Team

Current board member and advisor for several biotech companies, Gilles Avenard is Medical Doctor and was the co-founder and COO of BioAlliance Pharma SA – ONXEO (NYSE EURONEXT) until 2010. He was notably involved in the development of several innovative medicines through to their official registration on both European and North-American territories. Before that, he worked as Project Director for Hoechst Marion Roussel (Sanofi) and was Medical Director of Bio-Transfusion (LFB).

Professor at University Paris-Saclay (school of Pharmacy), Philippe Billiald is former president of the strategic committee and now scientific consultant at Acticor Biotech. He is an expert in the field of therapeutic and diagnostic antibody engineering. Philippe has published many papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, books and scientific magazines in his area of expertise. He is also inventor in several international patents and serves in the editorial board of international, peer-reviewed journals: Antibodies, PLoS Negl Trop Dis.

Sophie has over 20 years’ experience in start-ups and mid-size companies within the biotechnology areas. She has a strong expertise in oncology, immunology and virology. Sophie has managed innovative R&D projects from the proof-of-concept to early clinical development. In her previous positions, Sophie was Vice-President Research and Early Clinical Development at PEP-Therapy, responsible for the development of peptide drug candidates in oncology. She was nonclinical R&D Director at InnaVirVax, developing innovative immune-based treatments for infectious diseases. She was Head of translational programs in oncology at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center. During her carrier, Sophie held various positions, at INSERM, CEA, Centre d’Immunologie Pierre Fabre, Bioalliance Pharma (Onxeo) and Stallergenes. Sophie holds a PhD in immunology from Paris VII Denis Diderot university. She is (co-)author of about 20 scientific publications and co-inventor of 9 patents.

After an extensive professional experience at a court-appointed representative’s office in Paris, Nacera Brouttelande joined Acticor Biotech in June 2018 where she works as Office Manager notably dealing with the company’s administrative, HR, legal and accounting follow-up.

Graduated in musicology, Vanessa started her professional life as a self-employed music-therapist for children and adults with learning disabilities for 8 years. Subsequently, she moved to the United Kingdom where she followed an English course in Cambridge and became a translator and medical interpreter for French-speaking patients. Upon her return in France, she started working for a CRO: First on the executive side where she assisted the CEO with contracts, invoicing, organization of customer events, QC and translations etc. Then she moved to the operational side as CTA and senior CTA, and for 4 years she worked on various projects in oncology, in pulmonology and ophthalmology. She is committed and know well the ICH_GCP legislation as well as the innovation and development regulations. To continue her education and experience, she has just completed a BTS in management and an MBA in business development. Vanessa joined Acticor Biotech as Clinical Trial Lead.

CEO and Founder of Agile Capital Markets; Advisor of several biotech & medtech companies (among which EOS imaging, Cellnovo, PKvitality), Eric raised over 200M€ in public and private fund raising. He was previously CFO of Mauna Kea Technologies (Euronext®: MKEA), Hybrigenics (Euronext®: ALHYG) and Teva Pharmaceuticals France (NASDAQ®: TLV). He led 2 IPO on Euronext® raising 62M€. He was also Head of Hybrigenics Business Services and Head of Operations (R&D and Production) at Mauna Kea Technologies.

Andrea Comenducci, MD, Medical Director at Acticor Biotech. Educated as a General Practitioner, Andrea has more than 25-year experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He assumed various functions from International Project leader and Senior Medical Advisor to Medical Director in medium and large companies. His preferred therapeutic area is the cardiovascular field in which he has vast experience in coronary artery diseases, high blood pressure, heart failure, atherosclerosis acquired in large worldwide clinical trials such as the GUSTO V-TIMI 14 study, STABILITY and SOLID-TIMI 52 studies. In November 2018, Andrea joined Acticor Biotech with the role of Medical Director in order to take up new exciting challenges in acute ischemic stroke, Covid-19 pandemic and pulmonary embolism.

Violaine is a vet doctor by initial training with 6 years experience as a practicionner, specialised in emergencies, internal medicine and ophthalmology. She completed her training with 6 medical university diploma in the management of non clinical regulatory toxicology studies, clinical trial methodology and investigation, as well as safety management and pharmacovigilance of medicines. She as more than 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and led several positions both in biotech and mid-size companies. She managed the start of Adocia non clinical and clinical teams and launched first evaluations of insulin therapies. She then joined Eyevensys a biotech company in Paris-Cochin, as Chief Clinical/Medical Officer, and launched the first innovative clinical trial with non-viral combined gene therapy in rare ophthalmological disease. She also led the overall developpment strategy and management of the clinical team as Global Medical Director at Laboratoires Théa for 2 years, and developped both the team and the spread of Théa’s presence worldwide. She recently joined Acticor Biotech as Medical Operations Director, after being senior consultant for several biotechs and therapeutic areas such as Covid-19, contraception, transplantation, autism,...

With a professional bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical industries, focusing on biotechnology. P. Ferlan started her career in Sanofi’s R&D laboratories. She works on analytical methods development, stability studies and functional characterization of glenzocimab.

Shahin Gharakhanian MD, DPH, based in Boston MA, is an Executive Medical Consultant for Acticor-Biotech since 2019 and Heads Clinical/Medical Operations in the United States for the company. Dr Gharakhanian is a Physician-Executive with expertise in Pharmaceutical Medicine, Leadership and Management, and an international track record:(1) [Clinical Medicine] Clinical Practice @ AP-HP [Assistance Publique–Hopitâux de Paris, Paris Public Academic Hospitals] the largest hospital system in Europe and one of the largest globally. (2) [Pharmaceutical Medicine] Broad experience including Vice-President of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Global R&D and Corporate Operating Council Member in Cambridge MA, USA. He has clinically developed/launched four novel treatments including a “Blockbuster”. (3) [Executive Medical Consultant] Shahin Gharakhanian MD Consulting LLC, is a consultancy practice based @ CIC: Cambridge Innovation Center, which to date, has provided expertise to 20 companies. Dr Gharakhanian’s medical education has been at Paris-Sorbonne University and Harvard University Medical School.

With a Master’s degree in Accounting and Finance, Aymeric was an Audit Manager at Grant Thornton for 7 years. He worked on listed and non-listed companies and specialized in the Biotech industry.

After a Master degree in pharmaceutical biotechnology and innovative therapy, Jessica (PharmD) joined Acticor Team in November 2019 as Regulatory and Clinical Associate after completing her end of study internship in Regulatory Affairs and CMC departments. She’s now Regulatory Affairs Manager and monitors clinical projects’ regulatory activities.

Martine Jandrot-Perrus obtained her medical degree in 1977 (University Paris 5) and turned towards medical research. After completing her training in Biochemistry/Enzymology (University Paris Sud), she joined INSERM (the French National Institute on Health and Medical Research) in 1982. She was at the head of the team Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Thrombosis from 2003 to 2013. She is now Emeritus Research Director at the Laboratory for Vascular Translational Science (INSERM/University of Paris, Bichat hospital). Her work on haemostasis and thrombosis, and her expertise on platelets and in particular on glycoprotein VI are internationally recognized. Her most notable contributions in this field include the cloning of GPVI, the first description of a subject with a congenital deficit, the identification of new ligands of GPVI and the characterization of its role in the formation of thromboses. She obtained and characterized the antithrombotic properties of the anti-GPVI monoclonal antibody 9O12, precursor of glenzocimab. Author of 11 patents and 166 publications in international journals (h index 35) she received several awards from the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation (Coup d’Elan 2002), SGAM-ASSET Foundation (Therapeutic Innovation 2007), French Academy of Sciences (2007) and the Esteemed Career Award from the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis in 2019. Since the foundation of Acticor Biotech, she is actively involved in its development as scientific expert.

Laurie Jullien, PharmD. with a Master in International Drug Development and Registration is directing the regulatory affairs. She has more than 9 years of international experience, starting her career at Genentech (USA) and then at Roche (UK). She joined Acticor Biotech in 2016 to built the Regulatory Affairs and Quality Department, ensuring the regulatory activities from the non clinical development to the first-in-human and first-in-patient studies, and the development of the quality policy of the company. From November 2020, she is taking the role of Head of Regulatory Affairs full time, working on the global regulatory strategy, interactions with health authorities and the management of the regulatory department.

With a Master degree of Biotechnology Engineering from Sup’Biotech and a PhD in Bioprocess Enginneeing from CentraleSupélec (previously Centrale Paris), Angéla started her career in the development and optimisation of cell culture in bioreactor within the Chair of Biotechnology of CentraleSupélec. She joined Acticor Biotech in March 2020, and since January 2021, she is working as Pharmaceutical Development Manager.

Marilyn has over 20 years’ experience in pharmaceutical development and global clinical project management especially in oncology, virology and Intensive care unit. She previously assumed the functions of International Clinical Project Manager in pharmaceutical companies and CRO (Clinical Research Organization). Before that, she spent the beginning of her career in marketing and participated in the launching of several innovative products in oncology for Chiron and Aventis.

Following an STMG baccalaureate, Antoine turned to the world of communication. He is preparing a BTS in communication within Acticor Biotech. He joined the company as a communication and IT assistant in September 2020.

Master degree of Biotechnology Engineering with a focus on R&D and Health, Kristell Lebozec has a 2 years experience in academic laboratories (Institut Gustave Roussy and Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers) and in the industry (DNA Therapeutics and I-Stem). She joined Acticor Biotech in 2015 and was in charge of selecting ACT017 expression system and of the functional characteriztion of product. She is now managing the pharmaceutical and non-clinical development.

Following experiences in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly on a production site as well as an operating site, Simon is completing his final year in pharmacy with a master’s degree in quality assurance specializing in biotechnologies, in parallel with his student-apprentice at Acticor Biotech.

Adeline Meilhoc, DPsy, is directing the global clinical trials in bringing her expertise to ACTICOR Biotech in team management and strategic & operational study structuration. She has spent her career in the clinical Drug Development in pharma and contract research organization entities, both as VP Medical Affairs & Clinical Operations and as VP Business Development. She has built several departments in the medical and clinical trial feasibility, in study start-up and in medical imaging as well as commercial and marketing development. Specializing in building business relationships, she has spent the last few years developing Marketing & Sales strategies for various eClinical tools to Healthcare Professionals and Medical Device companies, in addition to her own businesses. Her strong expertise in Real World Evidence and in the operational aspect of market access has broaden her vision of drug development and launch. She is clinical psychologist - ICP - EPP of Paris, specialized in the field of Health & Society.

CRA since 2015 in APHP hospitals, specially regarding infectious diseases, where she was a non-medical coordinator and helped the investigator invarious clinical trials. Previously she worked as a consultant nurse, in treatment monitoring and giving advice to colleagues and on patients with respiratory failure, for Air Liquide. She also worked in intensive care, pneumology and neurosurgery departments, so therefore has extensive experience and knowledge of the hospital environment.

Stéphanie PAUL, Clinical Operations Trainer, at Acticor Biotech, background of study research nurse. She has more than 15 years of experience in a clinical research center in CHRU from Brest. She assumed various functions from study coordinator in different therapeutic domains: respiratory, thromboembolic diseases, vascularitis and neurological area. She supervised both French and international trials, and realized all the technical care, in respect of GCP. She comes from hospital so she could be a veritable resource for the training staff.

Dr Plétan is an expert in clinical development within the pharmaceutical industry. He previously held leadership positions at Roche, Pfizer, Sanofi and Pierre Fabre. Before joining Acticor Biotech, Dr Plétan served as head of the Medical Division and was a board member of the Foundation at Roche France and member of the Global Medical Affairs Committee at Hoffman La Roche Ltd (Switzerland). Prior to these activities, he was also vice-president, head of Medical and Scientific Division and board member of the Foundation at Pfizer.

PharmD. – Master in Quality Assurance – Pharmaceutical Products. Victoria Rutman has 6 years of hands-on experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Before joining Acticor Biotech, she served as Quality Pharmacist at Innothera and at Orphan Europe. She joined Acticor in 2019 and was promoted Head of Quality at the end of 2020. She works in close collaboration with all departments to monitor regulatory compliance, continuous improvement and also on the quality policy of the company.

Anouar has more than 20 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry. He began his career at Gustave Roussy Institute, then ICON Clinical research and Nanobiotix, holding various positions and acting as “Global Clinical Project Manager” and “Associate Director Clinical Operations” afterwards.

Elie has 10 years of experience in major companies and public-private bodies within the biotechnology area. Committed to bring breakthrough innovations to patient as fast as possible, he has a broad expertise in several therapeutic areas. Elie has managed strategic alliances of innovative R&D projects from the proof-of-concept to clinical development. During his carrier, he held various positions, at Curie Institute, Total New energy, Roche, and Conectus. Elie holds a Master in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, and a PhD in Molecular Biology done within Pasteur Institute (Paris). He joined Acticor Biotech in 2021 as Head of Global Project Coordination.