Berlin Cures has formed a Business Advisory Board (BAB) and appointed its first two members, Dr Ulf Berg and Dr Dragan Grabulovski, the biotechnology company announced on Wednesday.

The role of the BAB will be to provide the company with ongoing counsel and strategic guidance in business development decision-making as it advances the clinical development of its pipeline.

BC 007, the company's lead drug candidate, is the first drug designed to target an autoimmune cause of heart failure, as well as the symptoms of the disease.

Dr Berg is a partner at BLR & Partners Ltd and also serves as a member of the board of directors at numerous BLR portfolio firms. Since August 2007, he has been non-executive chairman of the board of directors of EMS-Chemie Holding AG (SWX: EMSN). He previously worked for ABB, holding numerous managerial positions in Switzerland and abroad for 20 years until 1998. Since then, he has served as CEO and on numerous boards for companies including Carlo Gavazzi Holding AG (SWX: GAV), Sulzer AG (SWX: SUN), Synagro Ltd and G+E Getec Holding GmbH.

Dr Grabulovski has more than 10 years of experience as a consultant to biotech startups and venture capital companies. He is the founder and CEO of Grabulovski Consulting Services GmbH and is considered to be an authority on corporate strategy, drug discovery, the positioning of drug candidates, intellectual property strategy, fundraising and business development. Previous roles included serving as chief scientific officer and co-founder of Covagen, a Swiss biotechnology company acquired by Cilag GmbH International, an affiliate of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).