Michel Allé, a civil engineer with a master’s degree in economics, has held various managerial positions throughout his career. He has been a manager at the Belgian Science Policy Office, served as a member of the Management Committee of Cobepa (formerly a subsidiary of Paribas), and worked as the CFO of both Brussels Airport and the Belgian Railways. Michel’s academic accomplishments include serving as a professor at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, where he was also the president from 1997 to 2001. Michel has been the Chairman of the Board of Ogeda and currently holds director positions at the D’Ieteren Group and Elia Group (both listed), and serves as the Chairman of the Board of Epics Therapeutics.

Denis Bedoret currently serves as CEO of Imcyse. He is also Director in the Boards of Ncardia, BePharBel, and previously Exothera. Prior to joining Imcyse, Denis was Chief Executive Officer at MaSTherCell SA, Belgium and President of MaSTherCell Global Inc., U.S. Under his leadership, the Company expanded significantly growing from 60 to 260 employees and positioning as a leader in the field of CDMO’s dedicated to Cell and Gene therapies products before being acquired by Catalent. Denis also held the position of Chief Operations Officer at Quality Assistance S.A. a leading European analytical CRO where he was also a member of the Board of Directors. Before that, Denis served as engagement manager at McKinsey & Company, focusing on life science projects. Denis holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine, a Ph.D. in Life Sciences from the University of Liège and a postdoc in Immunology from Harvard Medical School.

François Fontaine has served as the General Advisor to the Société Fédérale de Participations et d’Investissements (SFPI) since December 2009. His responsibilities include overseeing investment projects in various sectors, such as new technologies, biomedical, real estate, waste treatment, and water and energy. Prior to his current role, François worked as an advisor for the tax unit of the Walloon Region where he was responsible for implementing and transferring regional taxes. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in law and tax sciences.

Christina Franssen, PhD, currently an Investment Manager at WE Life Sciences, brings over two decades of experience in innovation and research to her role. Prior to joining WE Life Sciences in 2019, Christina served as Business Development Manager and later Director of State-of-the-Art Technology Platforms at GIGA, a research institute associated with the University of Liège. Christina started her career as a research scientist and went through the full cycle of entrepreneurship, founding a spin-off company, and leading it to a successful exit. She holds a Master’s degree in Biology and a PhD in Microbiology & Genetics from the Université de Liège (Belgium).

Guy Heynen, MD, graduated from Université de Liège (Belgium) in 1970 with a degree in Medicine. He is an Internal Medicine specialist with expertise in immunology and rheumatology. Guy has extensive expertise in clinical development, trial design, strategic evaluations, and translational evaluations. He started his career with Pfizer International in 1982 as an International Medical Director and served in various assignments in Brussels, New York, and Zurich. Later, from 2011 to 2014, he worked as a Regional Medical Monitor in Europe. Guy then went on to become the Chief Clinical and Regulatory for Bone Therapeutics up until 2017.

PhD, CEO at Neuvasq

Emmanuel, ex-Vice President and Partner at UCB Ventures, has an impressive track record of sourcing and leading equity investments in companies like Esobiotec, Walden Biosciences, and Locanabio, as well as LP investments in other funds. As UCB’s Head of Business Development Neurology, he successfully executed multiple licensing agreements, product acquisitions, and equity investments in Lumos Pharma (Nasdaq : LUMO). Emmanuel also led the launch and equity financing of UCB’s spin-out Syndesi Therapeutics, which was later acquired by AbbVie, and held prior leadership positions in Sales and Global Marketing at UCB and in Gene Editing Research at Cellectis SA.

Emmanuel received an MBA from IMD (Switzerland), a PhD in Molecular Biology from Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB, Belgium) based on research conducted at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Germany), and a MSc in Biochemistry from the Université de Liège (Belgium). He previously served on the boards of Esobiotec, Walden Biosciences, Syndesi Therapeutics (acquired by AbbVie), and as observer at Locanabio and Lumos (Nasdaq : LUMO).