Board of Directors

Mr. George Horner
Board member
Details

George F. Horner III is a pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical executive with over 40 years of experience in the industry. Currently, Mr. Horner is a biotech executive consultant for several private companies in the United States and Europe. Previous, he was CEO of Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, a CNS company that he directed to obtain FDA approval for Tetrabenazine (TBZ), the first drug ever licensed in the United States to treat Huntington’s Disease patients. Prior to that, Mr. Horner was CEO of Vicuron Pharmaceuticals, an anti-infective company that he grew from a market value of $12.8 million to a company sold to Pfizer for $1.9 billion. Additionally, he has held numerous executive, general management, business development and marketing/sales positions with Abbott Laboratories and E.R. Squibb across 4 continents, worldwide. Mr. Horner is Chairman of the Board of Creabilis Therapeutics of Luxembourg, Chairman of the Board of Omthera Pharmaceuticals of Bedminster, New Jersey, USA, and member of the Durata Therapeutics board of directors.

Dr Pierre-Henri Benhamou
CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder
Details

Dr. Pierre-Henri Benhamou is a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of DBV Technologies. He is a former Interne des Hôpitaux and former Chief of Clinic. He is specialized in pediatric gastroenterology and has held a number of senior clinical positions after studying Pediatrics in Paris and Amiens. In 1989 Dr. Benhamou created the Centre for Digestive Exploration of Infants at the Surgical Clinic in Boulogne-Billancourt – one of the most important specialized pediatric centres in Europe. Dr. Benhamou received the Prize for Innovation from the Altran Foundation in 2003 for his work on the development of patch tests for the diagnosis of cow’s milk proteins allergy. Within the company Dr. Benhamou currently holds the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer.

Dr. Torbjörn Bjerke
Karolinska Development
Details

Dr. Bjerke provides further insight and expertise into the field of allergy treatment from his extensive allergy experience as CEO of Biolipox, a Swedish pharmaceutical company that develops new treatments for inflammatory diseases. Prior to this role, Dr. Bjerke was Executive Vice President of R&D at ALK-Abello and has previously held Director of Research positions at AstraZeneca.

Mr. Peter Hutt
Covington & Burling LLP
Details

Mr. Hutt joined DBV Technologies’ Board of Directors in February 2009 as Non-Executive Director. He brings extensive knowledge and first-hand experience of US Food And Drug legislation to DBV Technologies. He is currently a senior counsel at the Washington DC law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, specializing in Food and Drug Law, and teaches Food and Drug Law at Harvard Law School. He has been a member of the US Institute of Medicine since its establishment in 1971 and was formerly Chief Counsel for the US Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Rafaèle Tordjman
Partner Sofinnova
Details

Dr Tordjman has been a partner at Sofinnova Partners since 2001. Prior to this position, Dr. Tordjman worked as a research scientist at the Institut National de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), in Cochin Hospital, Paris, France. Dr. Tordjman graduated with a medical degree and specialization in Hematology and Internal Medicine following a 5 year fellowship in Paris University Hospitals (Ancien Interne des Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP). Dr. Tordjman attained a PhD, with high honors, in hematopoiesis and angiogenesis from the University Paris VII followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in immunology. In 2002, she was a member of the “Young Manager Program” at INSEAD. Dr. Tordjman is a board member of Endoart, Endotis SA and DBV Technologies and observer of Corevalve SA supervisory board.

Mr. Flemming Pedersen
ALK-Abello
Details

Mr. Pedersen joined the Board of Directors at DBV Technologies in September 2011. He brings to the Board extensive industry experience as CFO; Executive Vice President Finance & IT of ALK-Abelló A/S, a leading global pharmaceutical company focusing on allergy treatment, prevention and diagnosis. Before joining ALK, Flemming Pedersen was CEO at NeuroSearch, a company focused on discovery and development of novel pharmaceutical products primarily targeted at CNS disorders. Prior to this position, Flemming Pedersen held various management positions within finance management in larger Danish companies. He has extensive experience from other board positions primarily within public and private health care companies

Ms. Chahra Louafi
InnoBio
Details

Chahra Louafi, Investment Director for CDC Entreprises, Fund Management for InnoBio. Before joining CDC Entreprises in 2001, Chahra Louafi was in charge of initiating and implementing projects, as well as creating in a private business incubator specialized in biotechnology, Mendel Partner. Within CDC Entreprises, Chahra Louafi (Investment Director) was in charge, inter alia, of funds of funds investments focused on seed funds and biotech funds, and tech transfer transactions. Since October 2009, she joined the management team of InnoBio fund, a fund dedicated to biotech companies, managed by CDC Entreprises and invested by the pharmaceutical industry. Chahra Louafi is Chairman of the supervisory board of Inserm Transfert Initiative and member of the supervisory board of Cap Décisif Management. Chahra Louafi graduated from Paris Dauphine University (Masters of Technology and Innovation Management), Paris X Nanterre University (Masters of Corporate Finance) and Institut National Agronomique de Paris – Grignon (Masters of Microbiology and Enzymatic Engineering).

Ms. Mette Kirstin Agger
Lundbeckfond Ventures
Details

Previously co-founder and CEO of 7TM Pharma A/S and SVP business development and licensing NeuroSearch A/S, Ms. Agger has been the co-founder of several biotech companies and has held numerous board positions. She started her career as a Patent Agent, graduated as a Biologist from the University of Copenhagen and has an MBA.

Ms. Gwen Melincoff
Shire plc
Details

Ms. Melincoff has over 20 years of leadership experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Her experience has spanned research operations, marketing, product management, project management, and licensing and business development. From September 2004 to the present, Ms. Melincoff has been part of the Business Development team at Shire Pharmaceuticals, first as Vice President of Business Development, and recently as Senior Vice President of Business Development. Ms Melincoff is also heading Shire’s Strategic Investment Group. During her tenure, she has been involved in numerous licenses, product divestments, co-promotion and collaboration agreements, and mergers and acquisitions. She was responsible for the collaboration with New River Pharmaceuticals that led to the $2.6 billion acquisition of the company within two years of the first transaction. Ms. Melincoff has a B.S in Biology, a Master’s of Science in Management and Health Care Administration, and has attained the designation of the Certified Licensing Professional (CLP™).

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