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Prof. Florian M. Wurm, PhD (1979), is a German-trained biologist and geneticist whose career has shaped modern biomanufacturing with mammalian cells. For more than four decades, he has specialized in CHO cell systems and bioreactor-based production of recombinant proteins. He spent the first 15 years of his career at Behringwerke (Marburg, Germany) and later at Genentech (San Francisco, USA). During his tenure at Genentech (1985–1995), his work played a key role in establishing the high-yield manufacturing processes for several major biotherapeutics, including Herceptin®, Pulmozyme®, and TNKase® (TPA). In 1995, he was appointed Chairman and Professor of Biotechnology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), where he built a research program in process sciences. He went on to found ExcellGene SA in 2001 in Monthey, Switzerland—today a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in the use of animal cells in bioreactors. His more than 30 PhD students hold leading positions in the biotech/pharmaceutical field and in academia. He co-founded, together with his wife Maria J. Wurm ExcellGene SA, Magellan Biologics and Consulting LDA and Caravella Biopharma SA - all self-funded and active. In 2025 ExcellGene and Magellan were merged into the company ExcellGene Group SA. A member of the European Society of Animal Cell Technology and its' former chairman, his scientific interest and productivity is visible through his more than 300 scientific publications/patents. He serves as editor and reviewer for numerous biotechnology journals. He is also an established lecturer on methods and principles from DNA to process and product in mammalian cell systems. His scientific contributions span gene transfer and amplification, the development of high-performance host and recombinant cell lines for suspension culture, and innovations in bioreactor technology, including large-scale orbital-shaking systems reaching up to 2,500 liters. He retired from EPFL in 2015 and remains actively engaged in both fundamental and applied research.
CHO cell genetics, gene transfer, protein production from cells in bioreactors - DNA to large scale manufacturing - > 300 scientific publications/patents/patent applications.
Florian maintains an active role in the science and technology development at ExcellGene and leads a young team of highly motivated researchers to further developments in protein and biologics manufacturing from animal cells in bioreactors.