Anaveon Appoints Thaminda Ramanayake As Chief Executive Officer
Mar 23, 2026 | By Kailee Rainse

Anaveon, a late-stage preclinical biotech focused on precision biologics for immune system reprogramming today announces Thaminda Ramanayake as its new CEO.
SUMMARY
- Anaveon, a late-stage preclinical biotech focused on precision biologics for immune system reprogramming today announces Thaminda Ramanayake as its new CEO.
Mr. Ramanayake brings over 20 years of global biopharmaceutical leadership, with extensive experience in business development, strategic transactions, and advancing innovative therapeutics.
Most recently, he served as Chief Business Officer at CureVac, playing a key role in its transformation and BioNTech acquisition in 2025. He has also held senior roles at Sanofi, Affini-T Therapeutics, BioMarin, and Amgen.
He holds an M.S. in Immunology and an MBA from the University of Rochester.
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Dieter Weinand, Chair of the Anaveon Board of Directors, said, “Thaminda is a proven leader with deep strategic and transaction expertise. His ability to build and position companies for value creation makes him ideally suited to lead Anaveon as we advance our immunology pipeline toward the clinic. As we sharpen our focus on immunology, we are confident that Thaminda’s leadership will accelerate our ambition to become a premier immunology company based in Switzerland.”
“It is an honor and an exciting challenge to serve as the next Chief Executive Officer of Anaveon,” said Mr. Ramanayake. “Anaveon is developing new ways to precisely control T cells to address significant unmet needs in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. With promising data across our growing pipeline, including our lead asset ANV200, as a best-in-class candidate for robust depletion of pathogenic T cells, we have tremendous opportunities to make a meaningful difference for patients. I look forward to partnering with the team to drive this next phase of growth and innovation.”
Anaveon AG is a late-stage preclinical biotech company based in Basel, Switzerland, focused on transforming lives by precisely modulating the immune system.
The company develops therapies that selectively eliminate or reprogram pathogenic immune cells to restore durable immune balance in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Anaveon is supported by Syncona, Forbion, Blue Owl, Novartis Venture Fund, Pfizer Ventures, and Pontifax.
Christoph Huber, Chief Science Officer, added, “Building on our strong scientific expertise we are well positioned to translate these advances into differentiated therapies and drive the company’s next phase of growth. We look forward to working with Thaminda to deliver impactful therapies for patients.”
Andreas Katopodis, who has led Anaveon since its launch commented, “I am proud of the foundation we have built and confident that Thaminda’s leadership will guide Anaveon through its next stage of growth and development.”
Dieter Weinand continued, “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank and recognize Andreas for his contribution in leading Anaveon from concept to a promising portfolio of programs, each with the potential to fulfill Anaveon’s mission of delivering meaningful new medicines for patients.”
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