Oncovita’s management team combines internationally recognized scientists specialized in virology with senior managers from the biotech and CRO industry having a proven track-record in drug development and company growth.
Oncovita’s management team combines internationally recognized scientists specialized in virology with senior managers from the biotech and CRO industry having a proven track-record in drug development and company growth.
Jean-François Le Bigot, Executive Chairman of OncovitaJean-François Le Bigot has long and extensive experience in drug development combined with the executive management of private companies through major growth cycles and Private Equity investments. He is the former President, CEO and shareholder of Citoxlab Group, one of the leading international non-clinical Contract Research Organizations (CRO). From 1987 to 2019, Jean-Francois Le Bigot transformed Centre International de la Toxicologie (CIT), a single site French non-clinical CRO with 120 staff, into the internationally recognized Citoxlab brand that includes today 8 research centers located in 5 countries and employs more than 1 500 people. After his PhD in Pharmacology and Biochemistry, Jean-Francois Le Bigot started his industrial career at Sandoz Laboratories (now Novartis) as Head of Experimental Biology and then Director of Pre-Clinical Development in France.
Stéphane Altaba is an experienced leader with over 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical firms and biotechnology entrepreneurship. Over the years, Stéphane has made significant contributions to the field of oncology, enabling the introduction of new treatments and diagnostics to patients through strategic partnership. He began his career in R&D, particularly in the development of biotechnological processes at Sanofi, before taking on corporate business development roles at Sanofi and Nordic Pharma.
Stéphane Altaba subsequently held various senior management positions, including General Manager of Nordic Pharma Spa in Italy, as well as COO and CEO roles in biotechnology companies such as Genomic Vision, LX Repair and RivelaDX.
Frédéric Tangy, PhD, Dr.Sc. – Co-Founder and CSOFrédéric Tangy is the inventor of the recombinant measles virus technology at the core of Oncovita’s therapeutic anticancer approach. With 30 years of expertise in virology and vaccinology, he is author of over 150 research publications and principal inventor of 25 international patents. He has headed two major research programs: development of viral vaccines based on measles vaccine vector, and systematic study of the interactions between virus and host proteins using high-throughput functional genomic methods. Several of his research programs have led to industrial breakthroughs in the field of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines in collaboration with GSK, Transgene and Themis Bioscience. In addition to his primary research activity as head of the Viral Genomics and Vaccination Unit at Institut Pasteur, Frédéric Tangy founded the International Vaccinology Course and was member and VP of the Pasteur Scientific Council. As CSO, Frédéric Tangy will lead the translation of Oncovita’s candidates from the bench to the clinic.
Patrick Spies, CFO, IEP, MBA HarvardGraduate from Institut Etudes Politiques Paris, Executive MBA and Harvard Business School is the CFO of the company. He was previously General Manager, Administration and Finance at Hachette Filipacchi media and then at Groupe Beauvallet. Before joining Oncovita, Mr. Spies has been Executive Vice President Corporate Development (M&A operations) at Citoxlab Group for twelve years. He has an extended expertise in finance, investors relations, legal compliance, management of M&A operations.
Dr. Champiat is an associate professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, specializing in early drug development and immunotherapy. Previously, he served as a medical oncologist at Gustave Roussy Hospital in France. Dr. Champiat continues to work closely with DITEP (Therapeutic Innovation and Early-stage Trials Department) and has extensive experience in immuno-virotherapy. He has published approximately 90 papers and is a member of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC).
Véronique Riebbels, PhD, Project CoordinatorVéronique Riebbels has 30 years of experience in pharma and biotech companies, holding positions in preclinical development at Chauvin, Faure and Theramex Laboratories. She later moved to clinical pharmacology and GCP audits at GSK and Bioprojet. She has a PhD in Biochemical Pharmacology from Paris University. She is in charge of the coordination and quality audits of outsourced projects at Oncovita.