Meet Carsten
Dr. Carsten Merkwirth is a translational science and clinical development professional with a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology. With over eight years of industry experience, Dr. Merkwirth has demonstrated expertise across a broad spectrum of modalities for multiple therapeutic areas, including fibrotic and autoimmune diseases, immunology, oncology, and neuroscience.
In his previous role as Associate Scientific Director at Takeda Development Center Americas, Inc., Dr. Merkwirth led clinical biomarker programs for late-stage assets such as Fazirsiran® and Mezagitamab®. Prior to Takeda, Dr. Merkwirth served as Senior Scientist at Biosplice Therapeutics, where he contributed to biomarker discovery initiatives for the pan-CLK/DYRK inhibitor Cirtuvivint®. Dr. Merkwirth's journey in the pharmaceutical industry began at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, where he supported translational science and biomarker discovery for the FDA-approved gene therapy Adstiladrin®.
His research experience includes postdoctoral positions at the University of California, Berkeley, and The Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Carsten’s academic foundation was established at the University of Cologne, where he earned his Ph.D. with summa cum laude honors. Carsten’s research work resulted in over 20 publications in several high-profile scientific journals including Cell, Science and Nature with ~6,000 citations.
At HAYA Therapeutics, Carsten will develop and implement biomarker strategies across HAYA's pipeline, with a focus on RNA-targeted therapeutics for long non-coding RNAs and the regulatory genome.
