Yzabelle Bostyn
A MARBELLA businessman has been accused of peddling illegal cancer treatments to hundreds of patients – netting him millions of euros in the process.
In 2019, the Junta de Andalucia received a report accusing Immucura Med SL of using advanced therapy drugs illegally.
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Photo: Immucura
The Spanish Medicines Agency (AEMPs) also reported the company for offering dendritic cell therapy, a cancer treatment not currently authorised in Spain.
Johannes Schumacher, Founder and Managing Director of Immucura, was ordered to cease offering the treatment and received a hefty fine for ‘carrying out health procedures without authorisation.’
Photo: Immucura
Despite this, an international group of investigative journalists claims the German-owned company has continued offering treatments into 2024.
The consortium was made up of El Pais, German TV channel ZDF, Austrian newspaper Der Standard and Belgian newspaper De Tijd.
They found that Schumacher had been offering dendritic cell therapy for almost a decade, working with hundreds of terminally ill patients all over Europe and raking in millions of euros.
Dendritic cell therapy uses your own immune cells to fight diseases, especially cancer.
A special type of immune cell, dendritic cells help the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells.
In dendritic cell therapy, doctors take a blood sample and extract the dendritic cells. These are then ‘trained’ in a lab to recognise cancer cells by exposing them to small parts of the tumour.
They are subsequently injected back into the patient, where they help activate the immune system to target and destroy cancer cells.
Currently, the only commercial licence for dendritic cell therapy is available in the US.
Many studies are still ongoing into the effectiveness of the treatment and it is often only available via clinical trials.
Photo: Immucura
Schumacher originally worked in investment banking, managing funds in the Cayman Islands and even claims to have advised the Russian government.
However, despite not having medical qualifications, he has published a book lauding the positive effects of dendritic cell therapy for cancer patients.
Photo: Amazon
The book promises to ‘help you understand how you have the power to overcome cancer’, with recommendations from grateful patients stating ‘thanks to Immucura I overcome a brain tumor.’
In 2022, Immucura was again reported to the Junta, incurring more fines.
Although the company claims they no longer operate in Spain, the newspaper De Tijd found that a Belgian patient received a phone call from Spain as well as paperwork sent from Marbella.
Despite Immacura’s stating ‘their services are not available in Spain’, you can easily access the website, where there is a job advert for an English speaking ‘Health Coordinator’ in Marbella.
On June 26 this year, the Marbella Prosecutor’s Office announced they were investigating Immucura Med SL for fraud and crimes against public health.
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Photo: Immucura
The company has treated over 1,000 people across six European countries, according to Airomedical, a treatment search engine.
Despite job titles including ‘Health Coordinator’, potential employees must only have sales experience, with health related experience a ‘plus’.
Photo: Immucura
According to an ex-employee: “What we did in Marbella was all commercial. We contacted people that left their details on the website to sell them the treatment. One person had been a shop assistant, another a musician, people from all backgrounds, it was rare that people had knowledge of biology or medicine.”
Initially, the treatment was offered for around €40,000.
“Immucura Med SL has not had any health centres, services or establishments authorised by the Junta de Andalucia,” said the Junta in a statement.
Another ex-employee told the investigative journalists: “They were just intermediaries without any type of medical knowledge or ability to offer treatment, they just sold patients a treatment for four times the price they bought it for,” he explained.
The employee left Immucura after seeing it was not a ‘legitimate clinic.’
When Schumacher responded to questions from the journalists investigating the company he said: “We do not require permission to work in countries where we treat patients because our role is to mediate between patients, laboratories and clinics…they have the appropriate licenses.”
Photo: Immucura
He refused to name any of the laboratories or clinics Immucura works with due to ‘patient confidentiality.’
Although the company claims to work with ‘highly qualified’ specialists, El Pais claims it is ‘difficult to find people with a cancer related career.’
Even the Medical Director, Riadh Ben Sghaier MD, does not include any cancer related work on his public CV but he has worked in the medical field since 2003.
On LinkedIn, he states he worked at Immucura Marbella from August 2022 until June 2023, when he moved to Benalmadena based Sonic Health.
Though Schumacher did not reveal which clinics he worked with, the Junta’s 2019 investigation resulted in the closure of nearby Clinica El Campanario, Calahonda.
According to an ex-employee consulted by the European journalists, this was one of Immucura’s key partners.
Despite patients travelling to Gibraltar with Schumacher to receive treatment and advertising services in Gibraltar, the Gibraltarian authorities state there are ‘no medical clinics which have requested a license to carry out dendritic cell treatments.’
Additionally, the German journalists involved in the investigation could not identify the ‘supersecret lab in Germany’ many sales representatives speak about when offering dendritic cell treatment.
The German authorities state there are only four laboratories which work with dendritic cells in the country and all of them denied working with Immucura.
Patients say they have received packages from a laboratory in Ulm, a city in southern Germany best known for being the birthplace of Albert Einstein.
However, the owner denied having worked with Schumacher and claimed he did not know how Immucura had procured their signature.
They also recognised never having worked with dendritic cells or had a licence to do so.
Haematologist Felipe Prosper, director of the Advanced Therapies Unit at the Clinica Universidad de Navarra, has participated in clinical trials to test dendritic cells.
Although it is a promising treatment, he states: “We don’t yet know whether it can be used in combination or as a single therapy. We are looking for the best options.”
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Photo: Immucura
Dendritic cell therapy is often praised for its lack of side effects.
However, El Pais highlights Immucura’s ‘questionable’ practices, including sending cells by post, a lack of supervision by an oncologist and a lack of follow ups.
They also highlight that dendritic cell therapy is still in clinical trial phases and not licensed for use in many countries.
Usually, when a patient engages in such experimental treatment, they do not have to pay the fees.
Immucura’s website states patients are made aware the treatment is ‘still in the process of scientific research’ but at the same time claims their ‘results are based on science’ and the treatment is ‘natural, safer and cheaper.’
In 2022, a company was founded in Dublin under the name Immucura Limited.
The new venture was incorporated through Goodspeed Business Solutions, a Spanish company founded by Schumacher in 2021.
The German businessman also established Immunyo in June 2023, an Ireland based treatment centre offering dendritic cell therapies.
However, this is not yet legal in Ireland.
The review of a Swedish man who lost his wife to cancer despite Immucura’s treatment, summarises the desperation and hope fuelling the business: “I have no regrets. If I had helped, it would have been worth every penny.”
The Olive Press has contacted Immucura for comment but received no response.
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