What is your background?
I hold a PharmD and a dual degree from EM Lyon Business School, with a major in Entrepreneurship.
What/who inspired you to go into the life sciences? Has there been someone instrumental throughout your journey?
I discovered biology at a young age through scientific reviews for children. I remember being immediately fascinated by its complexity and the harmony of how everything worked together in living systems. As I grew older, I encountered health issues within my circle of family and friends, which left me with a profound sense of injustice.
Why was this happening? Why couldn’t we find cures? This experience sparked my desire to work in the field of medicine. The final piece of the puzzle came from my high school chemistry teacher, whose passion for the subject inspired me. This is how I came to see the pharmaceutical field as the perfect blend of biology, medicine, and molecular development.
You’re the current COO of Lys Therapeutics. What is the team building?
We are developing a first-in-class drug candidate designed to protect and restore the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, thereby preventing harmful processes such as neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. This mechanism of action presents significant therapeutic potential for both acute conditions, such as stroke, and chronic diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Consequently, we aim to develop two distinct products tailored to address acute/emergency situations and chronic illnesses, respectively.
What does a COO of a biotech do?
Overall, I see the job as ensuring everything runs smoothly within the company. This involves continuously gathering relevant information from the team, processing it to solve issues, optimizing plans, and fostering communication, including with the rest of the management team. It’s a very versatile role that I often describe as being like a Swiss knife. You need to contribute and fill in gaps across various topics, depending on current matters and the profiles of other team members. This versatility is what makes the role so interesting to me. In my experience as both a COO and CEO, I found many similarities between the roles, although they come with different levels of responsibility.
What is the toughest part about your job?
I would say the breadth of topics to address is significant. It is quite challenging to integrate – at one point in time – all the complexities related to drug development over the mid-term. There is a large diversity of expertise involved and an extensive amount of information to process. The constant dealing with uncertainties also adds to the challenge.
What does the next milestone look like for the team? How do you plan to get there?
At the end of 2023, we selected our clinical candidate, marking the beginning of our preclinical development phase. The next major milestone for our team is the Clinical Trial Application, a roughly 24-month journey that demands daily collaboration across all team members to coordinate operations and compile the regulatory dossier. Given the numerous topics to deal with, one of our challenges is maintaining focus on the CTA and keeping pace towards that goal.
Neurodegeneration has been a serious issue for society. What are the reasons for the trends getting worse?
As for other therapeutic areas, first, it can be linked to both the general ageing in the population and lifestyle factors. Then, I also assume that progress in understanding these pathologies led to the recognition of neurodegenerative components in a wider range of diseases.
Tell us more about Angelor and your role as an expert there.
Angelor is an organization that establishes and manages investment vehicles, taking minority equity positions in innovative companies from Seed to Series A. Angelor’s core model involves groups of experts in different business areas (health, food, etc.), who directly participate in evaluating and selecting dossiers and then can support portfolio companies in their development. These experts are typically former entrepreneurs or senior executives with extensive experience in their field. Angelor is also deeply committed to values such as promoting environmental impact and fostering human relations.
How do you do it all? What does a typical day look like on your end?
The majority of my time is dedicated to my operational role, with the remainder typically requiring only a few hours per week, which can be easily managed within my schedule or in the evenings. In the end, each role directly benefits the other, as it is highly instructive to sit on both sides of the table. There is no such thing as a typical day; it is a lot of interactions with various stakeholders and new challenges always arising along the way!
You were also an ex-CEO of another biotech. Could you share what were the top 2 things that you’ve learned during that tenure?
The first key point is the importance of engaging with pharmaceutical companies early on. Even if you’re not aiming to close a deal immediately, putting your program under scrutiny can provide invaluable feedback. This feedback, while not always positive, is crucial for refining your plans while adjustments are still feasible.
The second point is to avoid attempting to build the roof before the walls. Although there is often pressure to accelerate progress due to cash constraints or the need to demonstrate program maturity, moving forward without solid foundations can be risky. Ultimately, you may need to revisit and address unresolved issues that were overlooked in the rush to advance.
What particular achievement would you highlight?
When I co-founded GAOMA Therapeutics in 2019, the plan was to close a Seed round in 2020. In March 2020, one day in the evening we were informed that all labs and animal facilities hosting our company would be closing the following day due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All ongoing experiments had to stop immediately and we could not run a new study for the next six months. It put the company in a very difficult situation as we were supposed to generate key results for the Seed round over the year.
By early 2021, we had garnered interest from investors, but the round was not yet secured and we had only a few weeks of cash left. I decided to quickly organize a meeting with all the stakeholders who were looking at the dossier, seizing this as our last opportunity to make it. We managed to generate enthusiasm and within a few days the round was successfully closed – and even oversubscribed. Phew!
Who or what has shaped who you are?
It is a blend of personal and professional experiences. First, having a family with children has definitely influenced how I approach each day. Then on the professional side, I was fortunate to begin my career with top management and shareholders who placed great confidence in me. This responsibility meant I had to deal with quite a lot of topics on my own, so I learned not to be afraid of uncharted waters and to forge ahead. Also, trust has become a fundamental value in my collaborative approach ever since.
What is an area of interest or hobby that not many people know about you?
I listen to quite a lot of hard rock and metal, and used to play in a metal band – but that was some time ago!
What advice would you give to aspiring biotech entrepreneurs looking to make their mark in the industry, especially in the development of novel therapies?
This is a very exciting but challenging journey. So be aware of your limits, surround yourself with the right people, manage yourself to make it for the long term, and stay humble throughout the process.
Any final remarks/advice?
This comes as no surprise to anyone in the field, but: never take anything for granted! Biology – and business – are full of unexpected twists and turns…