sphingotec expands leadership team and appoints Achim Plum as Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer
Hennigsdorf/Berlin, Germany, April 16, 2020
- Diagnostics company SphingoTec GmbH ("sphingotec", Hennigsdorf, Germany) today announced that it has appointed Dr. Achim Plum as Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of the company. As CCO, Dr. Plum will focus on driving the global commercialization of sphingotec’s IVD solutions for novel biomarkers for acute and critical care settings and their adoption on multiple IVD instrument platforms, such as sphingotec’s proprietary point-of-care platform Nexus IB10 for rapid testing at the point of need.
“With sphingotec advancing to an end-to-end diagnostic solutions provider with international presence, I am delighted to welcome Dr. Plum to our leadership team,” said Andreas Bergmann, Founder, Managing Director and CEO of sphingotec. “Dr. Plum’s extensive business experience, as well as his broad management expertise in the diagnostics industry, will strengthen our organization and help scale it to an integrated global commercial operation providing unique diagnostic solutions for highly unmet needs in acute and critical care.”
Dr. Achim Plum has more than 18 years of management and commercial experience in the diagnostics industry with a focus on innovative diagnostics solutions, biomarker development and commercialization, and personalized medicine. As CCO of sphingotec he is in charge of all business and commercial operations of the company. After having worked with sphingotec as a business advisor since May 2019, he in April 2020 joined sphingotec full-time from a position as Executive Board Member and Chief Business Officer of the Curetis Group, developing and commercializing molecular diagnostic solutions for infectious diseases. Before Curetis, he held senior management positions at Siemens Healthcare where he was responsible for global Diagnostic and BioScience Technology & Innovation. Prior to Siemens, Dr. Plum worked for eight years for the cancer molecular diagnostics company Epigenomics, lastly as SVP Business & Strategy, the molecular diagnostics that developed and commercializes the first FDA-cleared liquid biopsy colorectal cancer screening test. Dr. Plum studied Genetics, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry in Bonn, Germany, and Norwich UK. He obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Bonn in 1999.
Dr. Achim Plum commented: “I am very excited to now fully join the sphingotec team. As an advisor to the company since May last year I got increasingly impressed by sphingotec’s biomarker innovations and the enormous body of evidence and network of key opinion leaders supporting their unique utility in acute and critical care. With our Nexus IB10 point-of-care testing platform, we are well-positioned to rapidly implement our solutions in hospitals worldwide and significantly improving the outcomes of critically ill patients by providing clinicians with actionable and timely information.”
Sphingotec’s portfolio proprietary tests for the real-time assessment and monitoring of endothelial function (IB10 sphingotest® bio-ADM®), kidney function (IB10 sphingotest® penKid®), and cardiac depression (IB10 sphingotest® DPP3) is made available on its proprietary immunoassay point-of-care platform, Nexus IB10, that also features a broad menu of established routine tests tailored to point-of-care use. For the broad availability of its diagnostic solutions on multiple platforms for central laboratories, sphingotec pursues a licensing strategy with global players in the diagnostics industry.
About sphingotec
sphingotec GmbH ("sphingotec"; Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Germany) develops and markets innovative in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests for novel and proprietary biomarkers for the diagnosis, prediction and monitoring of acute medical conditions, such as sepsis, acute heart failure, circulatory shock, and acute kidney injury in order to support patient management and provide guidance for treatment strategies. sphingotec's proprietary biomarker portfolio includes bioactive adrenomedullin (bio-ADM®), a unique biomarker for real-time assessment of endothelial function in conditions like sepsis or congestive heart failure, Proenkephalin (penKid®), a unique biomarker for real-time assessment of kidney function, and Dipeptidyl Peptidase 3 (DPP3), a unique biomarker for cardiac depression. In addition, sphingotec develops a portfolio of novel biomarkers, which predict the risks of developing obesity, breast cancer and cardiovascular diseases. IVD tests for sphingotec’s proprietary biomarkers are made available as sphingotest® microtiterplate tests as well as point-of-care tests on the Nexus IB10 immunoassay platform by sphingotec’s subsidiary Nexus Dx Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA) alongside a broad menu of IB10 tests for established biomarkers for acute and critical care.
Contact
SphingoTec GmbH
Ruxandra Lenz
Neuendorfstr. 15 A
16761 Hennigsdorf
Germany
Tel. +49-3302-20565-0
press@sphingotec.de www.sphingotec.com
Hennigsdorf, Germany, 23 July 2026 — SphingoTec GmbH announces that its Chief Executive Officer, Deborah Bergmann, will attend the ADLM 2026 Annual Meeting, taking place from July 26 to 30, 2026. During the conference, SphingoTec will engage with current and prospective partners to discuss ongoing collaborations and opportunities to advance innovations in critical care diagnostics. These interactions support SphingoTec’s strategy to expand the clinical and commercial reach of its biomarker portfolio. “ADLM provides an important platform to connect with partners across the diagnostics ecosystem,” said Deborah Bergmann, CEO of SphingoTec. “These discussions align with our commitment to translating biomarker innovation into clinically meaningful solutions for patients in critical care.” About SphingoTec SphingoTec GmbH ("SphingoTec"; Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Germany) is a biomarker company focusing on the out-licensing of innovative critical care solutions for diagnosing, predicting, and monitoring acute medical conditions. SphingoTec develops its biomarkers to the commercial stage and partners with IVD companies to make them available on different IVD platforms. SphingoTec's proprietary biomarker portfolio includes Proenkephalin A 119-159 (penKid), a biomarker for the assessment of kidney function in critical diseases, and bioactive Adrenomedullin 1-52 (bio-ADM), a biomarker for the assessment of endothelial function in conditions like sepsis. Discover more on www.sphingotec.com Media Contact: Email: press@sphingotec.com Phone +49-3302-20565-0 SphingoTec GmbH Neuendorfstr. 15A 16761 Hennigsdorf, Germany
• New ELISA sphingotest® penKid® enables widespread measurement of the kidney function biomarker Proenkephalin 119-159 (penKid) using standard laboratory equipment. • Only available test to match SphingoTec’s reference chemiluminescence assay, developed with patented high-sensitivity technology to provide consistent results across platforms. Hennigsdorf/Berlin, Germany, April 28 2026 - SphingoTec GmbH announces the launch of the ELISA sphingotest® penKid®, a new assay designed to make testing of its proprietary biomarker broadly accessible to research laboratories and pharmaceutical partners. Providing ease-of-use and precision, the test facilitates large-scale investigations of human kidney function in both acute and broader clinical research contexts. Responding to growing research interest The launch follows increasing demand from the scientific community to study penKid - a biomarker reflecting the current state of kidney function in critical care environments. While SphingoTec’s high-sensitivity sphingotest® penKid® assay serves as the reference method for clinical research and third-party IVD assays, the assay technology requiring dedicated equipment was not easily adoptable in research laboratories. The new ELISA sphingotest® penKid® now allows researchers worldwide to benefit from SphingoTec’s patented detection technology using standard photometers, extending penKid testing capability to a wider range of laboratories. Proven performance and data continuity The ELISA sphingotest® penKid® has been developed to achieve excellent correlation with SphingoTec’s reference chemiluminescence assay, ensuring consistent, high-quality results across different assay platforms. Both methods share the same underlying technology capable of detecting penKid concentrations in the picomolar range. Thanks to this technology transfer, researchers can rely on the same analytical precision and reliability that supported the clinical studies establishing penKid as a valuable kidney function biomarker. The assay’s robust design and German manufacturing ensure durable consistency and reproducibility. With this research-use ELISA, SphingoTec responds to the increasing availability of non-validated assays and encourages researchers to not compromise assay quality and performance to ensure trustworthy results - since data from non-validated tests may reflect assay limitations rather than the true performance of the penKid biomarker. Complementary approaches for clinical use and scientific exploration SphingoTec pursues its commercial strategy for the biomarker penKid through strategic out-licensing partnerships such as Boditech Med, which has developed an IVDR-certified assay for routine clinical use and rapid diagnostics. The newly launched ELISA sphingotest® penKid® represents a complementary initiative, specifically designed to support high-throughput clinical and translational research. Through this dual approach, SphingoTec reaffirms its commitment to fostering scientific collaboration and promoting the broader exploration of penKid across diverse research settings. “Developing the ELISA sphingotest® penKid® reflects our long-term commitment to improving critical care diagnostics,” said Deborah Bergmann, Managing Director and CEO of SphingoTec GmbH. “Beyond its currently validated clinical applications, we see strong potential for penKid to support research and improve diagnostics in other fields where kidney function is relevant. By encouraging scientists worldwide to incorporate penKid into their studies and clinical programs, we aim to accelerate innovation and advance best-fit diagnostic solutions that ultimately improve patient care.” About SphingoTec SphingoTec GmbH ("SphingoTec"; Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Germany) is a biomarker company focusing on the out-licensing of innovative critical care solutions for diagnosing, predicting, and monitoring acute medical conditions. SphingoTec develops its biomarkers to the commercial stage and partners with IVD companies to make them available on different IVD platforms. SphingoTec's proprietary biomarker portfolio includes Proenkephalin A 119-159 (penKid), a biomarker for the assessment of kidney function in critical diseases, and bioactive Adrenomedullin 1-52 (bio-ADM), a biomarker for the assessment of endothelial function in conditions like sepsis. Discover more on www.sphingotec.com Media Contact: Email: press@sphingotec.com Phone +49-3302-20565-0 SphingoTec GmbH Neuendorfstr. 15A 16761 Hennigsdorf, Germany