President & CEO
at
Avazyme, Inc.
Over the past 25 years, Volker has held a number of leadership roles in Regulatory Science and Food Safety R&D in the agricultural solutions industry and more recently in environmental and life science laboratory service businesses. He has a wealth of international, operational, business development and technology-related experience, developing and growing science and technology solution-based companies, teams, and laboratories in the life sciences marketplace. Most recently, he and his Avazyme team have been a strong supporter and testing partner for the fast-emerging Industrial Hemp industry in North Carolina and from coast to coast.
Prior to starting his own companies, Volker was President of Smithers Viscient, a mid-size contract research organization focused on global environmental testing and business development and operations across agrochemical, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. Volker was responsible for Business Process Optimization, acquisition of companies in the US, Europe, and Japan, and their subsequent integration in the existing Smithers’ business.
In 2014 Volker founded Avazyme, Inc. a contract research solution provider, offering state-of-the-art laboratory testing, product development, and expert consulting services to the agriculture and food, beverage, nutraceutical, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries.