From law to biotech CEO — Franz-Werner Haas shares how vision shaped his career and leadership journey.

From rural Germany to biotech boardrooms — Franz-Werner Haas’s career is anything but linear. A law graduate who started out in the fishing industry, he went on to lead CureVac during COVID and today serves as CEO of LimmaTech Biologics.

In this Leadership Lab conversation with Maurice Thornton, Franz shares how vision shaped every step of his journey — and why titles matter far less than ambition, resilience, and timing.

You’ll hear:

• Why vision was his fuel from law school to biotech leadership

• The unexpected lessons from the fishing industry

• Leading through CureVac’s COVID-19 crisis

• Building teams and trust in biotech

• His mentorship advice on resilience, safe spaces & networking

Follow Leadership Lab for more real leadership stories from pharma, biotech, medtech & digital health.

From table tennis to VP HR — Agata Baranowska's bold journey through global pharma leadership.

Agata shares how a childhood of constant moves built her adaptability — and how she turned early opportunities into a global HR leadership career.

Maurice Thornton explores Agata’s path from PwC to senior roles at Amgen, Alexion & Takeda, and her decision to join Galderma’s mission to become the #1 company in dermatology.

In this episode:

• Lessons from a performance-driven upbringing

• Turning assistant roles into leadership opportunities

• Navigating high-performance cultures in pharma

• Making bold career jumps — and thriving

• Practical advice for aspiring HR leaders

Follow Leadership Lab for more real-life leadership stories from pharma, biotech, medtech & digital health.

From figure skates in Boston to biotech boardrooms in Basel—Sarah Holmes-Klotz never took the obvious route. Now Head of Global HR at Santhera Pharmaceuticals, she joins host Maurice Thornton to talk about long-distance love, career pivots, resilience, and what it really takes to lead HR at a publicly traded life sciences company.

Expect honest insights on relocation, rejection, reinvention—and why the scenic route might be the smartest career move of all.

How do you turn legal into a true business leadership function?

In this episode of Leadership Lab, we follow the journey of Marc Bauer, Head of Legal, EMEA at argenx.

From his first exposure to law in a small German firm, to building legal teams that drive strategy at Europe’s largest biotech, Marc has made legal his constant—even as his career evolved into broader leadership roles.

He shares practical insights on:
✅ Building legal as a business partner, not a compliance bottleneck
✅ Making smart career pivots—and knowing when to take risks
✅ The cultural differences between European and US biotech leadership
✅ How to own your career development, at every stage
✅ Lessons from moving between big pharma, law firms, and biotech startups

If you’re building your leadership journey in legal, life sciences—or anywhere in between—you’ll find plenty to reflect on here.

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Daniela Marino on bioengineered skin, bold leadership & skin in space

This week on The Leadership Lab, we meet Daniela Marino, CEO and co-founder of Zurich-based CUTISS — a pioneering techbio company growing personalized human skin to transform burn care and reconstructive medicine.

She shares:

• Her early love of science - thanks to a surprise anatomy book

• How a research project evolved into a clinical breakthrough

• What it really takes to go from postdoc to startup CEO

• The rollercoaster of scaling a biotech business

• And yes… why CUTISS launched skin into space 🚀

A story of resilience, vision, and science that heals.
Don’t miss it.

🌐 More on CUTISS: cutiss.com

#LeadershipLab #BiotechFounders #RegenerativeMedicine #WomenInLeadership #Entrepreneurship #SwissTech #LifeSciences #headcountag

Before leading the Swiss Biotech Association, Michael Altorfer was a kid who struggled to focus and avoided making big decisions.

What changed?
A 7-month solo trip that reshaped how he saw the world—and himself.

In this episode of Leadership Lab, Michael opens up about how traveling helped him find direction, build confidence, and develop a leadership style rooted in curiosity, perspective, and purpose.

🎙️ With Maurice Thornton, they explore:

• Why slowing down sometimes helps you move forward

• How personal growth feeds professional leadership

• The path from indecision to impact in the world of biotech

This is a story about exploration—geographically and personally—and how getting lost can be exactly what leads you where you need to go.

🎙️Michelle Bridenbaker began her journey as a biologist with a double major in science and theatre set design. After moving into the medtech industry as a Surgical Sales Rep, she felt something was missing.

Driven by empathy and purpose, she made a bold move—going back to school to become a nurse. That experience continues to shape every leadership role she holds today.

Now, Michelle is:
🌍 Global Medical Information Lead @ Recordati🇪🇺 VP @Medical Information Leaders in Europe🧠 COO @Unbiased Science

In this episode, Michelle shares how her diverse background—from lab to sales to the bedside—fueled a mission-driven career in global medical information.

🎧 Tune in as Maurice explores:

• The role of empathy in leadership
• Why nursing remains central to her journey
• How science and communication drive impact

👉🏻 Learn more about Unbiased Science, visit unbiasedscience.com

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Linkedin 🔗 and YouTube 📺

Daniel J. Muller took an unconventional approach to success—he followed what came naturally to him and mastered it. What started as a simple strategy to avoid distractions in school led him to a fun-filled thesis project, a PhD, and ultimately, a career dedicated to enabling others.

Throughout his academic journey at the ETH Zurich, Daniel founded multiple organisations and collaborated with various companies, always driven by curiosity and a desire to make an impact.

Tune in asMaurice Thornton dives into Daniel’s story—one that proves that sometimes, the best career path is the one that feels effortless.

Who says you need a plan to succeed? Certainly not Adrian Cuadra. Starting as an HR Coordinator with no clear roadmap, Adrian let curiosity take the wheel—and it worked.

In less than 10 years, he moved from an entry-level role to becoming Alexion's Swiss and Austria Country Director, crossing paths with marketing, commercial, and more along the way.

His secret? A fearless approach to asking, “What can I learn from this opportunity?” and saying yes to challenges most would shy away from. Join Maurice as he explores Adrian’s unconventional rise, proving that sometimes, not having a plan is the best plan of all.

👉 Follow the podcast to hear more personal stories and career-defining insights from today’s life science leaders.

#headcountag #leadershiplab #lifesciences #careerjourney #leadership

From dreaming of a career in sports to leading biotech companies like LimmaTech and GlycoEra, and now excelling as a Partner at Pureos Bioventures, Veronica Gambillara Fonck’s journey showcases instinct, courage, and remarkable success.

In this episode of Leadership Lab, Maurice dives into the personal moments and professional milestones that shaped Veronica’s inspiring path. Learn how she navigated challenges, embraced opportunities, and developed the mindset that propelled her to leadership in life sciences.

👉 Follow the podcast to hear more personal stories and career-defining insights from today’s life science leaders.

#headcountag #leadershiplab #lifesciences #biotech #leadership