VERAXA Biotech has appointed Raju Willener as Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately, adding an executive with more than three decades of experience across capital markets, corporate finance, investment management and strategic leadership.
Willener will report to Christoph Antz, Ph.D., CEO and Co-Founder of VERAXA.
The appointment comes as the company advances its proprietary BiTAC technology platform and oncology pipeline.
Willener has held senior positions including Chief Financial Officer, Chief Investment Officer, Country Head and Head of Corporate Finance across the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Before joining VERAXA, he served as Director of Corporate Development at Exentis Group, and was appointed CFO of that company in 2025.
At Exentis, he led M&A initiatives, financial strategy and other corporate functions.
Earlier in his career, Willener held executive and investment leadership positions at global financial institutions and investment firms.
His responsibilities included corporate finance, capital markets, investor relations and oversight of investment portfolios representing more than CHF 30 billion in assets under management.
VERAXA is developing next-generation antibody-based cancer therapies, including conditionally active T cell engagers, bispecific antibody-drug conjugates and proprietary BiTAC formats.
The company has also implemented FDA-aligned New Approach Methodologies across its preclinical programs as it works to advance its candidates toward clinical development.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are delighted to welcome Raju at an important stage in the Company’s evolution. His extensive experience in global capital markets, corporate finance, M&A and investment management adds significant financial and strategic depth to our leadership team. As we advance our proprietary BiTAC® technology platform and growing oncology pipeline, Raju’s expertise will be highly valuable in optimizing our capital strategy, evaluating strategic opportunities and supporting disciplined execution and long-term shareholder value creation. At the same time, we would like to extend a special thank you to Carl von Halem for his outstanding and great support as the former CFO of VERAXA.”
Christoph Antz, Ph.D., CEO and Co-Founder of VERAXA Biotech
“VERAXA has built a highly differentiated technology platform and a compelling oncology pipeline at an important stage of its development. I am excited to join the Company and work alongside Christoph and the leadership team to further strengthen VERAXA’s financial and capital markets strategy, support disciplined capital allocation and pursue strategic opportunities that can accelerate development of a differentiated pipeline and create sustainable long-term value for shareholders.”
Raju Willener, Chief Financial Officer of VERAXA Biotech
