Sofinnova Partners and Gustave Roussy forge strategic alliance to boost oncology startup acceleration in France

Sofinnova Partners launches Biovelocita, the first Pan-European investment strategy dedicated to the creation and acceleration of biotech startups


Biovelocita

The Sofinnova Biovelocita Strategy is dedicated entirely to the creation and acceleration of European biotech startups, in partnership with leading research organizations.

Gabriella Camboni

Matthieu Coutet

Zhizhong (Joel) Yao

Alex  Leech

Maria Gabriella Camboni is a Partner with Sofinnova Partners. She was co-founder and CEO of BiovelocITA, Italy's first accelerator dedicated to biotech, and the model for the Sofinnova Biovelocita Strategy.

As a Partner in the Sofinnova Biovelocita Strategy, Gabriella's mission is to work with universities, research organizations and investors to create companies from the most groundbreaking scientific ideas.

"Working with researchers to create new startups is personally very rewarding," she said, "because you're helping to move promising science into the real world, where patients benefit."

Earlier in her career, Gabriella was chief operations officer of Ethical Oncology Science (EOS), a Sofinnova-backed startup devoted to translational research in oncology, which she co-founded with Silvano Spinelli in 2006. EOS was sold to Clovis in 2013.

Prior to this, Gabriella held various positions in the pharmaceutical industry, including head of clinical oncology at Boehringer Mannheim Italy, head of development at Novuspharma (a spin-off of Boehringer Mannheim that she co-founded, which is now CTI BioPharma), and head of medical affairs Europe at Novartis Oncology.

Gabriella obtained her MD from the University of Milan; she is a board-certified gastroenterologist and clinical pharmacologist. Gabriella was a member of the Board of Directors of Mission Therapeutics, a Sofinnova Partners portfolio company, until October 2023.

Matthieu Coutet is a Partner in the Sofinnova Biovelocita strategy. He has nearly 20 years of experience in venture capital and operations, having spent a decade of those in technology transfer as the head of the New Venture department at Inserm Transfert and the Managing Partner of Inserm Transfert Initiative. In this role, Matthieu completed 14 seed-stage investments in companies emerging from academic research.

Matthieu later served as Vice President of Operations and Business Development for two French biotechnology startups, TherAchon (acquired by Pfizer) and Annapurna Therapeutics (merged with Adverum Biotechnology). He is a member of the Board of France Biotech. 

In 2016, he co-founded AdBio Partners, raising funds dedicated to start-up investments across Europe. With AdBio Partners, he co-founded six biotechnology companies, identifying them while they were still laboratory research projects and securing financing.

Over his years of experience managing seed-stage investments, implementing financial and operational strategies, Matthieu has built up a strong network of researchers, entrepreneurs, and technology transfer professionals with whom he has established partnerships.

"I saw joining Sofinnova Partners as an opportunity to work with a team deeply experienced in science, entrepreneurship, and investment," he said. "Scaling up early-stage companies from academic concepts to industrial development provides a great sense of accomplishment."

Matthieu is a graduate of ESIEE Management and holds a professional certification in market-related activities.

Alex is a Partner in the Sofinnova Biovelocita Strategy. He is an experienced biopharma company builder and a serial CEO, most recently serving as the founding CEO of Alchemab Therapeutics, which raised an $82m Series A investment round.

He was CEO of the clinical stage dermatology company Creabilis Therapeutics until its acquisition by Sienna Biopharmaceuticals Inc. in 2016.

“Sofinnova's Biovelocita Strategy is a perfect fit for me," Alex said. "Together, we expect to build an exciting portfolio of leading biotechnology companies from cutting-edge European science."

Alex's other company-building roles include serving as CEO of Camphos and Zarodex, Entrepreneur in Residence at Bicycle Tx, and as a Venture Partner with SV Health Investors in London. He is currently Chair of the Board at two start-ups, Ensocell and Sevenless.

He previously held a range of senior project management positions within Pfizer's R&D organization, including working as part of a small team leading the restructuring of Pfizer’s drug development capabilities.

Early in his career, Alex gained valuable management and commercial experience at Ford Motor Company and the Visteon Corporation. He holds a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sussex and an MBA from Henley Management College, UK.

Zhizhong (Joel) Yao is a Partner in the Sofinnova Biovelocita Strategy. He joined us in 2015 as an analyst focusing on early-stage biotech/biopharmaceutical investments.

Prior to joining Sofinnova, Zhizhong was a Human Frontier Science Program Cross-Disciplinary Fellow at the French National Institute of Agriculture Research.

"I really love working in this new acceleration strategy," he said. "The hands-on approach to building companies really appeals to the scientist in me. And we are translating discoveries in the laboratory into novel medicines."

Zhizhong is a fellow of the Society of Kauffman Fellows. He has served as a director or observer on the boards of multiple companies, including Mablink Bioscience (acquired by Eli Lilly), Nodthera, Mnemo, GlycoERA, DISCO, and EnsoCell.

Zhizhong received his PhD in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Harvard University in conjunction with Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School, and was a teaching fellow and life-science residential advisor at Harvard College. He received his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Molecular Engineering from Peking University.

Marie is an Associate and Program Manager with the Sofinnova Biovelocita Strategy. She joined us in 2017 and was previously an analyst with the Capital team.

She holds a PhD in cellular biology from Paris Diderot University, carried out at the Jacques Monod Institute, where she studied the spindle assembly checkpoint during cell division.

To round out her scientific background, Marie obtained a master’s in Entrepreneurship from HEC Business School, Polytechnique and Paris Descartes University, where she worked beside researchers from the Institut Imagine to translate their innovative technologies into companies.

"I am very excited to bring my expertise and join a team of great professionals," Marie said when she joined the Biovelocita team. "Biovelocita's mission enables scientific founders to pursue their entrepreneurial spirit, bridging the gap between academia and company creation."

Cristina is an Associate and Program Manager with the Sofinnova Biovelocita Strategy. She has a strong scientific background and is experienced in early-stage biopharma.

Cristina joined the extended Sofinnova family in 2016, scouting and developing strategic projects with BiovelocITA, the Milan-based accelerator that was co-founded by Sofinnova Partners and inspired the pan-European Biovelocita Strategy.

Previously, Cristina worked in the publishing industry in London, editing a leading journal in cell biology, and in Milan covering editorial and managerial roles with increasing responsibility for Elsevier Italia.

Prior to that, Cristina was a researcher at the CRUK-Wellcome Gurdon Institute in Cambridge and a lecturer for University of Cambridge. She holds a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Trieste and a PhD in Molecular Genetics from the International School for Advanced Studies (ISAS)/International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in Trieste.

“I am very pleased to be part of this team, helping shape the innovation pipeline," she said. "Throughout my career I’ve worked very closely with scientists on challenging projects, and I am ready to share my experience with new biotech companies."

TheTeam

Sofinnova Partners and Gustave Roussy forge strategic alliance to boost oncology startup acceleration in France

Sofinnova Partners launches Biovelocita, the first Pan-European investment strategy dedicated to the creation and acceleration of biotech startups

The
Team