant Alpha 1-Antitrypsin and compositions thereof (2018) WO/2020/152653, PCT/IB2020/050581.

External links

Draft article not currently submitted for review.

This is a draft Articles for creation (AfC) submission. It is not currently pending review. While there are no deadlines, abandoned drafts may be deleted after six months. To edit the draft click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window.

To be accepted, a draft should:

Show the subject qualifies for a Wikipedia article by using multiple sources that meet four criteria. The sources should be (1) reliable (2) secondary (3) independent of the subject (4) talk about the subject in some depth. For some topics, there are alternative criteria.
Be written from a neutral point of view
Respect copyright and do not plagiarize. Do not copy-paste.

It is strongly discouraged to write about yourself, your business or employer. If you do so, you must declare it.

Where to get help

If you need help editing or submitting your draft, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. These venues are only for help with editing and the submission process, not to get reviews.
If you need feedback on your draft, or if the review is taking a lot of time, you can try asking for help on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject. Some WikiProjects are more active than others so a speedy reply is not guaranteed.

How to improve a draft

Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a basic overview on how to edit Wikipedia.
Help:Wikitext – how to use the markup
Help:Referencing for beginners – how to include references
Wikipedia:Article development – how to develop your article
Wikipedia:Writing better articles – how to improve your article
Wikipedia:Verifiability – make sure your article includes reliable third-party sources

You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article.

Improving your odds of a speedy review

To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags.

Add tags to your draft

Editor resources

Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs

Last edited by Tsulacus (talk | contribs) 4 days ago. (Update)

Submit the draft for review!

References

[1] De Jesus, M., Leathers, R., Schwitzguebel, J.-P. and Zrÿd, J.-P. (1992). The effect of initial carbon concentration on culture growth and betalain biosynthesis in high betacyanin-yielding cell suspensions of Beta vulgaris. Experientia, 48, p. 10.

[2] De Jesus, M., Girard, P., Bourgeois, M., Baumgartner, G., Jacko, B., Amstutz, H., Wurm F.M. (2004). TubeSpin satellites: a fast track approach for process development with animal cells using shaking technology. Biochemical Engineering Journal 17, 217-223.

[3] Hunt, L., De Jesus, M. Wurm, F.M. (2009) Medium and process development for high yield, high-density suspension cultures: From low throughput spinner flasks to high throughput milliliter reactors Bioprocess International, Vol 7, Suppl. 1, February 2009, p13- p19.

[4] De Jesus, M., and F.M. Wurm (2011). Manufacturing Recombinant Proteins in kg-ton Quantities using Animal Cells in Bioreactors. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, European J. Pharm Biopharm vol 78,2,184-188.

[5] Matasci, M., Baldi, L., Hacker, D.L., Wurm, F. M. (2011) The PiggyBac Transposon Enhances the Frequency of CHO Stable Cell Line Generation and Yields Recombinant Lines with Superior Productivity and Stability. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 108, 9, 2141-2150.

[6] Pino, P., Kint, J., Kiseljak, D., Agnolon, V., Corradin, G., Kajava, A., Rovero, P., Dijkman, R., Hartog, G.d., McLellan, J., Byrne, P.O., Wurm, M.J. and Wurm, F.M. (2020) Trimeric SARS-CoV-2 Spike Proteins Produced from CHO Cells in Bioreactors Are High-Quality Antigens. Processes 2020, 8, 1539; doi:10.3390/pr812153.

[7] Counoupas, C., Pino, P., Stella, A.O., Wurm, M.J. et al. (2022) High-titer-neutralising antibodies against the SARS-CoV2 Delta variant induced by All hydroxyquim-Il-adjuvanted trimeric spike antigens. Microbiol Spectr. 10(1) e0169521. Doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01695-21.

[8] Stettler, M., Zhang, X., Hacker, D.L., De Jesus, M., and Wurm, F.M. (2007). Novel orbital shake bioreactors for transient production of CHO derived IgGs. Biotechnol. Prog. 23 (6), pp. 1340-1346.

[9] Wurm, F.M., Wurm, M. J., Rodrigues, M. de Lourdes, Kiseljak, D., Bürki, C., Pugin, C., Raussin, G. (Sept. 5, 2023) Novel Eukaryotic Cell Transfection Systems and Related Methods. US 11,746,360 B2.

[10] Wurm, M.J., Wurm, F.M., Janciauskiene, S., Hamacher, J., Stammberger, U. Methods of producing and using recombinant Alpha 1-Antitrypsin and compositions thereof (2018) WO/2020/152653, PCT/IB2020/050581.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]