Steering Committee

Alain Martelli is a molecular and cellular biologist by training, with a PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry from the University of Grenoble, France. Alain worked for more than 15 years in academic research, where he developed a strong expertise in molecular biology, iron metabolism and rare disease, specifically in the rare neuromuscular disorder Friedreich ataxia. In 2016, Alain joined the Pfizer Rare Disease Research Unit in Cambridge (MA), USA, where he led several early-stage programs and collaborations involving both gene therapy and small molecule approaches. In 2022, Alain moved back to France to join a small biotech company, Innoskel, as Senior Director of Translational Medicine, to oversee the translational development of a novel gene therapy for a rare bone disorder. In July 2023, Alain was hired back by Pfizer as Emerging Science Lead to help build strong collaborations between Pfizer and the French academic research and biotech ecosystems.

Chloé is Global R&D Search and Evaluation Director at Servier, in charge of the scouting for external innovation to nurture the pipeline and research platforms. She has > 15 years experience in life sciences business development sector and joined Servier’s Global Business Development Team in 2018 to lead partnering deals in the Discovery and early development space. Before joining Servier, Chloé worked at Onxeo, a listed biotech company in Paris, where she was Program Acquisition Manager, involved in all aspects of scouting, due diligence and deal-making. She has a technology transfer background having previously worked for many years at France Innovation Scientifique et Transfert (FIST), CNRS’ TTO, where she was in charge of the protection, valuation and licensing of the inventions coming from the CNRS labs, in the field of neurology and rare diseases.

Chloé is a scientist by training, holding a PhD in aging biology from Université Paris Cité, as well as an MBA from IAE Paris Sorbonne Business School.

Corinne has garnered deep expertise in R&D and Project management along with Strategic Alliances identification and Business Development in the health sector. She has more than 25 years’ experience in pharma – mainly at Pfizer – and biotech, at operational and strategic levels and more than 10 years in strategical consulting in healthcare and more largely in the biotech sector. Her area of expertise includes drug candidate development (NCEs and biologics), cell and gene therapy, biomarkers, nutraceuticals and bioprocesses.  She has also strong experience in change management, R&D processes harmonization, leadership of integration programs following M&A operations and leading matrix structures.

Corinne holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, a MSc in Human Physiopathology from the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France and an Executive MBA from the French business school HEC Paris, France. She also completed training with the French Navy on the Management and Leadership in Crisis Situations.

Esther Lange is a Business Development Manager for Viral Vector Out-licensing at Revvity. In her role, she is responsible for identifying and developing strategic partnerships for Revvity’s viral vector technologies, managing out-licensing opportunities, and building relationships with biopharmaceutical partners across global markets. Esther brings extensive experience in business development and partnership management within the cell and gene therapy (CGT) and other biotechnology sectors, where she has successfully negotiated and executed licensing agreements and strategic collaborations.

Etienne Vervaecke is Managing Director of Eurasanté and Clubster NSL. For over 20 years, Eurasanté has been supporting researchers, project leaders and companies in the regional health, nutrition, sport, health, well-being and ageing sector in their research, business creation and development projects.

As an Academia-Industry Alliance Manager, Dr. Fadwa Benkessou is responsible for identifying strategic partnership opportunities, facilitating collaborations, and ensuring seamless communication between academic researchers and industry partners. Dr. Benkessou holds a PhD in Medical Sciences from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and a Master of Science Degree in Biotechnology from Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane.

The function of Dr. Benkessou’s role is an integral part of Karolinska Institutet’s mission to advance knowledge and contribute to improvements in human health. Forging alliances with industry partners can actively contribute to the translation of scientific results into tangible solutions that have a meaningful impact on global healthcare.

As one of the founders of Sarsia, and the principal analyst regarding life science investments, Farzad brings nearly 30 years of drug development expertise and management from large global pharma and early-stage start-ups. Farzad’s experience spans multiple national and global preclinical and clinical drug development initiatives at both administrative and Board levels. In addition to receiving training in entrepreneurial business financing from London Business School, Farzad obtained his doctoral education in pharmacology from the University of Edinburgh Medical School, UK and postdoctoral training from HaukelandUniversity Hospital Bergen, Norway.

Florence Dal Degan is Senior Director, External Innovation, at Ipsen. In her role, she is responsible for the identification and evaluation of innovative external opportunities from discovery to late clinical stage within rare diseases and neuroscience. Florence has 10 years’ international experience in external innovation and business development and 20 years’ experience in R&D, where she has held various scientific and leadership positions at Novo Nordisk, Zealand Pharma and Pharmexa. Florence holds a Ph.D. in protein biology.

Dr Frank Hensel holds a PH.D. in biology and has a longstanding experience as Entrepreneur in a Start-Up developing human monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatment. Since being part of HTGF in 2015 Frank built a solid portfolio of start-ups with a focus on drug development companies. Out of this portfolio several companies entered the clinical stage, and 2 companies (Amal Therapeutics and Cardior Pharmaceuticals) were successfully exited to global pharma companies Boehringer Ingelheim with a deal volume of up to 1030 Mio. €.

Gary has launched successful Business Development teams at Revlon, the University of Texas, the University of Manitoba, the University of South Alabama and Creighton University. In the process, they built vibrant Technology Transfer Programs, business incubators and pre-seed investment funds. They raised $600M in early-stage capital for startups.

Today, Gary consults with a leading Children’s Hospital and helps launch and finance technology-based ventures.

He is actively involved in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship through important organizations:

• Member of the BioFIT Life Science Conference Steering Committee (Lille, Strasbourg and Marseille, FR),
• Founding Judge of the Rice University Business Plan Competition, Houston, TX (the world’s richest and largest,),
• Chair of the South Carolina Small Business Development Center. Columbia, SC (SBDC),
• Mentor, Harbor Entrepreneur Center, Charleston, SC (one of America’s largest/most successful).

Master in Business Engineering
(Solvay Business School ULB)
Consultant for technology focused SME
(including MBO participation)
Consulting / Senior Management for large corporations in Belgium and Europe
CFO (part-time) from 2001 to 2012 of Delphi Genetics and CBO (Chief Business Officer) from 2012 to May 2014

I spent 25 years in research and development in biologicals for animal health, and contributed to the development and marketing of several animal health products.

In 2020, I joined the strategic partnering team within BD&L at Boehringer-Ingelheim Animal Health. I am in charge of scouting for assets or technologies in the field of animal oncology, immunological and fibrotic diseases.

Jérôme MAJOIE is the General Manager of the Foundation Fournier-Majoie, a Venture philanthropic foundation dedicated to recognize and support innovative and entrepreneurial researchers or teams, willing to develop biomolecular applications leading to improvements of diagnostics and treatments in oncology to the benefit of cancer patients. He has 14 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry at Lipha-Merck, Pfizer and Fournier Group in Sales Marketing, Business Development and Licensing departments. Jerome has lived and worked in the USA, the UK, Sweden, Japan as General Manager. Since 2005, he is coaching start-up companies in the biotech industry. Jerome holds an MBA from Hartford University (CT, USA).  

Joachim spent more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry in BD and research roles. He is enthusiastic about cutting-edge technologies and projects that ultimately can be developed into new medicines. Joachim holds a diploma in chemistry and received his PhD in protein crystallography at the University of Freiburg.

Jürgen studied biology/molecular biology in Osnabrück and Aberdeen (UK). After his diploma thesis at the EMBL in Heidelberg, he worked at Genentech, Inc. (USA). He undertook his PhD-thesis at the Max-Planck-Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen. He joined Cellzome AG (Heidelberg, now part of GSK) as the first employee where he was instrumental in setting up the company and was later responsible for IP-issues. After a stint in the patent department of Baxter AG in Vienna, he changed to technology transfer. At Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH, Vienna, he was managing life science inventions developed at Austrian universities.

In 2007, he moved to PROvendis, the central technology transfer agency of the universities of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where during most of his time he served as a head of the Life sciences team. In between, he stayed for another one and a half years in Vienna, as head of technology transfer at the University of Vienna and furthermore for about one and a half years as Managing Director of Life Science Nord, the cluster organisation of the life science industry in the German states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.

He also holds a Master´s degree in Pharmaceutical Business Development and Licensing from the University of Manchester.

Maylis joined Kurma Partners in 2022 and is an Associate based in Paris. She is part of the Kurma Growth Opportunities Fund, which aims to invest into maturing European companies, across the Biotech and HealthTech sectors. Maylis is a scientist by training, she graduated from King’s College London in Biomedical Science with a focus on immuno-oncology, and Essec Business School in Strategy and Finance.

Olivier LOGET, CapEval Pharma Managing Director and and board member of AFSSI, has more than 35 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development. He worked in research departments since 1987 at Sanofi (Paris area), charles River (Lyon), CIT (Evreux), Roche (Basel), Addex Therapeutics (Geneva), OriBase Pharma (Montpellier) and CapEval Pharma (Geneva area). He is a Eurotox Registered Toxicologist with great expertise in drug research and discovery. He joined Addex Therapeutics (Geneva) in 2006 as Head of Non-Clinical Drug Safety to participate in the IPO and to create, develop and lead this research department until 2010, when he created CapEval Pharma and OriBase Pharma and became CSO of OriBase Pharma.  As OriBase Pharma Scientific Director (anticancer drug research), he brought a great expertise in oncology drug discovery and research from candidate selection to clinical trials. At Roche he was Head of Animal Experimentation and Research Toxicology Project Leader. He was involved in several research projects and Due Siligence opportunity assessment.

He founded in 2010 CapEval Pharma, which he leads. He obtained his degree and doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Nantes (1990). He is author or co-author of more than 20 publications. He is co-founder of the European Society of Laboratory Animal Veterinarians and president of the International Society of Ocular Toxicology. He is a lecturer teaching preclinical R&D, toxicology in drug development and ocular examination in several Research Institutes (INSERM, INRA), International Universities and Veterinary Schools.

Rebekka combines in-depth scientific expertise with industry and market experience. She joined Ascenion in 2023 as a Technology Scout, where she collaborates with scientists from research institutes and university hospitals to help advance their projects towards application. Before joining Ascenion, Rebekka spent over seven years at Sanofi, where she held various medical and marketing roles managing different Rx products in Germany and Switzerland. In her last position as Brand Manager at Sanofi, she was responsible for the company’s hematology portfolio and led the launch of a new multiple myeloma therapy in the German market.

Rebekka holds a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. Her doctoral research investigated the molecular mode of action of a novel anti-cancer drug candidate, which is now being developed by a clinical-stage spin-off from NTNU.

Sofia is a Principal at AdBio Partners, where she identifies and supports innovative biotech companies, working closely with founders. She serves a board observer for several portfolio companies.  Prior to joining AdBio, she gained experience in the pharmaceutical industry, academic research, and the biotech industry, contributing to the development of a novel ophthalmology treatment at a biotech company within the Institut Pasteur. Sofia holds a PharmD and graduated from ESSEC Business School.

An accomplished leader with over 15 years of experience driving innovation in Animal Health. As Head of External Innovation at Elanco Animal Health since 2022, Steve leads a team responsible for identifying and evaluating novel animal health solutions, from early discovery to late-stage development. He collaborates with pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and universities, securing cutting-edge advancements for Elanco. Previously, Steve contributed significantly to Elanco’s success by leading key R&D programs, including Credelio® and Imvixa®. His career began as a medicinal chemist at Novartis Animal Health, following a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University and earning a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Basel. He has extensive experience spearheading global projects from discovery through development and regulatory submission.