Markus Jones has sued his former employer Technology Transfer Heidelberg, alleging that his dismissal following the scandal around spinout Heiscreen was unfair.

Markus Jones (pictured), former managing director of Heidelberg University Hospital majority-owned tech transfer company Technology Transfer Heidelberg (TTH), will take on the institution in court today over his dismissal, according to SWR.
Jones previously lost his case in an employment tribunal in August 2019 and was unsuccessful in fighting his house arrest, though the judge granted permission to visit his children in Heidelberg University Hospital while they were undergoing treatment.
Proceedings will begin today with a conciliation hearing. Jones had rejected a settlement offer during the August 2019 trial and he is seeking immediate reinstatement and restoration of reputation.
Jones was let go amid the scandal that has engulfed Heiscreen, a cancer diagnostics spinout from Heidelberg University Hospital.
Heiscreen had developed a blood-based liquid biopsy test that it claimed had an 80% to 90% success rate of detecting breast cancer, but in actuality the test purportedly had a false positive rate of 55%. The company is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation.
In October 2019, a commission set up by the university found evidence of “extensive and severe scientific misconduct” by Christof Sohn, the lead researcher behind Heiscreen’s technology and the director of the women’s clinic at Heidelberg University Hospital.
In a further twist, the commission’s report had to be withdrawn after the court issued an injunction, agreeing with investigators who said they had not yet formally identified Sohn as their lead suspect.
The scandal also led, last month, to Heidelberg University’s formation of ScienceValue Heidelberg, a wholly-owned tech transfer office. The move marked the end of a relationship the university had maintained with TTH.
– Photo courtesy of Heidelberg University Hospital

Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the former editor-at-large of Global University Venturing and Global Corporate Venturing, and was the producer and host of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast until December 2024.