Advancing TechBio solutions in regenerative medicine

Established in 2017, CUTISS is a late-stage clinical TechBio company focused on skin tissue therapeutics, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and skin pigmentation.

At CUTISS we care
Our mission is to revolutionize skin surgery and advance dermatology through personalized tissue therapies, leveraging cutting-edge automation to ensure scalability, precision, and global patient accessibility.

©University Children’s Hospital Zurich

Our Team

We have a multidisciplinary team of around 50 employees, including world-class senior executives, advisors and investors. Our team consists of scientists, medical doctors, GMP manufacturers, translational researchers and regulatory experts, clinical trial managers, as well as product and business development and industrial experts.

CUTISS Innovation – Advancing R&D in regenerative medicine

Our subsidiary company CUTISS Innovation is based in Sophia Antipolis in France and is dedicated to advancing R&D and next-generation regenerative medicine technologies that can be applied on Earth as well as in space, and beyond medicine.

Management

Dr. Daniela<br>Marino

Dr. Daniela
Marino

CEO / Co-Founder /
Member of the BoD
Dr. Vincent<br> Ronfard

Dr. Vincent
Ronfard

Chief Innovation
Officer
Kathi Mujynya Ludunge

Kathi Mujynya Ludunge

Chief Operating
Officer

Board of Directors

Prof. Dr. med.<br>Martin Meuli

Prof. Dr. med.
Martin Meuli

President of the BoD /
Co-Founder
Giammaria<br>Giuliani

Giammaria
Giuliani

Member of the
BoD
Prof. Dr. Ernst<br>Reichmann

Prof. Dr. Ernst
Reichmann

Member of the BoD
Co-Founder
Dr. Daniela<br>Marino

Dr. Daniela
Marino

CEO / Co-Founder /
Member of the BoD
Dr. Gérard<br>Ber

Dr. Gérard
Ber

Independent
Member of the BoD
Dr. Shulamit<br>Hadi

Dr. Shulamit
Hadi

Independent
Member of the BoD

Key Advisors

Ralf<br> Rosenow

Ralf
Rosenow

Legal Council and
Secretary to the BoD
Dr. med.<br> Luc Téot

Dr. med.
Luc Téot

Ad interim
Medical Officer
Prof. Thierry<br> Passeron

Prof. Thierry
Passeron

Medical Advisor
Vitiligo
Dr. Anke<br> Ness

Dr. Anke
Ness

Ad interim
CFO
Dr. med. Clemens<br> Schiestl

Dr. med. Clemens
Schiestl

Medical Advisor
and Co-Founder

Our Departments

Clinical

Clinical


f.l.t.r.: Stella Nuber, Dr. Vincent Ronfard (Head of Department),
Dr. Fabienne Hartmann-Fritsch, Nicole Weiner
Research and Development

Research and Development


f.l.t.r: Dr. Anna-Lena Murphy, Elena Zanini, Dr. Johanna Diener, Giuditta Thoma,
Pablo Marty, Zuzana Oulehlovà, Angela Bucherer, Dr. Laurent Barnes,
Dr. Vincent Ronfard (Head of Department)
front: Luca Vernazza, Hatice Özcan, Thomas Jörimann
GMP Production

GMP Production


f.l.t.r.: Kathi Mujynya (Head of Department), Stella Nuber, Nathalie Moro, Laia Valor, Miralda Salaij, Maria Zappalà, Chiara Pagliuca
front: Christina Georgopoulou, Chiara Solfi, Patrick Urech, Janine Meier
Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance


f.l.t.r.: Dr. Patrick Buschor, Kathi Mujynya (Head of Department), Dr. Darjan Andrejc, Brenda Serafim, Léa Philippe, Matteo Scaltritti
Quality Control

Quality Control


f.l.t.r.: Belén Cantó Martorell, Alessandro Fiscalini, Robert Pritchard, Dr. Joaquin Urdinez, Kathi Mujynya (Head of Department)
front: Jovita Kobler, Lisa Sannitz, Alexandra Hugo, Veronica Bösiger
Regulatory Affairs

Regulatory Affairs


f.l.t.r.: Arina Löw, Kathi Mujynya (Head of Department), Chiara Solfi
Administration and Finance

Administration and Finance


f.l.t.r.: Jackie Vuistiner, Anne Wainaina, Dr. Daniela Marino (Head of Department), Sandra Wong-Brawand, Dr. Anke Ness, missing: Adeline Beaupoil
CUTISS Innovation

CUTISS Innovation


f.l.t.r.: Christophe Zimmer, Andreea Iordan, Cécile Cousin, Dr. Vincent Ronfard (Head of Department), Yaël Berton, Clarisse Broguet

From idea to impact: How CUTISS was founded

In early 2001, a visionary team at the University of Zurich (UZH) set out to transform skin surgery.

Urs Stauffer—Director of the Surgical Clinic at the University Children’s Hospital in Zurich (KISPI)—Martin Meuli, successor of Urs Stauffer, and cell biologist Ernst Reichmann established the Tissue Biology Research Unit (TBRU). Reichmann, in these days the Director of the TBRU, introduced the idea of growing human skin cells in and on plastically compressed collagen hydrogel, a material that closely mirrors the cells natural extracellular environment. The result was denovoSkin, a promising skin substitute.

Under Reichmann’s leadership the project progressed at TBRU with a dedicated research team including among others researchers Daniela Marino and Fabienne Hartmann-Fritsch. DenovoSkin’s clinical application benefited a lot from the medical and clinical input and collaboration of Martin Meuli and Clemens Schiestl, in these days Directors of the Pediatric Burn Center at KISPI Zurich.

In 2011, thanks to a large EU cooperation grant, TBRU began its translational research phase with the GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) production and clinical application of denovoSkin™. Between 2014 and 2016, ten  paediatric patients were enrolled and transplanted by pioneer surgeons Martin Meuli and Clemens Schiestl in  the world’s first  Phase I clinical trial at KISPI. With very promising preliminary clinical data, Daniela Marino and Ernst Reichmann developed a first business plan supported by Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency. Soon, the project earned notable recognition by winning the Swiss Venture Award in 2015, affirming its innovative potential and grand mission: Taking denovoSkin™ to market.

In 2016, the denovoSkin™ project was accelerated by the start-up incubator Wyss Zurich, and in 2017 CUTISS AG was incorporated by the founding quintet: Daniela, Fabienne, Ernst, Martin and Clemens.

We remain deeply thankful to Wyss Zurich and all our early supporters, including Fondation Gaydoul, Thérèse Meier, Fondation Sana, Vontobel Stiftung, and many others, whose invaluable contributions were  instrumental from the very beginning.

The Founding Team

from left to right PD Dr. med. Clemens Schiestl, Prof. Dr. Ernst Reichmann, Prof. Dr. med. Martin Meuli, Dr. sc. Daniela Marino, Dr. sc. nat. Fabienne Hartmann-Fritsch

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