Leadership Team
The AMW Leadership Team represents clear accountability, strategic leadership and close collaboration across all functional areas.
Philipp Karbach is a shareholder and has been with AMW since 2016, since June 2023 as Chief Executive Officer, and before that as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, among other positions. Mr. Karbach has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare sector in marketing, business operations and strategy as well as finance. Prior to AMW, he held various positions at i-SOLUTIONS Health, iSOFT/CSC, ICW and Siemens Healthcare. He holds a diploma in Health Economics from the University of Bayreuth, Germany.
Dr. Serafimov is an experienced business leader with a track record of profitable growth in originator specialty drugs, generics and B2B business. He has served as Chief Business Officer of AMW since January 2024 and was appointed Managing Director in March 2026. With more than 15 years of professional experience in the pharmaceutical industry and management consulting, he combines a strong strategic business planning mindset with a profound commercial operations background. In global and local roles, he has gained extensive experience across the full product lifecycle, from multiple product launches to effective lifecycle management of mature brands. Dr. Serafimov joins AMW from Centrient Pharmaceuticals, The Hague, NL, a Bain Capital Portfolio Company, where he headed the Global Business Excellence team. He started his industry career in a consulting role at IMS Consulting (today IQVIA), before he moved to various global and local leadership positions at Novo Nordisk, Zurich and Mainz, and Sandoz International GmbH, Munich. Dr. Serafimov holds biochemistry and chemistry degrees from the universities of Heidelberg, Oxford, as well as from ETH Zurich.
Wolfram E. Scholl is a graduate industrial engineer (Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU)) and founded S-CM (Scholl-Consulting Munich) in 2005 after twelve years at Arthur D. Little, where he was Partner and Head of Supply Chain Management. Prior to that, he worked for an automotive supplier in the UK.
Over the past 30 years, he has supported companies in a wide range of industries and countries in the design and implementation of more than 90 complex projects in interdisciplinary teams. As an experienced consultant, he combines fact-based analysis with pragmatism and implementation strength.
Matthias Dittmer, Chief Financial Officer, assumed responsibility for this area in October 2023, until March 2026 as Vice President Finance & IT. In his previous leadership positions, including at Eurofins Scientific, TE Connectivity and Sirona Dental Systems, he gained extensive experience in controlling and financial group reporting as well as implementing ERP systems in complex, highly regulated industries with international structures. Mr. Dittmer holds a degree in economics from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany.
Kerstin Ledermann heads the People and General Administration department since July 2024, until March 2026 as Vice President. She has a track record of more than 20 years as Head of Human Resources and member of the management of internationally active medium-sized companies in trade and industry. Kerstin Ledermann is an experienced manager and generalist with strategic and operational expertise. She holds a degree in business administration from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Lars Bode joined AMW as Vice President 3rd Party Business & Licensing in July 2026. He is a senior executive with a track record of over 15 years in international pharmaceuticl markets, focusing on business development, in- and out-licensing, portfolio strategy and strategic partnership management. He is co-founder of a pharmaceutical company and acted as founder and advisor of cross-continental strategic and advisory businesses. Mr. Bode holds a diploma in biology from Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel.
Dr. Kerstin Dornisch has been Vice President Regulatory Affairs since June 2025 and is responsible for the strategic direction and operational implementation of all regulatory activities. With over 20 years of management experience in the pharmaceutical industry, she has in-depth expertise in developing and implementing international approval strategies, creating and maintaining regulatory documentation, applying for and securing marketing authorizations in over 80 countries worldwide and in-licensing pharmaceutical products. She studied biology at the Technical University of Munich, where she completed her doctorate with distinction.
Dr. Martina Wilhelm heads the Quality department as Vice President since July 2022. She is responsible for the overall management of quality control and quality assurance at AMW. She has been working within the GMP-regulated environment for more than 20 years, from setting-up to complete steering of quality teams and structures. In the course of her career, Dr. Wilhelm has held the position of Qualified Person in various pharmaceutical companies. She studied Chemistry and holds a PhD from Technical University of Munich, Germany.
Dr. Eric Wittchow leads the department as Vice President R&D since May 2022. He has more than 20 years of international experience in the development of combination products at medium-sized and large medical technology and pharmaceutical companies. His innovative ideas in the field of degradable materials and local drug delivery led to several approvals, patents and publications. Dr. Wittchow studied Chemistry and a minor in polymer chemistry and pharmacology at Universities in Erlangen-Nuremberg, Heidelberg, Marburg and Bonn.
Scientific Advisory Board
The Scientific Advisory Board complements the Company’s leadership with independent scientific expertise. It helps evaluate emerging scientific developments, provides additional perspectives and supports key topics with in-depth scientific insight.
Prof. Olivia Merkel studied pharmacy, was Assistant Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit and a member of the Molecular Therapeutics Program and the Cancer Biology Graduate Program at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, and has been a full professor at LMU Munich since 2015.
She is an expert in innovative, non-viral, targeted nanoscale RNA delivery systems with a focus on pulmonary delivery for the treatment of cancer, infectious and inflammatory diseases and to combat respiratory infections such as COVID-19. Her research aims to improve pulmonary therapy by treating the cause of the disease rather than the symptoms. Prof. Merkel’s team develops formulations for effective drug delivery, including dry powders for inhalation or nebulization. Prof. Merkel has received several prestigious awards, including the PHOENIX Pharmacy Award, the APV Research Award and three ERC Grants. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters.
Prof. Miriam Breunig studied pharmaceutical technology at the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg and the University of Regensburg, received her doctorate, was a postdoctoral researcher at MIT and has been a senior academic advisor at the University of Regensburg since 2012.
Prof. Breunig’s research focuses on nanoparticulate drug delivery systems to treat eye diseases such as glaucoma and to improve the efficacy of viral antigens in immunization. Her expertise in nanoparticle functionalization helps to solve complex challenges in ophthalmology and improve intravitreal depot formulations for patient-targeted therapy. In addition, her group is a leader in the modification of nanoparticles with antigens or adjuvants for vaccine development and controlled interaction with immune cells. She has contributed significantly to deepening the understanding of the interaction between nanoparticulate materials and biological tissues to optimize drug delivery systems.
Prof. Karsten Mäder studied pharmacy at the Humboldt University in Berlin, habilitated with a DFG scholarship, worked at Roche in Basel and has been a full professor of pharmaceutical technology at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg since 2003.
His research focuses on nano drug delivery systems based on polymers, phospholipids and lipids, the non-invasive in vitro and in vivo characterization of drug delivery systems, parenteral controlled release forms and the improvement of oral bioavailability. Prof. Mäder works closely with physicians to develop new drug delivery systems for the treatment of diseases in dentistry, the eye and the inner ear. He has been honored with various awards, including the Scheele Prize of the German Pharmaceutical Society and the APV Research Prize for outstanding achievements in the pharmaceutical sciences.