Speakers

Professor Patrick Aebischer was trained as an MD (1980) and a Neuroscientist (1983) at the Universities of Geneva and Fribourg in Switzerland. From 1984 to 1992, he worked at Brown University in Providence (Rhode Island, USA) as an Assistant and then Associate Professor of Medical Sciences.
In 1991, he became the chairman of the Section of Artificial Organs, Biomaterials and Cellular Technology of the Division of Biology and Medicine of Brown University. In the fall of 1992, he returned to Switzerland as a Professor and Director of the Surgical Research Division and Gene Therapy Center at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) in Lausanne.
In 1999, Patrick Aebischer was appointed President of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) by the Swiss Federal Council. He took office on 17 March, 2000. He is a member of numerous professional societies, both in Europe and America. He is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and of the Swiss Academy of Medicine.
Patrick Aebischer is also the founder of three biotechnology companies. His current research focuses on the development of cell and gene transfer approaches for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Humberto C. Antunes is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Galderma , leading one of the world’s largest dermatology pharmaceutical companies. After joining Galderma in 1997 to head up its Latin American business from his native Brazil, he went on to manage Galderma’s North American operations, and in 2004 was appointed to his current position.

Humberto C. Antunes’ twenty-plus years of experience spans the globe, beginning his career with Sandoz Pharmaceutical division (now Novartis) in the United States. In the years that followed, he accepted positions of increasing responsibility that took him and his family through the United States several times, Switzerland, Italy, Argentina, Colombia, Germany and currently in France.

His commitment to dermatology extends beyond his duties heading up Galderma. An active member of the American Academy of Dermatology, the International Society of Dermatology, Women’s Dermatologic Society, the ASPDT – American Society for Photodynamic Therapy, he has also volunteered in several committees, task-forces and boards such as the Texas Neurofibromatosis Society and the Brazilian Salvation Army. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the FIDE – Foundation for International Dermatologic Education and the American Skin Association. In addition, he often acts as speaker in business and scientific forums, earning him several industry service awards.

After obtaining a degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska, Humberto C. Antunes continued his management studies at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States, and the IMD Lausanne, Switzerland.

Humberto C. Antunes is fluent in six languages. He is married and has three children.

Philippe Archinard became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on December 7, 2004. He began his professional career with bioMérieux in 1985 where he held various positions in France and the United States, including CEO of the U.S. operations. Since March 2000, he had served as Chief Executive Officer of Innogenetics until his appointment as CEO of Transgene. He holds a chemical engineering degree and a PhD in biochemistry from Lyon University, and has completed the PMD program at the Harvard Business School. Since October 2006, he is President of the Lyonbiopôle competitive cluster, a world center of excellence in vaccines and diagnostics.

Kim Bill has over 25 years of broad international pharmaceutical experience - Scientific Affairs, Regulatory, Marketing, Training, Business, Licensing and Corporate Development.

Currently, she is Vice-President, Corporate Development at the Debiopharm Corporate Group, responsible for strategic deals and investment opportunities. She has worked at Debiopharm for 12 years in Business and was on the Management Board.

Kim also founded her own consultancy company, Creative Business Solutions (www.createbusiness.ch) which provides Corporate and Business advice on deal structures and business-to-business interactions as well as business development tools like virtual dataroom facilities for licensing work to the industry.

Kim serves on the Board of Directors of Aurigene, a fully integrated drug discovery biotech in Bangalore, India as well as on the Board of the Swiss Pharma Licensing Group.

Kim Bill graduated from the National University of Singapore with a degree in Pharmacy. Later on she earned a Masters in Business Administration at the University of Hull in the UK and General and Marketing Management with Stanford University in the US and Bocconi University in Italy.

Her previous positions included Marketing Executive for Diethlem Pte Ltd, the largest pharma distributor in Asia. She then joined Les Laboratories Servier, Paris in Marketing, before moving to Serono (MerckSerono) in the Asia-Pacific, European and International Operations in Sales and Marketing and Management positions, including setting up subsidiaries in the then, socialist Central Europe and the USSR.

Roel Bulthuis is Head of Merck Serono Ventures, the strategic venture capital group of Merck Serono. Through the ventures group, Merck Serono is committed to actively invest in emerging biotech companies which have the potential to provide innovative products in Merck Serono’s core therapeutic areas, or access to innovative technologies. In addition to the venture fund, Roel is also responsible for all ‘externalization’ transactions at Merck Serono, including ‘fostering’ deals, spin-offs and other alternative financing models. Roel joined Merck Serono in 2006 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Previously, Roel was a Director in the Biotech Investment Banking Team at Fortis Bank, where he was responsible for the origination and execution of a wide range of financing and strategic transactions in the biotech sector based out of Amsterdam and New York. Before joining Fortis Bank, Roel worked at Devgen NV in Gent, Belgium, as a business analyst. Roel holds a Msc. in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and an MBA in Finance from the Helsinki School of Economics, Finland.

G. Steven Burrill has been involved in the growth and prosperity of the biotechnology industry for over 40 years. An early pioneer, Mr. Burrill is one of the original architects of the industry and one of its most avid and sustained developers. He currently serves as Chairman of the Boards of Pharmasset (NASDAQ: VRUS), BioImagene and NewBridge, and is a member of the Boards of Directors of Catalyst Biosciences, CrossCart, DepoMed (NASDAQ: DEPO), Ikano Therapeutics, Phytomedics, Proteogenix, Proventys, Targacept (NASDAQ: TRGT) and XDx. Prior to founding Burrill & Company in 1994, he spent 28 years with Ernst & Young, directing and coordinating the firm's services to clients in the biotechnology/life sciences/high technology/manufacturing industries worldwide. In 2002, Mr. Burrill was recognized as the biotech investment visionary by the prestigious Scientific American magazine (The Scientific American 50), and in 2008, he received the BayBio Pantheon 2008 DiNA lifetime achievement award for his worldwide biotech leadership.

Stefan Catsicas received a PhD in Neurosciences from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) and did postdoctoral work at the Research institute of Scripps Clinic (San Diego, USA). He managed the research and preclinical development programs in Neurosciences at the Glaxo Research Institute (Geneva, Switzertand) and served as Professor and Chairman of Cellular Biology at the school of Medicine in Lausanne. He was then appointed Vice-President, Research Director and Professor of Cellular Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). In addition to his academic activities, Stefan Catsicas has promoted and advised investment funds and biotechnology companies in Europe and in the United States. He is one of the founders of Tilocor Life Science and has resigned from his academic duties to chair the group's activities.

Jacques Cholat, born in 1959, holds with a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Grenoble (1986).

In 1987, he began working in the pharmaceutical industry and, more specifically, the Marketing Department of Laboratoires Cassenne, a subsidiary of the Roussel Uclaf Group.

In 1988, he became the Medical Operations Manager for the Asia-Pacific zone within Pasteur Mérieux Sérums & Vaccins in Lyon. This marked the beginning of a career entirely dedicated to pursuing a mission to improve public health on every continent.

In 1995, his career took him to Rhône-Poulenc Rorer in Paris, where he held the position of Marketing Director for the South America, Africa, Middle-East and Asia zones.

He subsequently left France to head the Group’s Portuguese subsidiary from 1996 to 1999; during this time, he was based in Lisbon.

From 1999 to 2002, Jacques Cholat travelled to Singapore in his capacity as Vice President for International Sales Operations within the Aventis Pharma Group in charge of Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Appointed Vice President of sanofi pasteur International in July 2002, he managed the development of Commercial Operations for the Vaccines Division of the sanofi-aventis Group in Lyon, for all countries excluding North America and Europe.

Since June 2009, he is in charge of the Commercial Operations of the sanofi pasteur business in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific as Vice President Commercial Operations – International. In this role, he also supervises the management of Shantha Biotech, the R&D and industrial Indian platform of sanofi pasteur for the developing countries.

François Curtin graduated from Geneva Medical School and obtained a Master in Philosophy in Medical Statistics from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. After several years in academia and obtaining his habilitation (Privat Docent title) at the University of Geneva, he joined Swissmedic, the Swiss Medicine Agency in Bern where he was responsible for the registration and market surveillance of the Central Nervous System therapeutic products. Then, he joined the Swiss biotech Serono SA and worked in different management positions of increasing responsibilities at Serono SA, then Merck Serono SA, in clinical development and business development, with a particular focus on neurology and monoclonal antibodies. He has a MBA from Warwick Business School. Since the Autumn 2009, François Curtin is the CEO of GeNeuro SA.

With an MSc in Pharmacy and an Executive MBA (Master’s in Management of Technologies), Vibeke combines a broad understanding of technologies with a specialist knowledge of strategic marketing and business development. Before joining Copenhagen Capacity, she worked on international projects for respected pharma and biotech companies such as LEO Pharma, H. Lundbeck, Chr.Hansen, Ferring and Rosco.

Jean Derégnaucourt, D V M, Thesis Prize Winner, Graduate in Pharmacology (Paris Medical Faculty), Post doctoral fellow at University of California at Los Angeles (USA), is currently Chief Executive Officer of the Medicen Paris Region Biocluster, the major French biocluster. He is also Vice President of the Biotech company Cellvir which he cofounded 2 years ago and President, Vice President or Member of various Organizations and Committees.

His previous positions were Vice President Global Project Management then, Vice President Global Chemical and Pharmaceutical Development at Rhone Poulenc Rorer, now known as Sanofi- Aventis (1990-1998) and later, President of the Pierre Fabre Research Institute (1998-2003).

As such, Jean Derégnaucourt contributed to the development and the international registration of a dozen of international products among them two blockbusters, namely, Clexane and Taxotere.

He then moved to an institutional position as Director of Biotechnology at the French Research Ministery (2003-2006).

In this later position Jean Derégnaucourt seated on the board of the Institut National de la Recherche Medicale (Inserm), of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) and of the Institut National du Cancer (InCa) among other public Institutes. He was also a member of the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) and of the Comité Economique des Produits de Santé (CEPS) and contributed in establishing a European Network for public-private partnerships in biotechnology.

Through is dual career path, Jean Derégnaucourt benefited from the unique opportunity to gain exposure of both the private and the public sectors and built a large expertise in the health field from basic R&D up to registration and launching of new products.

Matthias Fehr has over 10 years of investment experience in the healthcare industry. He joined HBM Partners as an investment advisor for public equity investments in 2002, one year after foundation. Matthias Fehr led several large public equity investments including private investments in public equities (PIPE). He was actively involved in the management of the transition from private investments to IPOs and their subsequent divestments. Since 2003, he actively covers and invests in the public Indian pharmaceutical universe. In 2007, he led the so far largest private investment of HBM Bioventures in PharmaSwiss (USD 75 m), a leading pharmaceutical company in Central and Eastern Europe, for which he is a board observer ever since.

Before joining HBM Partners, from 1999-2002, Matthias Fehr was a senior analyst at Lombard Odier& Cie and responsible for the research coverage of companies in the medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. During his time at Lombard Odier & Cie, he broadened his education with a degree as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

During 1998/1999, he was an internal consultant and project manager for Credit Suisse Private Banking in the business process management department.

Until 1998, Matthias Fehr was working on his PhD thesis in chemistry, as a scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. His project, which was financed by Roche, was to investigate the key step in the asymmetric synthesis of Roche’s anti-obesity drug Xenical®.

From 1990-1994, Matthias Fehr was studying chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. His M.Sc. in chemistry was awarded with the silver medal.

Roman joined the life science team of Index Ventures in early 2006 and is a Principal based in the Geneva office. Prior to joining Index he worked for seven years at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals where he held roles of increasing responsibility in preclinical drug discovery in the areas of inflammation and cardiovascular therapies as well as later on in business development. Under his leadership several compounds were moved into clinical development.

Roman received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he performed research on catalytic antibodies. His research efforts resulted in many publications in prestigious journals, as well as issued patents and patent applications. In addition, he was awarded an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business where he continues to serve as a mentor for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Currently, he serves on the boards of GlycoVaxyn and Versartis, while remaining closely involved with Funxional Therapeutics, Normoxys, and OncoEthix.

Amy Fredrick is the Director of MassMEDIC’s MedTech Ignite program, an initiative for mentoring medical device entrepreneurs at the early stages of their company's conceptualization, formation and development.

Formerly at Stryker (Cambridge, Mass.), Ms. Fredrick managed technology transfer of early stage development projects and created research and development strategies for technical, regulatory, and safety feasibility of early stage technologies. Ms. Fredrick has also held senior positions at St. Francis Medical Technologies (acquired by Kyphon Inc.) in Alameda, Calif. and the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, NY. Ms. Fredrick holds a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University and a B.A. from New York University.

Lubor is Head of Europe, Global Search, Strategic Transactions Group, Bristol-Myers Squibb. Lubor is responsible for the acquisition and licensing of compounds or drug programmes for all BMS therapeutic areas.

Prior to joining Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lubor was Head of Business Development for Neuro3d and CBO of Vectron Therapeutics AG. In the US, Lubor was at Berlex Laboratories where he was responsible worldwide for Cardiovascular and CNS Licensing of Schering AG. Before joining Berlex, he worked for Burrill and Company, where he advised companies on business development strategies and execution.

Lubor received his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley and his B.Sc. in Neuroscience from the University of Sussex in Brighton, U.K.

James Geraghty is Senior Vice President and an Officer of Genzyme Corporation. He was President of Genzyme Europe from 1998-2002, and in 2004 became General Manager of Genzyme’s cardiovascular business. He serves as a Director of GTC Biotherapeutics (formerly Genzyme Transgenics Corporation), where he was Chairman from 1998 to 2001, and President and C.E.O. from its founding in 1993, and as a member of the boards of Myosix SA, and Genetix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Mr. Geraghty also oversees Genzyme’s Humanitarian Assistance for Neglected Diseases program, under which Genzyme helps develop innovative therapeutic programs on a non-commercial basis. He has structured Genzyme’s partnerships with The Broad Institute and MMV, with DNDi, with Brazil’s Oswald Cruz Institute, and with India’s ICGEB. He served as Co-Chair of the executive committee for BIO 2007 and as an Advisory Board member of the Partnering for Global Health Forum.

A graduate of the Yale Law School, he has published articles in the Yale Law Journal and other legal publications. He holds a masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.

Cemil is President of mondofragilis group, a group of companies dedicated to public interest media, communications and strategy. Among their clients one finds UN agencies, civil society organisations and governments. Cemil also heads otjiwarongo consulting, the group's firm responsible for analysis and strategy. Cemil sits on multiple public interest working groups and commissions and has launched multiple global campaigns.

Pierre Hessler is a member of the board of directors of the Cap Gemini Group since May 2000. He is now a consultant to the Group and non-voting member of the board, and chairs some of Cap Gemini’s companies. He is also a board member of Bureau Veritas SA and A Novo, and head of Actideas.

Pierre Hessler joined in 1993 Cap Gemini, where he served in several executive positions, notably as a member of the Directoire and as chairman and CEO of Gemini Consulting.

Pierre Hessler started his career in 1965 in IBM Switzerland, holding executive positions in Europe and in the United States, notably as corporate vice-president for marketing, and general manager for marketing, services and operations of IBM Europe.

Swiss and French citizen, aged 66, married with 2 children, graduate of the University of Lausanne with degrees in law and economics, author of “Media and Corporate Scandals”.

2008-2009 Vice President Operational Excellence Research & Development at Merck Serono
2001-2008 CEO and President of Protagen AG
1999-2001 Head of project and portfolio management at Novartis Generics (today Sandoz)
1994–1999 Different positions in R&D including Projectmanager and Group Head at Hoechst AG (today Sanofi Aventis)
1991–1994 PhD in Immunology at Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz Germany
1984–1991 Studies in Biology, specializing in Genetics, Immunology, Biochemistry and Botany resulting in the title: Diplom Biologe

Dr Jackie Hunter has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years, after carrying our post doctoral research at St George’s Hospital Medical School in London. For most of her industrial career she has focussed on the discovery of drugs for serious neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. She has worked for Glaxo, Smith Kline and French, SmithKline Beecham and is currently at GlaxoSmithKline based in the UK. In 2002 she was appointed Head of the Neurology and GI Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery (CEDD). In this role she was responsible for 350 scientists (medicinal chemists, DMPK personnel and biologists) and clinicians based in the UK, Singapore and USA.

The CEDD was focussed on the discovery and development of new therapeutics for neurodegenerative disease, pain and gastrointestinal disorders. This resulted in over 15 proofs of concept in 5 years and several transitions to full development.

Dr Hunter has published over 130 scientific papers and served on a number of industrial and academic boards and is currently a member of the BBSRC council. In 2008 she moved to become Head of Science Environment Development with a remit to develop a pre-competitive research agenda and new ways of working with academia and other publically funded bodies. In her current role she is actively involved in driving forward the Innovative Medicines Initiative for Europe and is an IMI Board member. She is also responsible for the Stevenage BioScience park project within GSK.

Dr Jervis holds the position of Commercial Director at BigDNA Limited, the Edinburgh, Scotland based vaccine development company, where she has responsibility for commercialisation and partnership of the Company’s human and veterinary disease vaccine platform. Dr Jervis has twelve years experience in the biotechnology industry, her previous positions including Managing Director and Head of Business Development at Viragen and Director of Business Development at CXR Biosciences.

Educated at the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, she has a MBA and a PhD in Protein Biochemistry.

Dr Jervis is a member of the Scottish Government’s Science Advisory Committee and holds consulting positions at US-based Precipio Biotherapeutics and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

Hedwig is a Senior Analyst in the Infectious Diseases team at Datamonitor, a London-based, independent business analysis firm. Hedwig joined Datamonitor in 2006, and her research has mainly focuses on vaccines and hepatitis since. Hedwig has authored numerous large studies on various aspects of the vaccines market, covering specific disease areas and technologies as well as more general issues including corporate strategy and external factors shaping the market environment for vaccines. Since 2007, Hedwig has also lectured on vaccines for the MPhil Bioscience Enterprise Programme at Cambridge University. Prior to joining Datamonitor, Hedwig worked in oncology and virology research at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry (Martinsried, Germany) and the Institute of Molecular Virology (TU Munich, Germany). Hedwig graduated from Cambridge University with an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise and also holds an MSc in Biochemistry (Technical University of Munich).

Inca C. Kusters, Ph.D. is working in the External Research and Development Department of Sanofi Pasteur. This Department consists of a small group of scientists that evaluates the scientific value of external vaccine projects and technologies. In addition, she has led during the past months the R&D activities around the development of an adjuvanted and a non-adjuvanted pandemic H1N1 vaccine. Dr I.C. Kusters leads a group that is responsible for the evaluation and recommendations on new potential vaccine targets and technologies. She is a guest lecturer at different French universities (Lyon I, Paris IX, Paris XIII).

Born in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, she received her undergraduate degree at the Wageningen University of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, with a special training in Molecular Biology in 1992. In the same year she moved to Lyon, France, to work on the mechanisms of carcinogenesis at the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

In 1996, she received a Ph.D. for her work in fundamental scientific research on the Epstein-Barr Virus. Then, she worked at the Hospital of Neurology in Lyon within the field of neurological auto-immune diseases.

Dr. Inca C. Kusters is author of several scientific publications in the different fields where she has worked.

Ludo Lauwers, M.D. is Senior Vice President, Beerse R&D Site Manager at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals and chairs the Beerse R&D Senior Leadership Team. He is Vice-Chairman of the Management Board of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and Chairman of the Board of Janssen-Cilag International NV.

He joined Janssen Pharmaceutica, Belgium as Medical Director in 1993, and later served as Director of Clinical Development, Internal Medicine; Senior Director, Internal Medicine, International Clinical R&D and Vice President Gastroenterology & Antifungals for the Janssen Research Foundation (JRF). Ludo was appointed Beerse Site Manager for J&J Pharmaceutical R&D in July 2000 and later in October 2001 Vice President, Global Head, Postmarketing Medical Evaluation. In 2004 he became Global Head of the drug safety and pharmacovigilance organization for J&J, Benefit Risk Management (BRM) and chair of the Safety Council. His previous positions include Medical Director, Upjohn Benelux, and Associate Director of the Department of Anesthesiology and Director of the ICU and Emergency Medical Services at the Stuivenberg General Hospital in Antwerp.

Dr. Lauwers earned his medical degree (MD) from the University of Leuven (1977) and specialized in Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (1981). He holds the European Diploma of Intensive Care Medicine (EDIC).

After obtaining a Master in Business Administration from EM Lyon and a Master in Finance from Paris-Dauphine University, she worked for Credit Lyonnais Securities Small Caps in Lyon in 1999 as a junior sell-side analyst for the Technologies team and joined KBC Securities in Paris in 2000 as a sell-side analyst covering European pharmaceuticals and biotechnologies. In 2003 she joined Credit Lyonnais Securities as a sell-side analyst on European pharmaceuticals and passed the CIIA diploma. She became member of the SFAF (French Society of Financial Analysts) in 2003 before moving in November 2004 to Lombard Odier.

At Lombard Odier, Ms. Le Louët works as an Equity analyst in the Health Care Team of the Global Equity Fund of our Private Banking Investment Services (PBIS).

Following his MA in international relations studies at the Hebrew university in Jerusalem, Ami joined the cadets program of the ministry of industry trade and labor in 2002.

He served as head of branch, in charge of multilateral trade agreements with responsibilities over various trade policy matters, including intellectual property rights, trade in services and government procurement.

During that time Ami represented Israel in several international forums, including the WTO and regional meetings sponsored by the European Commission.

In 2005 he was nominated Commercial Attaché at Israel’s embassy to Switzerland and Israel’s Representative to the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

In 2009 he was elected Chairman of the WTO Committee on technical barriers to trade.

Graduated in Political Science from the University of Cagliari, Italy, Marinella Loddo in 1982 joined the ITALIAN INSTITUTE FOR FOREIGN TRADE – in Italian ICE, the government agency which promotes the internationalization of the Italian companies, particularly small and medium sized (SMEs).

She is currently Responsible of the International Cooperation and Relations with International Organizations Division, created with the aim of promoting economic and technological partnership between Italian and foreign companies, also under the framework of Programs financed by the European Union and International Organizations.

Over 25 years of service with ICE, Dr. Loddo has held management positions in various offices and she has gained vast experience in promotional activities, marketing and foreign markets, in particular developing ones.

In the 1990s she served as deputy trade commissioner at the ICE’s office in Los Angeles.

She is ICE’s representative in various working Groups and Committee, both national and international, working to support small and medium size companies.

Dr. Loddo is member of the Advisory Council of the Salerno University.

In 2003 she earned a master degree in Peacekeeping and Security Studies at the Roma Tre University.

Anthony Manning, Ph.D. is Vice President for Inflammation and Autoimmune Diseases Research at Biogen Idec, the company’s top scientific expert in Immunology and Inflammation research and its chief external scientific spokesperson in this area. He is responsible for all Immunology/Inflammation research efforts both at the Cambridge and San Diego Research campuses, including target selection, drug discovery, biomarker identification and research support for clinical programs & marketed products. He serves as a senior leader in the Immunology Therapy Area developing strategy for Biogen Idec's Immunology R&D activities, and as a member of the Research and Development Committee overseeing all R&D projects.

Dr. Manning came to Biogen Idec in 2007 from Roche, where he was most recently Vice President and Global Head of Inflammation, Autoimmunity and Transplantation Research, and was responsible for building Roche’s pipeline of novel therapies for rheumatoid arthritis, respiratory diseases and transplantation. He was a member of the Disease Area Strategy Teams developing Roche’s long-term strategy for the Arthritis, Transplantation and Autoimmune Diseases business. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Arthritis and Inflammation Research at Pharmacia, and a member of the global Research Leadership Team managing all research operations. Manning has extensive biotechnology experience, serving as Head of Pre-clinical Development at Signal Pharmaceuticals, now the research division of Celgene Corp.

Dr. Manning received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Otago in New Zealand before pursuing post-doctoral research as an NIH Fogarty International Center Fellow at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. He held Assistant Professorships with Baylor College of Medicine and Western Michigan University. His research has focussed on mechanisms of gene regulation, inflammatory diseases and drug discovery. He is an author of over 90 publications and 4 patents in these areas. He is an editor for Current Opinions in Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Drugs, a prior Director of the Inflammation Research Association and a member of the Board of Directors for the Northern California chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.

In 1976, Martin joined the Institut Mérieux as V.P. Sales & Marketing. He was named CEO in 1988.

In 1991, Martin, set up Parteurop S.A.S., a biotech consulting company (Lyon, France) and is Chairman & CEO.

From 2000 to January 2005, Martin was the first President and CEO of The Vaccine Fund. In this capacity, he was also a member of the Board of GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization).

He is Chairman and CEO of Mymetics (Epalinges-Switzerland).

He is also a member of the Board of several life sciences companies.

Martin holds an MBA from HEC-Paris France. Martin is a member of the French Academy of Technologies. He is an officer in the French Order of Merit.

Bernard Munos is an advisor in corporate strategy at Eli Lilly and Company, where he focuses on breakthrough innovation, open-source R&D, and the radical redesign of the pharmaceutical business model. He received his MBA from Stanford University, and holds other graduate degrees in economics and animal science from the University of California at Davis, and the Institut National Agronomique in Paris, France.

Cyra is a European Patent Attorney and French Conseil en propriété industrielle. Her technical background is in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology. She holds B.Sc. (Honours) and M.Sc. Degrees (Banting & Best Institute of Research) in Biochemistry from the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Cyra obtained her Law degrees at McGill University in Montréal, Canada (LLB and Bachelor of Civil Laws) and then at the Université de Paris II (Assas), from which she holds a Maîtrise in Private Law & Private International Law.

She joined Cabinet Plasseraud in 1994, and became a Partner of the firm in 2004. Cyra works with both French & foreign clients primarily in the Biotech and Pharmaceutical sectors. She specializes in Opposition/Appeal Proceedings at the European Patent Office and regularly handles litigation matters in France and other countries. She also deals with contracts/licences and due diligence matters.

Prof. Patrick Nef, PhD has held several executive positions within pharmaceutical and biotech companies: first at F. Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel as Vice-Director preclinical CNS research, then as Director of Partnering and Licensing; subsequently he became CEO, CSO, or Chief Business Officer of several biotech companies in both the US and EU (Faust Pharmaceuticals, Xytis Inc., Synosia Therapeutics, Polyphor AG, Debiopharm, BioXpress Therapeutics). He is now Executive Vice-President of Business Development at Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a not-for-profit foundation based in Geneva to discover, develop and deliver antimalarial treatments that are safe, efficacious, and affordable for patients in endemic regions. Patrick holds a PhD from the University of Geneva in biochemistry/neurobiology. He was Assistant Professor in the Biochemistry department of the University of Geneva from 1992 to 1998. He has published over 40 papers and reviews and is currently adjunct professor at the Rockefeller University, NY in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Professor Paul Greengard.

Solomon Nwaka's scientific and management career span different public and international organizations, biopharmaceutical industry and public-private partnerships in several countries including the USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Nigeria. Presently he leads the Drug Discovery and Product Innovation research at the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), World Health Organization (WHO). Prior to joining WHO, he was the Director of Drug Discovery at the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a public private partnership involved in product development for malaria.

He has published broadly on translational research, drug R&D for infectious tropical diseases, public-private partnerships, intellectual property issues as well as drug access. He holds a PhD, and continues to promote capacity development in product R&D and biotechnology in developing countries.

Jean-Pierre Paccaud is part of the executive team at DNDi since 2007. He is responsible for the business development activities of the foundation, including opportunity identification, contract structure and negotiations, IP and alliance management.

Prior to joining DNDi, he served as Head of Business Development for R&D products at OM Pharma. In 2003, he founded and led Athelas SA, a startup company active in the field of anti-bacterial drug discovery, until its merger with Merlion Pharmaceuticals in 2006. Before taking on entrepreneurial challenges in industry, Dr. Paccaud spent more than 18 years in academia, working in immunology, diabetes, and cell biology, and was tenured at the University of Geneva School of Medicine.

Trained as a molecular and cellular biologist, Jean-Pierre Paccaud completed his post-doctoral studies at the University of California at Berkeley, and earned his PhD at the University of Geneva School of Medicine. Since 2001, he also consults for Swiss investment funds.

Has more than 15 year experience in healthcare business gained in several international companies of various sizes and cultures (Baxter, Merck, Fournier, Solvay…). He has held a variety of positions in sales, operational marketing & strategic marketing.

Along his career, Eric has been serving and leading a lot of multidisciplinary projects and has developed special interest and expertise in the marketing input outside of the marketing field inc. drug development.

Eric has applied his experience to various therapeutic areas such as Renal Care, Urology, Oncology, Cardiovascular, Metabolic Disorders & Diabetes.

After his marketing career, Eric spent almost three years as VP of Business Portfolio & Strategy at Solvay Pharmaceuticals. He then took a VP position in New Business Development as Head of Screening & Analytics working at improving the way business development is performed in today’s world.

Eric is French and graduated Paris University of Pharmacy as well as ESSEC Business School

Nabeela Rasheed, Ph.D., is a shareholder at McAndrews, Held & Malloy. Her practice concentrates on the acquisition and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Dr. Rasheed advises clients in all areas of global intellectual property portfolio management, including patent prosecution, validity and infringement opinions, patent opposition proceedings, reexamination, protests, and interferences. In addition, as a trusted counselor to a wide variety of biotechnology companies, Dr. Rasheed advises clients in a variety of due diligence transactions. She has also served as an independent consultant between parties on inventorship and priority of invention issues.

In her patent practice, Dr. Rasheed focuses on biotechnology and traditional pharmaceutical and medical technologies, including recombinant proteins and methods of production and use of such compositions, humanized antibodies, diagnostics, and therapeutic formulations. Representative examples of her technology experience include: growth factors; chemokines; enzymes, macrophage and neutrophil products; vaccines; bacterial antigens; small molecule modifications of macromolecules; processes and compositions for the recombinant production of proteins; diagnostic and therapeutic methods for disorders such as cancer, infection, autoimmune disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, high throughput screening assays, immunotherapeutics, including vaccines, therapeutic formulations, including aqueous compositions, lyophilized compositions, hydrogels and transdermal delivery.

Being at the forefront of biochemical science, Dr. Rasheed has been a frequent speaker at various biotech and pharmaceutical conferences across the country and overseas. Dr. Rasheed has also taken up various committee positions with the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM).

Dr. Rasheed graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology/Chicago-Kent College of Law, order of the coif. Dr. Rasheed obtained a B.Sc. in Biochemistry, with honors, from the University of Wales, Swansea (United Kingdom, 1989) and completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Liverpool (United Kingdom, 1993). After her graduate degree, she pursued two post-doctoral fellowships before making the switch to patent law.

Since joining Defined Health in 2005, Mike has participated on project teams and managed projects pertaining to cardiovascular disease, oncology and a variety of other therapeutic areas, as well as those focused on complex therapeutics such as protein and gene-based therapies for monogenetic diseases.

Mike brings to Defined Health over 10 years of experience as a biotech entrepreneur. Most recently, as Strategic Business Development Analyst for Tapestry Pharmaceuticals, Mike combined technical knowledge and business analytics to evaluate early stage development pipelines for partnering and licensing efforts. He was previously involved in translational research and technology transfer as Project Leader in Genomics at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. Mike gained exposure to the venture capital community as a technological founder and New Product Development Manager of the genomics and gene therapy firm, Kimeragen, Inc.

Mike studied the molecular basis of cancer at the Kimmel Cancer Institute and is recognized for his extensive intellectual property and publication portfolio pertaining to cancer genetics, DNA repair, human gene therapy, molecular diagnostics, and agricultural trait improvement.

Mike holds an MBA, New Venture Creation, Biotechnology Degree from the Alfred Lerner School of Business and Economics, an MS in Molecular Pharmacology from Thomas Jefferson University and a BS in Biology from the University of Delaware.

Dr. Petersen spent the first decade of his postgraduate career in clinical and academic medicine in Denmark and in the United States. He served as Head of General Pharmacology at H. Lundbeck A/S until 1999 when he co-founded Zealand Pharma, which he successfully built and lead as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer prior to joining Merck Serono in 2008. At Merck Serono, Dr. Petersen is responsible for the company’s portfolio within Autoimmune and Inflammatory Diseases and for research organisations in Darmstadt, Germany and Geneva, Switzerland.

Elmar Schnee is a Member of the Executive Board and General Partner of Merck KGaA, and the President of Merck Serono.
Mr. Schnee joined Merck in May 2003 as Managing Director of the Merck Santé s.a.s. subsidiary in Lyon, France. In January 2004, he took on responsibility for the global operations of the ethical pharmaceuticals division and in November 2005 was appointed Deputy Member of the Executive Board responsible for the pharmaceuticals business sector. In 2006, he was appointed Regular Member of the Executive Board and General Partner of Merck KGaA, with responsibility for pharmaceuticals.
Mr. Schnee started his career in 1980 at a Swiss advertising agency and then pursued a series of management positions in marketing and sales in the consumer goods industry. He has more than twenty years’ experience in the international pharmaceutical industry, with specific expertise in business development and marketing gained at companies including Fisons Pharmaceutical, Sanofi-Synthélabo and UCB Pharma.
A native of Switzerland, Mr. Schnee studied at the Zurich-based Swiss Institute for Business Administration where he received a degree in Marketing Management. He is a board member of the Swiss and German pharmaceutical industry associations, a member of the board of directors of Arpida Ltd., Switzerland, and a board member of ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited, Australia.

Dr Robert Sebbag is currently Vice President Access to Medicines at sanofi-aventis. In his role, Dr Sebbag participates in the company’s access to medicines strategy development for the Southern Hemisphere. Prior to joining sanofi-aventis, Dr. Sebbag worked in Brussels for the European pharmaceutical industry association (EFPIA) on creating a communications platform for the pharmaceutical companies operating in Europe. In his prior role, he was Senior Vice President of Communications for the vaccine company, Aventis Pasteur (today known as sanofi pasteur). In addition to his activities within the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Sebbag is also teaching public health courses within the Paris hospital system, focusing on tropical parasitic diseases. Dr. Sebbag is active within the French Red Cross and has participated in numerous health missions in the Southern Hemisphere. Dr. Sebbag is a Doctor in Medicine with specialty in tropical parasitic diseases and training in psychiatry.

Alessandro Sidoli, Chief Executive Officer, Axxam SpA. Prior to the founding of Axxam, Alessandro was the founder of the biotech company Primm and continues to act as Chairman. He is also Vice-President of Assobiotec, the Italian biotech industry association. Alessandro was Director of Technology Transfer at the San Raffaele (Milan) and previously Head of the Department of Biotechnology at the Istituto Sieroterapico Milanese (Milan). He received his degree in Biology and conducted research at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at the Oxford University (UK). He was later a Research Scientist at Farmitalia Carlo Erba in Milan.

Mr. Sjöström founded Sectoral Asset Management with Jérôme Pfund in 2000. Prior to establishing Sectoral, Mr. Sjöström worked for two Swiss banks and, in 1993, joined Pictet & Cie in Geneva as a pharmaceutical analyst. From 1994 until October 2000, he was the Portfolio Manager of Pictet Fund-Biotech and head of the pharma analyst team.

Mr. Sjöström graduated in 1987 from the University of St.Gallen with an MBA in Finance and Economics. He obtained his CFA charter in 1996.

In 1996, Mr. Sjöström co-founded the Swiss Society for Investment Professionals, the Swiss local society of the CFA Institute (formerly known as the Association for Investment Management and Research - AIMR).

Dr. Paul Stoffels is Global Head of Research and Development for the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Group. He leads the pharmaceutical R&D enterprise focused on discovering and developing transformational solutions to address the most important medical needs of our time. He leads five end-to-end therapeutic area-based research & development organizations focused on oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular and metabolism, and infectious disease, all leveraging broad based capabilities in small molecules, biologics, and global operations.

Since 2006, Stoffels has served as Company Group Chairman, Worldwide Research & Development for the CNS, Pain, Infectious Disease, Metabolism, Cardiovascular and Primary Care business. In that role, he has focused on leading global teams to discover and develop new and innovative treatments for unmet medical needs in the areas of CNS, pain, infectious disease, metabolism, cardiovascular and primary care across Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C., ALZA Corporation, and TransForm Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Previously, Stoffels was Company Group Chairman, Virology, where he led both R&D and commercialization activities for one of the newest business segments of Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Stoffels has more than 15 years global experience in both pharmaceutical and HIV/AIDS R&D. He joined the Janssen Research Foundation (JRF) and worked for four years as Physician/Researcher in Kinshasa (Congo) and Kigali (Rwanda). His research work in Africa was focused on AIDS and infectious diseases. In 1991, he became the head of development for infectious diseases at JRF in Beerse, Belgium, where he was instrumental in the development of antifungal drugs.

In 1997, Stoffels left Janssen to become CEO of Tibotec-Virco, where he grew the company from a technology-based research company into an integrated pharmaceutical R&D organization focused on the discovery and development of new drugs and diagnostics for HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases. Tibotec-Virco was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2002, and is the focal point of R&D of next-generation HIV drugs active on multi-drug resistant virus, including the protease inhibitor PREZISTA, which was launched in 2006, and the NNRTI INTELENCE, which is approved by the U.S. FDA in early 2008.

Both during and after his M.D. training, Stoffels had a special interest for the health care problems in the developing world, especially Africa. He was instrumental in building the relationship between UNAIDS/WHO and the pharmaceutical industry with regard to the provision of HIV drugs in Africa. He has a continued interest in exploring solutions for health care problems in the developing world, and he represents Johnson & Johnson for in-depth discussions on health matters at the yearly World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Stoffels studied Medicine at the University of Diepenbeek and the University of Antwerp in Belgium and Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium.

Dr. Idan Tamir, CEO, RAD BioMed Accelerator. Ph.D. in Immunology from The Weizmann Institute of Science; formerly, Head of the Bioassay Unit and Director of the Chemistry Unit at QBI.

Dr. Idan Tamir holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Immunology from the Weizmann Institute of Science. He brings his academic and industrial expertise in many aspects of drug discovery to RAD BioMed, together with his experience and skills in the management of multidisciplinary teams. Dr. Tamir completed his Post Doctoral training at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Research Center. Prior to joining the incubator, Dr. Tamir established and served as the Head of the Bioassay Department, and was Director of the Chemistry Department at QBI, a leading Israeli biotech company. He served as a Project Leader and Consultant to the Israel Ministry of Defense in the area of organic chemistry and polymer science. Dr. Tamir has been awarded several prestigious fellowships, including the Leukemia Society Fellowship and the EMBO Fellowship. He is the author and co-author of 15 scientific articles.

Daniel VASMANT is heading the Health, Biotechnology and Food Industry department within General Directorate for Competitiveness, Enterprise and Services of the French ministry of the French Ministry of Economy, Industry and employment.

His training as Medical Doctor and physician allows him to pursue activities as Intern, assistant professor in successively pediatric medicine, clinical nephrology and clinical pharmacology. His 10 years in academic carrier led him to the position of University Professor at Paris VI University. After graduating as PhD at the ESSEC School of Business, Administration and Management, he joined pharmaceutical industry and spend a 21 year long carrier holding various leading positions. In 2007 he moved to his current position.

Besides, he is the former Scientific Delegate of Cancéropôle-Ile de France in charge of Oncology axis at MEDICEN Paris Region, past-President of the French Association of Physician for health products, (AMIPS), past-President of the “National Meeting for clinical pharmacology at Giens”. He is a founding member of the European Society for Pediatric Research. He took a leading role during the discussion of the European Pediatric Medicine Regulation from stakeholder standpoint.

Chris Viehbacher, born March 26, 1960, holds German and Canadian nationalities.

He is a graduate of the Queens University (Ontario - Canada) and a certified public accountant.

After beginning his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, between 1988-2008 he acquired broad international experience in Europe, in the United States and in Canada with the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) company. In his last position, Chris Viehbacher was President, Pharmaceutical Operations North America, a member of the board and Co-Chairman of the Portfolio Management Board.

As from December 1, 2008, Chris Viehbacher is a sanofi-aventis board member, CEO and a member of the Strategy Committee.

Chris Viehbacher is a Board member of PhRMA in the United States.

Chris Viehbacher is married with three children. He speaks French, English and German: he lived in France for nine years and was made a knight of the French Legion of Honor in 2003.

Jean-Claude Villettaz studied Food Science & Technology at the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zurich and graduated in the same institution writing his PhD on the chemistry of macromolecules. After 8 years spent in the R&D department of Novozymes, the world leader in the enzyme production, he left his position to build up from the scratch the Food & Biotechnology department of the University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland in Sion in the Valais. Today, Jean-Claude Villettaz is heading the research institute Life Technologies of the University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland. He is also very active in the innovation sector as Vice President The Ark (regional development of the canton of Valais through innovation) as well as co-chairman of the national network of excellence Swiss Food Research. He also represents Switzerland in the EUREKA umbrella EUROAGRI FOODCHAIN.

Hongguang Wang, PHD., is Professor and Director General of China National Center for Biotechnology Development, affiliated to the Ministry of Science and Technology. Prior to this, He worked at the Ministry of Science and Technology as deputy director general for the department of Rural and Social Science and Technology. He has ever studied in the Hohenheim University (Germany), the Wagenninggen University (Holland), the Maryland University and the Minnesota University (USA). He has produced many publications in the area of agricultural, medicinal and biotechnological sciences.

Donny Wong, Ph.D., is the Director of Metabolic Disorders at Decision Resources, a premier provider of health care market research, analytics, consulting, and advisory services. At Decision Resources, Dr. Wong has authored over 30 research reports covering chronic metabolic disorders such as diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, diabetic complications, and osteoporosis. Dr. Wong’s research, analysis, and commentaries have appeared in numerous media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Pharmaceutical Executive, Forbes, In Vivo, PharmaVoice, Wired Magazine, and BBC America. His previous experience includes 12 years of scientific research conducted at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Praecis Pharmaceuticals, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dr. Wong attended MIT and Williams College and earned M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University.

Dr. Bing ZENG is Vice President of China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (Sinopharm) and responsible for Marketing of Sinopharm. Dr. Bing ZENG served as Vice President of China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and responsible for Marketing, International Cooperation and Business Development of CNBG before CNBG merged with Sinopharm in November 2009. Prior to joining CNBG in 2004, Dr. ZENG served in various multinational biotech and pharmaceutical companies including Boehringer Mannheim, Organon Teknika (a business unit of AKZO Nobel) and BIOMERIEUX for many years both in China and in Europe. Dr. Bing ZENG received his MBA degree from Nijenrode University (now named NIJENRODE BUSINESS UNIVERSITEIT), The Netherlands Business School in The Netherlands, and his Medical Degree from Beijing Medical University (now named The Medical School of Peking University) in Beijng, China. He practiced in China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing as a Physician before he pursued his career in pharmaceutical and biotech Industry.