Cécile is an experienced entrepreneur in medical industry and management of start-ups. She co-founded her first start’up at the age of 25: Bioprofile, developing innovative solutions for arthritis. She rapidly expanded the company and gained strong experience in product development, business development and fund raising. She also set up an international distribution network and integrated Bioprofile within a US SME, before being acquired by a larger company.

She has then co-founded Fluoptics and served as Interim CEO at Inatherys, two start’ups developing new drugs and imaging solutions to treat cancer. In 2011, Cecile co-founded Endodiag specialized in endometriosis diagnosis and Medevice Capital, an entrepreneur seed fund specialized in medical device.

David has over 25 years experience in developing and commercializing materials technologies with British Petroleum, Courtaulds, and ICI in a variety of roles. He retired from corporate life in 2004 to develop his growing interest in small, high technology companies.

This led to him becoming the Chairman of Oxford Biomaterials and a non-executive Director of Oxford Advanced Surfaces. He also spent some time as an advisor to FirstVentures, a Venture Capital Fund focusing on advanced materials and nanotechnology.

In 2006 he was also appointed part time CEO of Materials UK, a organisation set up to implement and develop the work of the Materials Innovation and Growth team. Meanwhile, in 2004, a chance meeting with an uncharacteristically interesting civil servant led to some involvement with the Innovation Group of the DTI. This, in turn, led to his appointment in July 2007 as the Director of Innovation Platforms for the new Technology Strategy Board.

This evolved into responsibility for all Innovation Programmes the following year and, before he left at the ned of 2013, he was additionally responsible for Communications. He is now a Principal Fellow at WMG, at the University of Warwick.

As Head of Drug Delivery Technology Innovation at Sanofi, Didier Bazile is in charge of the initiation and follow-up of programs and projects based on innovative Drug Delivery approaches (nanotechnology driven accumulation in tumors, oral delivery of peptides, nucleic acids delivery, depot formulations) in close collaboration with the Therapeutic Units, the CMC functions, DMPK and Safety.

Didier Bazile started his career at Rhône-Poulenc Santé (an Aventis founder company) and held different positions in Drug Delivery Research and Pharmaceutical Engineering. He is the author/co-author of pioneering and more recent patents and articles on PLA-PEG nanoparticles. He also had the opportunity to develop innovative Drug Delivery Systems at Laboratoires Fournier, Ethypharm and Novartis.

Didier Bazile was an alumnus of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan in Biochemistry, made a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the Institut Gustave Roussy (University of Paris VI) and received the Accreditation to Supervise Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences (University of Paris XI).

Having lived and worked in Germany, the USA, Japan and the Netherlands with recent working experience in the growth markets of China and India, Eckhard Schwenner has a wide international management experience accumulated over 30 years in international leadership positions within the Healthcare industry.

Strong track record in Business, Program Management, R&D and Strategy roles in Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics Business Groups in Bayer AG (VP Diagnostics); Siemens (CEO pes) and Philips (CEO Healthcare Incubator Emerging Markets). Eckhard Schwenner also has recognized achievements in the development and implementation of strategic concepts on a global basis for multi-divisional corporations and in leading complex multidisciplinary programs to successful commercialization.

Eckhard Schwenner’s experience also includes Start Up and deal making successes as CEO of pes diagnosesysteme, an immunoassay bases Point of Care company and enverdis, a German Cardiovascular Devices and Diagnostics Medtech company.

Since 2013 Eckhard Schwenner works as a consultant for start up businesses in the Healthcare/Lifesciences Industry, also providing interim management.

Eric Mayes is CEO of Endomag and has over 15 years’ experience in developing and leading materials technology companies spanning data storage, display technology, printed electronics and medical devices. Eric has led the oncology-focused Endomag through rapid growth since marketing its first nanoparticle device for staging breast cancer in late 2012.

Prior to joining Endomag in 2010, Eric served as Director of Commercial Development for Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) that was sold to Sumitomo Chemical in 2007 for $285m. Prior to CDT, he served as CEO of NanoMagnetics that developed high performance materials for the data storage industry. He was named the Royal Society of Chemistry’s “Entrepreneur of the Year 2003” for his founding role in NanoMagnetics.

With a strong interest in supporting the translation of scientific research, Eric lectures internationally on nanomaterials commercialisation and technology entrepreneurship. He is an advisor to the University of Texas at Austin’s “Texas Health Catalyst” and the European Nanomedicine Translation Advisory Board (TAB). A US-UK dual national, he holds a BSc in Physics from Arkansas State University and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Bath. Eric is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Euvian works in Strategic Commercial Capabilities (SCC) at Ipsen and is part of the Business Insights team to advise key stakeholders on strategic and business decisions in oncology. SCC is a newly created global function from scratch to drive the growth of Ipsen as a commercial powerhouse. She is also an assessor for Innovate UK, a business development mentor at Panacea Innovation and an advisor to the European Healthtech Translation Advisory Board. Previously she was a management consultant having worked with both pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions, advising key stakeholders and cross-functional teams to develop strategies, capabilities and partnerships. Prior to this, she worked in Technology Development at GlaxoSmithKline, a multi-disciplinary research arm that focused on the development of microfluidic technologies in drug discovery.

Euvian holds a BSc in Biochemistry from Imperial College London and a PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Cambridge. She is the Honorary Secretary of the British Malaysian Society, a bilateral organisation that strives for the enhancement of economic, trade, educational and cultural relations between the UK and Malaysia. 

Felicity Sartain is a chemist with 10 years of managerial, commercial and research experience in the life sciences, med tech and clean tech. Felicity has been connected to and working in the field of nanomedicine since 2009. She is the founder of Profiscio, a consultancy business that works to support the translation and development of innovations adding value to its clients and society. Felicity also co-founded NanoScientium, which specifically focussed on supporting nanomedicine enterprises. Prior to this Felicity was the Programme Director at Bio Nano Consulting, where she managed and delivered multimillion pound nanotechnology projects, developed market and business opportunities and secured global contracts. Additionally, Felicity led the Healthcare and Life Sciences Theme for the Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), supporting the exploitation and commercialisation of micro and nanotechnologies across the UK. She also has hands-on experience in commercial research and development having worked at GlaxoSmithKline in the Technology Development Chemistry team and at Smart Holograms, a Cambridge University spin-out, which designed and developed novel biosensors, where she was a co-inventor of the original technologies.

Felicity holds an MChem in Chemistry with Life Sciences and Pharmaceuticals from the University of York, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. Felicity is a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and British Society for Nanomedicine, a STEMNet Ambassador and the Nanomedicine Focus Group Leader at the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Florian is Principal & Founder of Ryan-Kay, Partner/Advisor of several investment funds and Board Member of numerous organizations. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, Master of Science in Marketing and different diploma on business and personal development. As a corporate advisor and CEO mentor he leverages his extensive background on start-ups in biotech, medical device and life science to help building and repositioning organizations in the competitive global marketplace.

Passionate about regenerative medicine, growth factors, stem cells and biologics, Florian has a proven track record of building and leading innovative and effective commercial stage companies. Amongst others he has held C-Level positions at B. Braun Medical, Olympus Biotech and Small Bone Innovations (now Stryker). Fluent in German, English, Spanish, French and Italian.

Laurent holds a doctorate in physical chemistry, specialized in nanomaterials, from the Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris) and from the CEA (Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives) and a DEA (advanced studies and diplomas) in physics of condensed matter from the UPVI-ESPCI (Paris). He has extensive experience in sciences and techniques related to nanotechnology, a field in which he has worked for more than 10 years. His research at the frontier of biotechnology and nanotechnologies has resulted in the development of a number of concrete applications such as NanoXray, which could open a new method for cancer treatment.

For many years, Laurent was a consultant in the development of application of nanotechnologies with large companies such as Sanofi (pharma), Guerbet (medical imaging), Rhodia (chemistry), as well as for biotechnology start-ups. Laurent is the author of 35 international scientific publications and communications. He has applied for several patents and completed his training with a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics, SUNY (State University of New York), Buffalo, USA. He is since October 2012 the vice-chair of the ETP Nanomedicine (ETPN) and is involved with many international groups working in the field.

Mike Eaton worked in research in the Pharma industry for more than 35 years. Initially at GD Searle, where he built the first synthetic gene for Urogastrone and sequenced human fibroblast interferon. He was a founding member of Celltech in 1980; later acquired by UCB. He has worked on a number of marketed drugs – Mylotarg in 2000, the first Antibody drug conjugate and Certolizumab Pegol in 2009, the first PEGylated antibody. Unusually he has worked with both small molecules and large molecules, including DNA.

He built the first automated DNA synthesiser in Europe, which is now owned by the Science Museum in London. This machine was used for the first cloning of pre-prochymosin, a key ingredient in cheesemaking.

He has worked on low molecular weight drugs including the first non-emetic PDEIV inhibitor. Mike is a special professor at Nottingham University and was an executive board member of the European Technology Platform for Nanomedicine, at its inception in 2005. He left UCB in February 2010 and is now a strategic and technical adviser to a number of companies. His particular interest is commercial translation of nanotechnology research to nanomedicines – medicines to help patients.

His article Delivering Nanomedicines to Patients: A Practical Guide, Mike A.W. Eaton, Laurent Levy, Olivier M.A. Fontaine, Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, May 2015 Volume 11, Issue 4, Pages 983–992 is an important reference for developers.

Pauline Iden has thirty years of experience in the businesses of coatings, pigments and high-performance plastics segments, and more than ten years in actively creating markets for chemical nanotechnology. 1977, a degree in Chemistry, Julius-Maximilian University, Wuerzburg; 1981, PhD in Chemistry, Wuerzburg University. With BASF: 1981, Research Scientist, Colorants Laboratory; Head, Computational Chemistry, Main Laboratory; 1987, Assistant to Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors; 1991, Head, Colorants Research; 1996, Head, Pigment Research; since 1999, Head, Physics Research; between 2002 and 2010, Senior Vice-President; since 2002, Spokesman for Nanotechnology. 2004, Honorary Professor, University of Duesseldorf. Chairman, Chemical Nanotechnology Working Group, DECHEMA, Frankfurt. Co-Chair, European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, Brussels. Member, NanoBusiness Alliance Advisory Board. Chairman of the Board, Southern German Plastics Centre, Würzburg, Member of the German Academy of Science – acatech, Co-Chair German Platform NanoBioMedicine (since 2015).

Sandra is a Partner in Medevice, a French seed investment fund focused on medtech and digital therapeutics. At Medevice, Sandra is in charge of finance & business support.

Prior to joining Medevice, Sandra worked over 7 years in Sanofi, in roles ranging from finance, marketing and strategy. Prior to that, she worked in KPMG for 3 years.

She holds a math PhD from MIT, Boston.

Stephan Lensky is a consultant to the international biotech industry. He brings more than 20 years of experience in Pharma companies, more than 15 years of experience in business development, and more than 5 years of international leadership to start-ups. Currently he is acting as a Chief Operating and Chief Business Officer of EpimAb Biotherapeutics, Inc., a start-up based in Shanghai, China. Prior to being a consultant, Stephan was a Corporate Vice President at Boehringer Ingelheim, located in Germany, with additional groups reporting to him in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and Tokyo. His Department was globally responsible for the negotiation and management of all strategic transactions. He also worked in various areas of research as well as in marketing & sales during his years at Boehringer Ingelheim and Bayer Health Care. Stephan holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry.

Ted is a consultant to international pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical research and development, with 30 years’ experience in drug metabolism, bioanalysis, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and safety evaluation, from concept to post-marketing support. With a BA in Natural Sciences (Chemistry) from Cambridge and a PhD in natural product chemistry from Southampton, he has broad knowledge of a wide variety of technologies.

In eight years at Upjohn and 21 years at Celltech/UCB, he worked in most therapeutic areas and gained insight into many of the difficulties that patients, scientists, clinicians and executives face. He has worked on small molecule and biologic projects. He is first author on a patent for a kinase inhibitor in development (seletalisib) and has extensive experience of the in vivo properties of high molecular weight PEG. Through his involvement in Due Diligence for both in-licensing and out-licensing projects, he has investigated and assessed many technological developments.

Distinguished Scientist and Medtronic Technical Fellow for Medtronic – Sofradim Production (Trévoux, France), Yves Bayon is an alumnus of INSA Lyon, Engineer in Biochemistry, and holds a Master II in Pharmacology from the University René Descartes Paris, a PhD in Biochemistry from INSA Lyon and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) at IAE Lyon.

With Sofradim Production, since 2000, he has held various missions, including the implementation of the porcine collagen manufacturing line and the development of collagen-based medical devices for the repair or regeneration of soft tissues (cumulative sales over 1 billion €). Its missions have expanded more recently since the company went under Medtronic’s banner from Feb 2015, with cross-functional activities with Medtronic’s historical divisions (e.g.. Spine & Biologics, CVG – Cardia & Vascular  Group). He has several missions in the external European ecosystem, among them, co-organizer of Academia – Industry symposia for ESB & TERMIS-EU, GTech member of Lyonbiopole, a French cluster of Medtech & Pharma stakeholders, in region Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, Medtech start-up mentor for EIT Health, scientific advisor of European start-ups and, as well, an expert of Healthtech Translation Advisory Board.