David Sourdive, PhD

Chairman of the BOD | Co-founder, EVP, CMC and manufacturing at Cellectis

David Sourdive, PhD, is a co-founder of Cellectis and joined the Board of Directors in 2000. Dr. Sourdive combines a strong scientific expertise with experience in managing industrial programs bringing innovative technologies to industrial fruition.

In addition to his role at Cellectis, Dr. Sourdive has also served on the board of directors of the Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences.

David Sourdive graduated from École Polytechnique, received his Ph.D. in molecular virology at Institut Pasteur and completed a research fellowship in the department of Microbiology and Immunology of Emory University.

Graziano Seghezzi, PhD

Managing partner at Sofinnova Partners

Graziano Seghezzi, PhD, is a managing partner at Sofinnova Partners, which he joined in 2006, and is an active member of the investment team for the Sofinnova Capital Strategy.

Graziano serves on the Board of Directors of several companies he helped create and finance, including Mission Therapeutics, Crescendo Biologics, Hotspot Therapeutics, Polyneuron and Erydel. He is responsible for a number of substantial exits, including Corvidia Therapeutics, which was sold to Novo Nordisk for €2.1 billion in 2020.

Graziano started his career in venture capital in 2001 at Sofinnova Partners and was at Index Ventures from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he spent five years working in academic research at New York University’s School of Medicine, studying oncology and cardiovascular diseases.

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Graziano holds a PhD in genetics and microbiology from the University of Pavia (Italy), and an MBA from RSM-Erasmus University (The Netherlands).

Florian Denis

Investment director at Elaia

Florian Denis is an Investment Director at Elaia, which he joined in 2019 with a life sciences background, bringing almost 5 years of investment experience.

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Before joining Elaia, he operated at Auriga Partners where he invested and served on the Board of Directors of several French biotechnology companies such as Theranexus (ALTHX) and VitaDX.

More recently, Florian worked in the Equity Research division of Gilbert Dupont (Société Générale) where he covered biotech / medtech / cleantech companies.

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Florian obtained a Master of Science (MSc) from the MTI master's (Paris-Dauphine, ENS, Mines Paristech) and from Sup'Biotech Paris.

Valérie Calenda, PhD

Managing Partner at Merieux Equity Partners

Valérie Calenda started her career as research scientist in Hematology and Virology at the Institut National de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM). After collaborating on a French/US research program relating to HIV at Davis University, she joined Transgene S.A., an affiliated company of Institut Mérieux, focusing on gene therapy and immunotherapy. She then led a spin-off project in cardio-vascular therapeutic area before collaborating with a Paris-based seed Venture Capital firm. Valérie also managed several biotech clinical-stage product developments within the infectious and oncology disease areas, from pre-IND to Phase 2. This led her to manage both in-licensing and out-licensing activities, including global license agreement and alliance management with Hoffman La Roche, acquisition of biotech assets in Europe and in the US.

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Valérie joined Mérieux Equity Partners at inception in January 2010 and has focused on Capital Innovation investments, supporting and serving on the board of more than 10 companies since 2010 in Europe and North America. She has also been actively involved in structuring and launching M2Care, an industrial accelerator for start-ups operating in the Healthcare and Nutrition sectors.

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Valérie received her PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Marseille. She holds a degree in Hematology and a B.Sc. in Biochemistry-Immunology from the University of Marseille.

Jean-Guillaume Lafay

CEO

Jean-Guillaume Lafay, after graduating with a BSc in Biochemistry, took a master’s degree in Medicinal Organic Chemistry from the University of Lyon (France). Before setting up Mablink, he structured and developed a French biotechnology company from 2010 to 2018.

Since January 2022, he is Chairman & Co-Founder of Allogenica, a Lyon-based biotechnology company specialized in the development of CAR-T cell therapies.

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He has a solid entrepreneurial background and a broad experience in management. His expertise in global strategy and finance & partnership management makes him a key asset of the company.

Bervin Bouani

Investment Director at Turenne Capital

Currently Investment Director at Turenne Capital, Bervin is in charge of the Sham Innovation Santé fund. He serves on the Boards of several companies including HalioDx, Brainever, Orega Biotech, Pixee Medical...

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Prior to joining Turenne Capital in 2014, Bervin  spent six years as an asset manager at SHAM, an insurer specialized in healthcare companies’ risks. There, he was involved in the development of the private equity business. He began his career as a junior financial engineer at CM-CIC.

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Bervin holds a master’s degree in Finance (Catholic University of Lille, and EDHEC Business School).