About Us
Pioneers in target-restricted costimulation for hard-to-treat solid tumors
TWYCE is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing bispecific antibodies that combine tumor targeting with TME-anchored CD28 costimulation to achieve sustained immune responses in solid tumors. The company was founded by a team with long-standing expertise in bispecific antibody development and CD28 costimulation, clinical translation and company building.
Two targets, two signals
Delivering two-site immunotherapy
Our mission is to enable more effective and durable T cell responses in solid tumors by combining tumor targeting with TME-anchored CD28 costimulation. TME-anchored costimulation constitutes a new layer of cancer immunotherapy, built to improve efficacy of multiple therapeutic approaches activating T cells via Signal 1.
Who We Are
Founded by serial biotech entrepreneurs and pioneers in bispecifics and CD28 costimulation therapy
TWYCE was founded as a spin-off from University Hospital Tübingen and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) by a team with long-standing experience in turning immuno-oncology science into clinical-stage programs. Our founders combine pioneering expertise in CD28 costimulation and bispecific antibodies with a track record in translational development, clinical testing and biotech company building, including the academic out-licensing of a TCE program that has advanced to registrational Phase 2 clinical development.
Pioneers and Company Builders
Leadership team
Team member
Martin Pflügler, PhD, MBA
CEO / Founder
Martin Pflügler is a pharmacist, pharmaceutical scientist and biotechnology executive whose career has focused on translating novel antibody concepts into manufacturable, clinically deployable cancer therapeutics. He studied pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and began working on therapeutic antibodies during his master’s thesis at Roche. He later joined Synimmune GmbH, a University of Tübingen spin-off. His doctoral research focused on antibody engineering. Alongside this research, he helped establish quality-control capabilities for the young company.
After completing his PhD, Martin continued his work in the laboratory of Prof. Gundram Jung at the University of Tübingen, focusing on the discovery, development and production of bispecific antibodies. From 2017 to 2023, he managed translational antibody projects within the Clinical Collaboration Unit Translational Immunology of the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and University Hospital Tübingen. Working across research, manufacturing and clinical development, he accompanied several bispecific antibodies towards clinical use and oversaw their GMP production at an external CDMO. This work brings together his expertise in antibody design, process development, quality systems and translational project management.
Martin is an inventor on multiple patents covering novel bispecific antibody formats and clinical-stage immunotherapy candidates. Among these is intellectual property relating to target-cell-restricted CD28 costimulatory antibodies developed together with Gundram Jung, Helmut Salih and colleagues.
Alongside his scientific and technical training, Martin earned an MBA in International Management from ESB Business School at Reutlingen University in 2020, complementing his development expertise with a commercial and organizational perspective. In 2023, he founded TWYCE together with Gundram Jung and Helmut Salih and serves as the company’s CEO.
Team member
Gundram Jung, MD
CSO / Founder
Gundram Jung is a physician-scientist and one of the pioneers of bispecific antibody-mediated T cell costimulation. Trained across physics and medicine at the Universities of Karlsruhe, Munich, Münster and Tübingen, he started developing bispecific antibodies during a postdoctoral fellowship at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, San Diego in the mid-1980s. His research established the concept of combining tumor targeting with CD28-mediated costimulation to enhance T cell responses against cancer.
During his clinical training in internal medicine, hematology and oncology at University Hospital Großhadern in Munich, Gundram led the first clinical study evaluating bispecific CD28 antibodies in humans. His group was already publishing on CD3/CD28 costimulation in bispecific-antibody approaches to cancer treatment in the 1980s, work that anticipated a therapeutic strategy now receiving renewed attention across immuno-oncology.
In 2002, he was appointed Professor of Experimental Immunotherapy at the University of Tübingen. There, his work focused on refining bispecific costimulatory antibodies and developing additional antibody architectures for cancer treatment. In 2008, he received a Go-Bio award from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research for a program focused on developing, manufacturing and clinically evaluating genetically optimized antitumor antibodies. That work contributed to the establishment of Synimmune GmbH in 2012.
From 2015, Gundram served as a lead investigator within the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), working closely with Prof. Helmut Salih and colleagues to move own-developed antibody candidates into clinical studies. The resulting translational programs include TCEs directed against targets such as FLT3, PSMA and CD276/B7-H3, as well as next-generation costimulatory approaches designed to improve T cell activity while restricting activation to the tumor environment.
He has authored more than 100 scientific publications and is an inventor on numerous patents in antibody-based cancer therapy. In 2023, he founded TWYCE with Martin Pflügler and Helmut Salih, bringing several decades of experience in antibody engineering and translational immunotherapy to the company. He serves as Chief Scientific Officer and is a key inventor of the company’s therapeutic assets.
Team member
Helmut Salih, MD
Founder / Chairman of the Board
Helmut Salih is a physician-scientist and hematologist/oncologist specializing in translational cancer immunotherapy. He studied medicine at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and began his clinical career in hematology and oncology at University Hospital Großhadern, where he participated in the early clinical evaluation of bispecific CD28 antibodies headed by Gundram Jung. He subsequently undertook postdoctoral research in immunology and immunotherapy at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute in Princeton before returning to Germany to complete his specialist training at the University Hospital Tübingen, subsequently serving many years as attending physician in hematology/oncology.
For more than 25 years, his research aims at understanding and therapeutically manipulating the interaction of cancer and the immune system. This includes work on immunoregulatory pathways such as NKG2D and the TNF/TNFR family, as well as the development of monoclonal and bispecific antibodies capable of recruiting NK cells and T cells against malignant cells.
Helmut became Professor of Translational Immunology at the University of Tübingen in 2014 and heads the Clinical Collaboration Unit Translational Immunology within the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). Since 2019, he serves as Chair and Medical Director of a clinical unit for Translational Immunology at University Hospital Tübingen.
Under his leadership, the Tübingen translational immunology program has advanced numerous internally developed vaccine and antibody concepts to clinical evaluation. University Hospital Tübingen reports that so far 17 own-developed immunotherapies have reached clinical-study evaluation. These include Fc-optimized and bispecific FLT3 antibodies for leukemia (the latter meanwhile out-licensed and undergoing registrational Phase II evaluation), the PSMA×CD3 TCE CC-1 for prostate cancer, and the CD276×CD3 TCE CC-3 investigated in various solid tumor entities.
Helmut has authored about 250 scientific publications including 50 on therapeutic antibodies and is inventor on numerous patents covering novel approaches for cancer immunotherapy.
In 2023, he co-founded TWYCE with Gundram Jung and Martin Pflügler. As Founder, he brings to the company a combination of deep understanding of tumor immunology, clinical oncology and hands-on experience translating immunotherapy approaches from discovery into first-in-human development.
Team member
Sigrid Koeth
CFO
Sigrid Koeth is an international life sciences executive with more than 20 years of experience across the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Throughout her career, she has held strategic, operational and commercial leadership roles across Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia, gaining broad experience in building and developing healthcare businesses.
Her experience spans the full pharmaceutical value chain, from R&D and product development to medical and product management, launch readiness and commercial operations. She has held finance leadership roles, including CFO positions across different country organizations, with responsibility for forecasting, financial planning and controlling. In addition, she has served as Chief of Staff, working closely with executive leadership on strategic priorities and organizational development. This breadth of experience gives her a distinctive understanding of how to translate scientific innovation into successful product development, commercialization and sustainable business growth.
Sigrid serves as Innovation Manager for Life Sciences at SPRIND, Germany’s Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation, where she identifies and supports high-potential ventures and technology programs. Her work combines investment and financing with company building, team development and access to scientific, industrial and policy networks, with a particular focus on advancing breakthrough biotechnology towards clinical proof of concept.
In addition, she serves as Managing Director of BiconY Therapeutics, a SPRIND subsidiary established to finance the R&D activities of TWYCE. In this capacity, she oversees the deployment and management of SPRIND-provided funding in support of TWYCE’s development.
At TWYCE, Sigrid serves as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), bringing financial leadership, strategic oversight and extensive experience in fundraising and business development to the company. She is responsible for the financial and organizational framework supporting TWYCE’s development, ensuring that its scientific and clinical ambitions are matched by the funding, partnerships and operational capabilities needed to advance its pipeline and build a sustainable biotechnology company.
Team member
PD Dr. med. Jonas Heitmann, M.Sc.
CMO
Jonas Heitmann is a physician-scientist and board-certified specialist in internal medicine, hematology and oncology working at the interface of experimental immunotherapy and clinical drug development. He conducted research at the Institute of Immunology at La Jolla, San Diego, trained at University Hospital Tübingen’s Department of Oncology/Hematology from 2015 to 2019 and has worked in the Clinical Collaboration Unit Translational Immunology since 2019. He also completed a Master degree in Medical Biometry and Biostatistics.
His clinical and translational work centers on bringing novel antibody-based immunotherapies into early-stage cancer trials. He has been closely involved in the clinical development of CC-1, a PSMA×CD3 TCE designed to recruit T cells against prostate cancer while restricting activation to target-positive tissue. He was an author of the prospective multicenter Phase I study protocol for CC-1 and subsequently led and presented clinical work evaluating the candidate in advanced and biochemical-recurrent prostate cancer.
Jonas has also largely contributed to the development of CC-3, a CD276/B7-H3×CD3 TCE designed for solid tumors. He is an investigator and co-author on the first-in-human CoRe_CC-3 program in colorectal cancer and has continued to report on its clinical development, including the ongoing Phase I program in solid cancers.
His work reflects the integrated translational model developed in Tübingen: therapeutic concepts are generated and optimized within an academic immunology environment, manufactured for clinical use and subsequently investigated in phase I trials. This gives Jonas direct experience across protocol development, regulatory and translational interfaces, patient treatment, safety assessment and interpretation of early clinical signals.
In addition, he serves as Chief Medical Officer at BiconY Therapeutics, a SPRIND subsidiary established to finance the R&D activities of TWYCE. In this capacity, he provides strategic medical leadership, overseeing the company’s clinical development strategy and guiding the translation of scientific innovation into clinically meaningful solutions for patients.