TORONTO, ONTARIO - April 24, 2025 (NEWMEDIAWIRE) - Helix BioPharma Corp. (TSX: "HBP", OTC PINK: "HBPCD", FRANKFURT: "HBP0") ("Helix" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage oncology company shaping a near future where today's hard-to-treat cancers are vincible, today announced the appointments of Veronika Kandziora as Chief Operating Officer ("COO") and Jessica Kourniaktis, DPhil, as Director of Communications of the Company.
Ms. Kandziora is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of leadership experience across the biopharma, financial, and consulting sectors, bringing a rare trifecta of administrative acumen, people-centered leadership, and organizational insight to her role as COO of Helix BioPharma. Her long-standing relationship with the Company brings invaluable continuity and deep institutional knowledge to this role, having supported corporate strategy, transformation, and stakeholder engagement for Helix in Europe and North America. She previously served as Corporate Secretary of Helix (2017-2019) and as a strategic consultant to the Company's leadership and Board in the years leading up to her appointment. Alongside these roles, she spent 15 years as an independent Asset Manager, advising clients on corporate development, intellectual property, and strategic investments - primarily in the biopharma space. Ms. Kandziora began her career in the financial industry in 2003, leading complex international projects across Germany, Austria, Italy, and Liechtenstein, and consulting for wealth managers, trustees, and investment funds with a focus on biotechnology, technology, and raw materials. A polyglot with a strong foundation in finance and compliance, Ms. Kandziora holds a Diploma in Management and Hospitality from the WIFI Academy of Applied Sciences in Austria, and is a certified Vocational Trainer in Liechtenstein. She has also completed advanced compliance training with the Institute for Compliance and Quality Management (ICQM) and the Association for Quality Assurance of Financial Services (VQF), reinforcing her ability to navigate complex regulatory and governance environments with confidence and clarity.
Dr. Jessica Kourniaktis is a communications strategist with 10 years of experience in the life sciences and an academic background in the Humanities, bringing a unique approach to communications that combines analytical depth with clear, compelling storytelling. In 2020, she founded Manage Mind, a boutique consultancy through which she has advised clients in oncology, cell therapy, rare diseases, and metabolic disorders, while also collaborating with industry-leading communications firms and top-tier branding, storytelling, and design agencies to help science-driven ventures articulate their vision and engage critical stakeholders. A former Teaching Fellow at the University of Oxford, she began her industry career at SynDermix AG while completing her DPhil in Cold War and Cultural History (2018), quickly rising to become the company's youngest senior executive and first female member of the C-suite. She went on to serve as COO of two Swiss biopharma startups - Laevoroc Medical AG and metaShape Pharma AG - and as a Board Member of ESGTI AG (202224), a Swiss investment firm formerly listed on BX Swiss, where she focused on market research, asset valuations of pre-revenue life sciences ventures, and stakeholder reporting at both Board and shareholder levels. This breadth of leadership experience deeply informs her communications work, grounding it in a clear understanding of business priorities, investor expectations, and the internal dynamics that shape how science moves forward. Dr. Kourniaktis earned her BA from the University of Bristol, her MA from University College London (UCL), and her DPhil from the University of Oxford. She has published original research in peer-reviewed academic journals and collective volumes, and was named Emerging Life Sciences CEO of the Year (Europe) in the 2022 Global CEO Excellence Awards for her leadership in advancing early-stage innovation. Dr. Kourniaktis will function as a consultant to Helix pursuant to a consulting agreement between the Company and Manage Mind.
Ms. Kandziora, Chief Operating Officer of Helix BioPharma, said, "Helix is at a pivotal stage in its development - with a promising portfolio of assets and a new, determined focus on achieving its goals. As COO, my role is to bring structure, clarity, and strategic alignment across the organization, ensuring that our operational foundation is strong and agile enough to empower our team, innovate from a position of strength, and fulfill our commitment to deliver better treatment options to those of us facing hard-to-treat cancers - without delay."
Dr. Kourniaktis, Director of Communications, added, "Helix's story is one worth hearing - and we're just getting started. Over the past few months, I've had the privilege of supporting the Company's communication strategy, helping to shape how we show up and what we stand for. As Communications Director, I'm excited to make sure more people understand the work we're doing, get behind the vision, and help us move faster toward getting patients the treatments they need."
Thomas Mehrling, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Helix BioPharma, said, "Veronika is highly regarded for her strengths in organizational leadership, and her deep familiarity with the Company makes her uniquely positioned to support Helix through this next phase. Jessica brings a sharp, strategy-first approach to communications, shaped by her experience across science, operations, and storytelling. Together, they strengthen our leadership team at a time when clarity, focus, and execution are critical to delivering on our vision."
About Helix BioPharma Corp.
Helix BioPharma is an oncology company shaping a near future where today's hard-to-treat cancers are made vincible by novel therapies that rise to the challenge. The Company innovates from strength to tackle cancer's biggest, most urgent challenges with a diverse pipeline of drug candidates with great potential and a head start, honed into first- and best-in-class oncology medicines. Its pipeline is spearheaded by a clinical-stage proprietary technology platform of bio-conjugates that score with precision against prevalent CEACAM6-expressing solid tumors. Its lead candidate, Tumour Defence Breaker(TM) L-DOS47, is a clinical-stage antibody-enzyme conjugate (AEC) that neutralizes the microenvironment of common, hard-to-treat solid tumors, taking the brakes off anti-cancer immunity and delivering a game-changing assist to today's front-running anti-cancer therapies. L-DOS47 has completed Phase Ib studies in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with novel strategically designed bi-specific ADCs targeting CEACAM6 in discovery.
Helix is listed on the TSX under the symbol "HBP", on OTC PINK under the symbol "HBPCD" and on FWB under the symbol "HBP0". For more information, please visit: https://www.helixbiopharma.com/
For more information, please contact:
Helix BioPharma Corp. Bay Adelaide Centre - North Tower 40 Temperance Street, Suite 2 Toronto, ON M5H 0B4 Tel: +1 857 208 7687 Jacek Antas, Director corporate@helixbiopharma.com
Forward-Looking Statements and Risks and Uncertainties
This news release contains certain statements regarding Helix BioPharma Corp. that constitute forward-looking statements and information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") as defined by Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements and information that are not historical facts but instead include statements regarding plans, goals, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to the Company's future business, operations, research and development, including the Company's activities relating to its CEACAM6 platform, L-DOS47 and new asset transactions that Helix intends to close. Forward-looking statements can further be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will", "plans", "expects", or the negative thereof or any other variations thereon or comparable terminology referring to future events or results, or that events or conditions "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved, or comparable terminology referring to future events or results.
Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that are also uncertain. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Forward-looking statements are intended to provide information about management's current plans and expectations regarding future operations and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Certain material factors, estimates or assumptions have been applied in making forward-looking statements in this news release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including the risk factors discussed in the Company's continuous disclosure record filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca from time to time. Forward-looking statements and information are based on the beliefs, assumptions, opinions and expectations of Helix's management on the date of this new release, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statement or information should those beliefs, assumptions, opinions or expectations, or other circumstances change, except as required.
