Our Leadership
A Wide Range of Skills and Experience
With many years of dedicated work in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, our leadership team has significant experience in developing and commercializing therapeutics for chronic inflammatory diseases.
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Marc de Garidel, MBA Chief Executive Officer & Interim Board Chair
40+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, with the last 12 years as a CEOMarc joined Abivax in May 2023. Prior to that, he led the successful sale of CinCor Pharma for up to USD 1.8B, subject to the achievement of certain milestones, to AstraZeneca in February 2023, after joining the firm in July 2021. Marc also led the sale of Corvidia Therapeutics in August 2020 to Novo Nordisk for USD 2.1B in total consideration after having joined the company as CEO in April 2018. He was the CEO of Ipsen from November 2010 to July 2016, overseeing the development of its US presence. Prior to that, Marc worked for Amgen and Eli Lilly in jobs of increasing responsibilities in various international markets. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Ipsen since 2016 and has been a member of the board of directors of Claris Bio since 2020. Marc has a degree in civil engineering from the Ecole des Travaux Publics in Paris, a master’s degree in international management (MIM) from Thunderbird School of Global Management, and an executive MBA from Harvard Business School.
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Didier Blondel EVP, Chief Financial Officer & Board Secretary
Served as the CFO at Sanofi Pasteur MSD, a Lyon-based joint venture between Sanofi and Merck, and a leading force in human vaccines across Europe from 2012 to 2016Didier joined Abivax in December 2016. During the previous 20-year period, he held a wide scope of senior finance positions at Sanofi, in Commercial Operations and then R&D, where he became Global R&D CFO. He started his career as an auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers, after graduating from the Commercial Institute of Nancy (ICN), a leading French business school. He also holds a master’s degree in finance and accounting from University of Nancy, as well as a graduate diploma in finance and accounting (DESCF).
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Sheldon Sloan, MD, MBE Chief Medical Officer
30+ years of experience in academia and the biopharmaceutical industry, with an extensive track record in the field of gastroenterology and IBDPrior to joining Abivax, Sheldon worked for Arena Pharmaceuticals and, after its acquisition, for Pfizer. He was Program Lead for Velsipity™, responsible for cross-functional leadership, planning and management, operational business process planning, and execution management of the ulcerative colitis program, including its global submission and launch. Before joining Arena Pharmaceuticals, Sheldon held different leadership positions at J&J in Medical Affairs, R&D, and Science Policy. In his last position at J&J, he was Global Medical Affairs Leader for IBD, leading the global launch strategy and execution for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis for Stelara®. Sheldon also has a strong track record in bioethics and has been involved on different levels in questions addressing bioethics issues, including animal care and use and human subjects research. Sheldon holds an MD from Rush Medical College, Chicago, US, and a master of bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania, US. He has authored a large number of scientific publications and abstracts and contributed to various books in the gastroenterology and immunology fields.
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Ida Hatoum Chief People Officer
25+ years of experience and a strong track record in talent acquisition and developmentIda has occupied different leading People Operations positions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Prior to joining Abivax, Ida was Senior Vice President and Head of People, Talent, and Culture at CinCor Pharma, where she successfully managed and led the recruitment strategy and organizational design of the company during a period of strong growth. Ida holds a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Toledo, Ohio, US.
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Michael Ferguson, BS, MBA Chief Commercial Officer
22+ years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with an extensive track record in the field of gastroenterology and IBDMichael has spent the last 16 years of his career in large pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including 13 years in leading commercial positions at Shire/Takeda, followed by Arena Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Vice President, Global Commercial Marketing and Planning and specifically as Global Commercial Lead for Velsipity™ across all gastrointestinal indications. Michael holds both a BS and an MBA with honors in finance from the Pennsylvania State University, US, as well as a postgraduate degree from St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, US, in pharmaceutical marketing.
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Pierre Courteille, Pharmacist, MBA Chief Business Officer
25+ years of experience in marketing, sales, and business development within the pharmaceutical industry (13 years based in Japan)Pierre was appointed Chief Business Officer in May 2023. Prior to this appointment, he served as Chief Commercial Officer and Vice President, Business Development at Abivax. Before joining Abivax in April 2015, he was Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Guerbet as well as Chief Executive Officer of Medex (a medical devices company owned by Guerbet) for 3 years. Starting in 2009, Pierre served as Vice President, Sales for Asia, Latin America, and EMEA and met the ambitious objective of optimizing commercial performance across these 3 regions. As President of Guerbet Japan and Vice President for Guerbet Asia, Pierre successfully managed the rollout of its Japanese subsidiary and led the development of other branches in Asia. He holds a pharmacy degree (Caen-France), a master’s degree in company management (IAE of Caen-France), a master’s degree in biological and medical sciences (Caen-France), and an MBA with honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, US.
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Didier Scherrer, PhD Chief Scientific Officer
Experience in leading a team in charge of developing the portfolio of therapeutic proteins in oncology, autoimmune diseases, and hematology-oncologyDidier, prior to joining Abivax, held a role at Splicos combining the functions of CEO and Scientific Director. He also served as Associate Director of the research department of AstraZeneca and as Head of Research at LFB Biotechnologies. He is the author of numerous publications and presentations in the field of systems biology applied to research and drug development. He received a PhD in molecular pharmacology from Université Louis Pasteur (Strasbourg I) in France and completed his postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and then at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
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Jérôme Denis, PhD EVP, Process Development & Manufacturing
15 years of experience in pharmaceutical development and drug product manufacturing for clinical and commercial useJérôme started his career as a project manager in Canada and France working on several programs targeting different infectious diseases. He joined IMAXIO (Lyon, France) in 2009 as Executive Head of Development and then served as Associate Director of Vaccine Development. In those roles he successfully initiated and led different process development and transfer programs. In 2014, he joined Abivax to lead the implementation and coordination of all process development and manufacturing operations. He also handles investigational medicinal product supply for all global clinical studies of Abivax. Jérôme holds a PhD in immunology and microbiology from Laval University, Québec, Canada.
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Marc de Garidel, MBA Interim Chairman of the Board & CEO of AbivaxCorinna zur Bonsen-Thomas Co-founder and CEO of RetInSight; Former General Counsel at Baxter/Baxalta InternationalPhilippe Pouletty, MD Founder of Abivax; Managing Partner of Truffle CapitalJune Lee, MD FACCP Venture Partner at 5AM VenturesKinam Hong, MD, MBA, CFA Partner at the Crossover Fund SofinnovaTroy Ignelzi CFO of Rapport TherapeuticsProfessor Carol Brosgart, MD Clinical Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco; Former VP, Clinical Research of Gilead SciencesCamilla Soenderby Board Member of BB Biotech, F2G, and Affibody; Member of Novo Holdings Advisory Group; Industrial Advisor for EQT
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Mary Mantock Senior Vice President, Global Head of Regulatory AffairsHema Keshava Senior Vice President, FinanceCristina Damatarca, MD, PgD Senior Vice President, Global Head of Drug Safety and PharmacovigilancePatrick Malloy Senior Vice President, Investor RelationsDouglas Jacobstein, MD Senior Vice President, Global Head of Clinical DevelopmentJennifer Fine Senior Vice President, Global Head of HEOR and RWEKevin Shan, PhD Vice President, Global Head of BiometricsChris Rabbat, PhD Vice President, Global Head of Medical AffairsNadège Briancon-Eris Vice President, Global Head of Program Management and Chief of Staff to the CMOSharon Skare Vice President, Global Head of Clinical OperationsAna Sharma Vice President, Global Head of QualitySophie LaCourrege VP, HR Business Partner Engagement and Culture
IBD=inflammatory bowel diseases.
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